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Implementing I am Moving, I am Learning in a Head Start Program: Strengths and Challenges
Get PDFThe I am Moving, I am Learning (IMIL) curriculum enhancement program has been adopted by many Head Start (HS) programs as a way to incorporate physical activity and movement into the curriculum. This study evaluated the implementation of the IMIL strategies within one Head Start program through the use of caregiver and teacher surveys, along with classroom observations that were conducted by trained HS nutrition specialists. This study presents barriers and facilitators to one HS program’s IMIL implementation and provides valuable insight into areas of future research and potential strategies to ensure IMIL program integration sustainability
Helping Young Children Develop Emergent Language and Literacy Skills: The Roles of Curriculum, Training, and Coaching
Get PDFThis article discusses the need for accessible, practical, and cost-effective professional development for Head Start teachers in developing emergent language and literacy skills. We describe the development and components of ABCDuet: teaching materials, professional development and personalized coaching. The program is designed to make training and coaching in language and literacy teaching practices more effective, accessible, user-friendly, and sustainable, using innovative software and video assets. We report findings on the feasibility and efficacy of ABCDuet implementation on teacher and child outcomes from an evaluation of the program in 21 Head Start classrooms. Outcome data indicate the program can be implemented in authentic preschool settings by teachers with varied educational backgrounds and experience, serving children with a wide range of emergent language and literacy skills
Head Start Teachers’ Views on the Family-Teacher Relationship: A Research-to-Practice Summary
No full textThis study looked at Head Start teachers’ relationships with families. The purpose of the research was to document home-school relationships from the perspective of teachers and to understand the teacher characteristics that may predict how teachers perceive their relationships with families. The study used a national sample of Head Start teachers and a questionnaire called the Family Provider/Teacher Relationship Quality measure. Results suggest that teachers’ job satisfaction, caregiving beliefs, and depressive symptoms all predicted how they viewed relationships with families. These results point to the importance of continuing to support teachers’ psychological wellbeing and their developmentally appropriate beliefs, as these may promote positive relationships with families
Preparing Candidates for edTPA Task 3: The Experience of One Educator Preparation Program
Get PDFAnalyzing classroom assessment data is a common practice for teachers; making it vital that preservice teachers learn this skill. Educator preparation programs (EPP), however, often lack formal opportunities for teacher candidates to become data and assessment literate (Mandinach & Gummer, 2016; Xu & Brown, 2016). This study examined how one EPP worked to close this skills gap for candidates by creating a culture around assessment literacy, requiring assessment coursework, and assigning projects aimed at preparing candidates for edTPA Task 3. Three distinct datasets were used to examine the research questions across time. Findings showed that the efforts of the EPP towards these goals garnered student success in improving assessment literacy through a required assessment course and high pass rates for edTPA Task 3: Assessment.
Chinese Facilitators’ Transformative Learning in a Community-Based SEL Study
Get PDFThis qualitative study focuses on three female facilitators and their narratives of participating in a community-based social and emotional learning (SEL) study in China. A combination of communities of practice and critical feminist pedagogy is used as theoretical framework. Narrative inquiry is applied to portray and make sense of each facilitator’s transformative learning experience. The dialogical space that is created by the study allows them to bring in their personal experiences and assists them in critically examining voice and silence in the current trend of SEL in China. The narratives provide a critical lens to re-examine the localization of Eurocentric SEL frameworks in the Chinese context as well as empower individual educators to become agents of change for social transformation. This study suggests an alternative framework based on interpreting social and emotional meanings in the local context to offer insights and critiques to the SEL global movement
Expect the Unexpected: (Re)Defining the landscape of equity work during COVID-19
No full textNo matter where we look, most higher education institutions have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these institutions offer or require a diversity course, where students engage in critical discourse and reflection about issues of equity, privilege, and oppression. In Spring 2020, we were challenged with (re)defining a diversity in education course from onsite to online. Data from two course assignments were collected to understand in what ways did student language around social justice shift onsite versus online. The findings indicate that a change in the learning environment did not impact students’ social justice language and students were able to make connections between social justice or equity issues and the global pandemic. The students became more vulnerable and willing to share their experiences and perspectives surrounding the global pandemic and especially the impact it had on their previous K-12 education, higher education, and future careers.
Liberating Faith and the Journey of Inconclusion: A Close Reading of Paulo Freire’s Essay “My Faith and Hope”
No full textIn this essay, I offer a close reading of Paulo Freire’s essay “My Faith and Hope” in which he theorizes a liberating faith. I condense Freire’s thoughts about faith, spirituality, and theology into three major themes or arguments. First, I argue that Freire’s liberating faith involves the complexity of becoming unsettled which empowers one to divorce silence for a holy rebelliousness against injustice. Second, I argue that Freire’s liberating faith encompasses the challenge of being in faith which is a process in which one commits to being actively engaged in the struggle to free the oppressed. Finally, I argue that Freire’s liberating faith is comprised of the courage to battle through hope which Freire describes as a permanent search, process or journey toward liberation or freedom —that is, the journey of inconclusion. Finally, I discuss the implications that Freire’s view of a liberating faith has on racial equity in education
Racial Bias in Traffic Stops: The City of Charlotte
Get PDFThis study analyzes the traffic stops data published by the City of Charlotte in the years 2016-2017 and 2019-2020 to determine if there was any racial bias in the policing. R was used to examine 213,475 stops that involved Black and White drivers. The analysis showed that Black drivers were more likely to be searched, and more likely to be let off with a lighter consequence (e.g., verbal warning). White drivers were more likely to get a citation while Black drivers were more likely to get arrested. When restricted to stops with searches, White drivers were more likely to be given a citation or arrested while Black drivers were more likely to be let off without action. These results are further skewed against Black males between the ages of 18-25. Implications are discussed. The R script and dataset are made available to facilitate reproducible research.
Keywords: traffic stops, police bias, statistics, datase
Curriculum, Training and Coaching to Support the Development of Emergent Language and Literacy Skills
Get PDFThis article discusses the need for accessible, practical, and cost-effective professional development and teaching materials for Head Start teachers in developing their children’s emergent language and literacy skills. We describe the components of ABCDuet, a program designed to make training and coaching in language and literacy teaching practices more effective, accessible, user-friendly, and sustainable using innovative software and video assets. We summarize a study investigating the feasibility and efficacy of ABCDuet implementation on teacher and child outcomes from an evaluation of the program in 21 Head Start classrooms. Results indicated that the program can be implemented in authentic preschool settings by teachers with varied educational backgrounds and experience, serving children with a wide range of emergent language and literacy skills. We conclude with feedback from study teachers on their experiences using ABCDuet’s technology and its components.