DOCUMENT RESUME ED 480 817 PS 031 532 AUTHOR Whitebook, Marcy TITLE Bachelor's Degress Are Best: Higher Qualifications for Pre- Kindergarten Teachers Lead to Better Learning Environments for Children. SPONS AGENCY Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, MI. PUB DATE 2003-00-00 NOTE 26p.; Produced by the Trust for Early Education. AVAILABLE FROM The Trust for Early Education, 1725 K Street, Suite 212, Washington, DC 20006. Tel: 202-293-1245; Fax: 202-293-1798; Web site: http://www.trustforearlyed.org. For full text: http://www.trustforearlyed.org/docs/WhitebookFinal.pdf. PUB TYPE Information Analyses (070) Opinion Papers (120) EDRS PRICE EDRS Price MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Bachelors Degrees; *Educational Attainment; *Educational Quality; Literature Reviews; *Preschool Teachers; *Teacher Qualifications; Teacher Student Relationship ABSTRACT Throughout the United States, kindergartens receive children with increasingly diverse levels of skills. In order to provide a learning atmosphere that is supportive of all children, prekindergarten teachers must be equipped to adapt to each child's needs. This paper reviews the research on pre-kindergarten teacher quality. The purpose of the review is to highlight teachers with bachelor's degrees and their direct link to quality in early education and care. The review is limited to studies that distinguished bachelor's degrees from other levels of education, and restricted to articles published in peer reviewed journals or reports issued by agencies that subject their reports to peer-advising. This resulted in eight studies that specifically explore the benefits of pre-K classrooms when teachers have bachelor's degrees and specialized training in early childhood education. Among the findings of the studies reviewed are the following: (1) teachers with four-year degrees in early childhood education rated higher in positive interaction with children than those without these credentials, and were less detached, less authoritarian and less punitive; (2) children who had teachers with a bachelor's or associate's in early childhood education demonstrated stronger receptive vocabularies that those with teachers holding only a high school diploma; and (3) retaining the greatest number of teachers with bachelor's degrees or more was the strongest predictor of whether a center maintained a high level of quality over time. Taken as a group, these studies strongly show the importance of not simply more education, but specifically how the requirement of a bachelor's degree with specialized early childhood training can be parlayed into securing high quality center- based pre-kindergarten programs. (Contains 32 references.) (HTH) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Bachelor's Degrees Are Best: Higher Qualifications for Pre-Kindergarten Teachers Lead to Better Learning Environments for Children. Marcy Whitebook The Trust for Early Education 2003 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS CENTER (ERIC) BEEN GRANTED BY his document has been reproduced as 41rrreceived from the person or organization evr originating it. litttwo( O Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES document do not necessarily represent INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) official OERI position cr policy. 2 BEST COPYAVAILABLE Ili 4 mo ill 111 0 I 0 O A A AM 0 a . I A m 0 0 The Trust for Early A review of the msearch prepared for the Trust for Early Education Education believes that all 3- and 4-year-olds should By Marcy Whitebook, Ph.D. have access to high Director, Center for the Study of Child Care Employment quality early education. Teachers shape the University of California at Berkeley learning opportunities and experiences in their classroom. To engage Executive Summary children in learning and present them with the Good teachers for our youngest students appropriate balance of knowledge and skills, teachers must be well This falllike every other fallabout four million 4- and 5-year-olds will walk educated and well trained. Therefore, all through the kindergarten door for the very first time. Some will burst through the doors pre-kindergarten teachers full of excitement. Other children may cling and go only reluctantly. Some will arrive should have at least a Bachelor's degree with with the academic and social skills that assure a good position at the starting line, but specialized training in early too many will come through the door without having had the opportunities needed for childhood development or a strong start. To them school will seem like a game that is rigged against them before education. they've even begun. The research literature on the quality of early Throughout the United States, kindergartens receive children with increasingly education and care diverse levels of skills. Strong pre-kindergarten programs can guarantee every child supports TEE's position that teacher education is well prepared for kindergarten. While many factors determine the quality of a pre- and training relate to kindergarten program, none is as important as the quality of the teachers. quality. Specifically, classrooms where the In order to provide a learning atmosphere that is supportive of all children, pre- teachers have at least a kindergarten teachers must be equipped to adapt to each child's needs. In this paper Bachelor's degree are more likely to be of higher commissioned by