Abstract
Over 1300 teachers from randomly selected child care centers in five representative metropolitan areas of the United States were interviewed and observed. Most were women in their childbearing years. Years of experience in the field of child care was not a good indicator of teacher behavior. Formal education was a better predictor than specialized training. However, both formal education and very high levels of specialized training prepare teachers to be effective in the classroom. For preschool teachers, it seems a bachelor's degree in any subject or specialized training at the college level is an effective route in competent teaching. Infant and toddler teachers appear more likely to need college level specialized training.
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Child Care Employee Project
The National Child Care Staffing Study was supported by a group of foundations including Carnegie, Ford, Foundation for Child Development, Smith-Richardson, Spunk, and Mailman Family Fund, and was coordinated by the staff of the Child Care Employee Project. We are also grateful to the team of 42 people who conducted the interviews and observations and coded and analyzed the data for this project. Special thanks to the child care teachers who talked with us and the centers who participated.
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Howes, C., Whitebook, M. & Phillips, D. Teacher characteristics and effective teaching in child care: Findings from the national child care staffing study. Child Youth Care Forum 21, 399–414 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00757371
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00757371