the Trust for Early Education, Marcy Whitebook, Ph.D. surveys qualityas in richer the research on pre-kindergarten teacher quality. These reports and studies all echo language environments, richer literacy the same message: pre-K teachers who have at least a bachelor's degree coupled environments, and better with specialized training in early childhood development/education provide the best teacher-child interactions. preparation for pre-kindergarteners' advancement to the next level. Moreover, the teachers themselves are more likely to appropriately approach This document was prepared with generous support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, major instructionthey are more supporter of our 2003 Report Series. sensitive, less punitive, The Trust for Early Education (TEE) was established in 2002 by The Education Trust with a grant from and more engaged. The Pew Charitable Trusts and other funders. 3 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Vocabulary is a critical building block for later Pre-kindergarten teachers are entrusted with the critical responsibility of establishing literacy. Research has a solid foundation for school kids. If done well, their students will make an easy, solid established a strong link transition to kindergarten. But if not, we will continue to send kids to kindergarten between the number and complexity of words feeling a need to catch up before they even had a chance to begin. spoken by adultsboth parents and teachers The study and the number and complexity of words spoken by children. When The purpose of this review is to highlight teachers with bachelor's degrees and children are exposed to their direct link to quality in early education and care. We limited our literature review larger vocabularies and to studies that distinguished bachelor's degrees from other levels of education and more complex speech, at home and at school, training. We also restricted our research to articles published in peer-reviewed journals they respond with greater or reports issued by agencies that subject their reports to peer-advising. In all, we found comprehension and eight studies that specifically explore the benefits to pre-K classrooms when the teachers more complex speech themselves. To help have bachelor's degree and specialized training in early childhood education. Also children build strong included are large-scale investigations of center-based early education, conducted over vocabularies we must the last fifteen years. provide them with highly literate teachers who Taken as a group, these studies strongly show the importance of not simply more themselves have rich and education, but specifically, how we can parlay requiring bachelor's degrees with wide vocabularies. specialized childhood training into securing high quality center-based pre-kindergarten The National Adult programs. Literacy Survey tells us Here is a listing of the articles presented in this review, along with the relevant citations. that adults with Bachelor's degrees have significantly Bermuda College Training Program Study (Arnett, 1989) higher literacy levels National Child Care Staffing Study (Howes, Phillips and Whitebook, 1992; than do adults with less formal educationhaving Whitebook, Howes and Phillips, 1990) teachers with at least Cost, Quality and Child Outcomes Study (Blau, 2000; Helburn, 1995; Howes, 1995; Bachelor's degree in every Howes, 1997; Phillipsen, Burchinal, Howes and Cryer, 1997) child's pre-kindergarten Florida Quality Improvement Study (Howes, 1997; Howes, Galinsky, Shinn, Gulcur, classroom increases the chances that they will be Clements, Sibley and Abbott-Shimm, 1998) taught by people with Three-State Study (Massachusetts, Georgia and Virginia) (Phillips, Mekos, Scarr, appropriate literacy levels. McCartney and Abbott-Shim, 2000; Scarr, Eisenberg and Deater-Deckard, 1994) A very recent evaluation of Head Start FACES Study (Zill, Resnick, Kim, Hubbell-McKey, Clark, Pai-Samant, Georgia's pre-kindergarten Connell, Vaden-Kiernan, O'Brien and D'Elio, 2001) program by Georgia State New Jersey Studies (Barnett, Tarr, Lamy and Frede, 1999; Barnett, Tarr, Lamy and University tells us that no matter the setting (public, Frede, 2001) private, Head Start), Then and Now: Changes in Child Care Staffing (Whitebook, Sakai, Gerber and quality relates to children's Howes, 2001; Whitebook and Sakai, in press) outcomes. And, that high quality is significantly related to teacher education. BEST COPY AVAILABLE The Trust for Early Education firmly believes Summary offindings that every pre-kindergarten aged child should be in a Based on a small but diverse sample of 50 teachers in Bermuda, Arnett (1989), classroom with a teacher with at least a Bachelor's advanced the argument for B.A.'s and college-level training in early childhood education degree with specialized with the Bermuda College Training Program Study. The study, which took place training in early childhood development or education. in 22 of 23 centers that serve pre-kindergarten-age children, found that the teachers To do this, we must with four-year degrees in early childhood education rated higher in positive interaction improve the quality and with the children than those without these credentials. In addition, those teachers with expand teacher education bachelor's degrees and specialized training were less detached, less authoritarian and and training programs at the postsecondary level. less punitive than all other teachers in the sample. We must strengthen the The National Child Care Staffing Study (NCCSS) (Howes, Phillips and Whitebook, teacher education infra- structure by creating 1992; Whitebook et al., 1990) examined the quality of care in 227 child care centers, pre-kindergarten teacher randomly selected from five diverse U.S. metropolitan areas. Similar to previous education programs that studies, NCCSS researchers found teachers' education was strongly related to positive value content, methods, and an understanding interactions with children at the classroom level. They revealed that the teachers with of early childhood bachelor's degrees (with or without college-level specialized training) were more development. sensitive, less harsh and less detached than teacher's without bachelor's degrees. The To produce the workforce we need to provide high study also revealed that children in programs with sensitive and responsive teachers quality ear/y education received higher language scores, and exhibited a higher level of peer play than other to all 3- and 4-year children. olds, and to improve the existing workforce, we Like the NCCSS, the Cost and Quality and Child Outcomes (CQCO) study looked need a seamless system at the role education plays in classroom relations and teacher performance. In the pre- of transfer from two-year colleges to four-year. And, kindergarten classrooms, higher quality learning environments were associated with we need to make available the lead teacher having a B.A. or at the very least, some college. Children in this study financial aid targeted to pre-kindergarten teachers. who had teachers with a B.A./A.A. in early childhood education demonstrated stronger We also need to ensure receptive vocabularies (could understand more words) than did children in classrooms that high quality inservice with teachers having only high school backgrounds. Teachers with the most advanced professional development education were the most effective overall. programs are available to all teachers, so that The same methods used in the CQCO study were also employed for the Florida through out their careers Quality Improvement Study, except additional teacher behavior categories were they have the opportunity to continually hone their added. This time, children whose teachers had at least a B.A. in early childhood knowledge and skills ans education not only engaged in more creative activities than children in other classrooms, stay up to date on the most current resources in they also had higher percentages of responsive classroom involvement as well. their field. The Three State Study (Scarr et al., 1994), which included Massachusetts, Georgia Finally, to bring new people and Virginia, determined that in addition to education, wages and compensation are into the workforce and to retain existing educated, also key factors in the level of quality of pre-K classrooms. Although teacher education trained pre-kindergarten and training did have links to classroom characteristics, in this study, teacher wages teachers we need to emerged as the most visible factor connected with recruiting and retaining highly offer fair compensation, with pay and benefits qualified staff. commensurate to their education and training. The Head Start FACES (Families and Child Experiences Survey) study was designed to identify the critical elements that lead to positive outcomes for children in the Head Start program. Researchers found that productive classrooms included teachers with four-year degrees or higher. The more education the teachers had, the more they exemplified positive attitudes and knowledge about early childhood education, translating into more productive and comfortable learning environments for the children. The New Jersey Studies are part of an ongoing effort to assess the quality of early care and education. These studies found that the highest quality programs were those which required teachers to have bachelor's degrees. Similar to the Three State Study, Then and Now: Changes in Child Care Staffing, 1994-2000 (Whitebook, Sakai, Gerber and Howes, 2001; Whitebook and Sakai, in press) also sheds some light on how wages influence center quality. The study examined the percentage of staff who either stayed or left centers over time, their wages, and the impact these factors had on center quality. It's worth mentioning that it was not merely the presence of B.A. -level teachers who helped establish higher quality, but also the "turnover climate" of the center. This is defined as the percentage of teachers with at least a B.A. and specialized early childhood training who were retained at the centers between observations. The final result showed that retaining the greatest number of teachers with bachelor's degrees or more was the strongest predictor of whether a center maintained a high level of quality over time. Conclusion For those who develop and implement early care and education programs, the most important aspect of their job is ensuring that young children consistently encounter teachers who are sensitive and able to create positive learning environments. Teachers of young children are increasingly called upon to have more versatility in pre-K classrooms, and their performance and actions in the classroom is an undeniable link to children's development. Our objective is that all pre-kindergarteners, not just a fortunate few, have access and exposure to the best teachers who are going to prepare them academically and socially, thus requiring pre-K teachers to have bachelor's degrees in specialized training in early childhood development is a necessity. The research in this review firmly anchors that point. These are the teachers who are best equipped to lay the groundwork for an optimistic and rewarding experience in pre-kindergarten and beyond. Early Education Quality: Higher Teacher Qualifications for Better Learning Environments This falllike every other fallabout four million 4- and 5-year-olds will walk through the kindergarten door for the very first time. Some will burst through the doors full of excitement. Other children may cling and go only reluctantly. Some will arrive with the academic and social skills that assure a good position at the starting line, but too many will come through the door without having had the opportunities needed for a strong start. To them school will seem like a game that is rigged against them before they've even begun. Throughout the United States, kindergartens receive children with increasingly Am. °MI& diverse levels of skills. Strong pre-kindergarten programs can guarantee every child is well prepared for kindergarten. While many factors determine the quality of a pre-kindergarten program, none is as important as the quality of the teachers. While there are many factors that define a good pre- kindergarten program, the most current research shows that the qualifications of the teachers are essential. According to the research, pre-kindergarten teachers with a bachelor's degree and specialized training in early childhood education are the most likely to have the skills that develop better outcomes for children. Such teachers are more likely to be sensitive and attentive to their young students; they are less directive and more responsive; and their interactions with children are more ... pre-kindergarten constructive. Students of these teachers produce higher language scores and are teachers with a themselves more attentive in the classroomskills that lay an important foundation for bachelor's degree and kindergarten. specialized training in early childhood are the BESTCOPY AVAILABLE most likely to have the skills that develop better outcomes for children. 5 7 Increasingly, policymakers are recognizing the importance of early learning experiences. States and communities throughout the country are currently planning or implementing initiatives to assure greater access to high quality, publicly supported preschool services. In order to design strong programs, planners need accurate information about the factors that lead to best practices and best outcomes particularly in the area of professional preparation for teachers. Indeed, the national trend is to raise teacher qualifications, with an emphasis on college degrees in early childhood education (ECE), child development (CD) or a related field. Head Start has raised its standards to require every classroom to have an associate degree-level (A.A./A.S.) teacher by fall 2003, and the pending reauthorization bill sets a new goal of 50 percent of Head Start teachers holding a bachelor's degree (B.A./B.S.) by 2008. Despite these high-profile efforts to raise standards, pre-kindergarten teacher requirements remain highly variable across the states. Table 1(Barnett, 2003) shows where the states have currently set their minimum post-secondary degree standards for teachers in state-financed pre-kindergarten (pre-K) programs. These range from 24 credit hours in California to a master's (M.A.) degree (after five years of employment) in New York. . *MMIPIPft_ - 0 4" a , 1,1 BESTCOPYAVAILABLE 6 Table 1: Minimum Post-Secondary Degree Requirements for Preschool Teachers, By State State State Financed Pre-K Child Care ALABAMA BA' None ALASKA* CDA' None ARIZONA CDA None ARKANSAS BA' None CALIFORNIA 40 credits' 6 credits, COLORADO CDA None CONNECTICUT CDA None DELAWARE CDA CDA DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BA CDA FLORIDA None None GEORGIA AA' None HAWAII CDA CDA IDAHO N/A None ILLINOIS BA' CDA or CCP INDIANA N/A None IOWA None None KANSAS BA CDA KENTUCKY CDA None LOUISIANA BA' None MAINE BA' None MARYLAND BA' None MASSACHUSETTS 3 credits° 3 credits' MICHIGAN AA None MINNESOTA CDA CDA MISSISSIPPI N/A None MISSOURI CDA None MONTANA N/A None NEBRASKA BA' None NEVADA BA' None NEW HAMPSHIRE CDA' 12 credits7 NEW JERSEY BA' CDA NEW MEXICO None None NEW YORK BA None NORTH CAROLINA AA' None NORTH DAKOTA N/A None OHIO AA' None OKLAHOMA BA' None OREGON CDA None PENNSYLVANIA BA None RHODE ISLAND BA' BA' SOUTH CAROLINA BA' None SOUTH DAKOTA N/A None TENNESSEE BA' None TEXAS BA' None UTAH N/A None VERMONT BA' 12 credits° VIRGINIA CDA None WASHINGTON AA, None WEST VIRGINIA BA None WISCONSIN BA' None WYOMING N/A None AA Associates Degree; BA Bachelors Degree; CDA Child Development Associates Credential; Pre-K Prekindergarten; CCP - Certified Childcare Professional. N/A state does not provide finances for pre-k; None no post-secondary degree requirements. 1- with courses or certification in early childhood. 2 - many states require professional training or ongoing development. 3 - 2 year vocational child care course or 6 credits in early childhood education. 4 - in topics related to early childhood education or child development. 5 - Head Start requirements used because all state pre-k funds supplement Head Start program; 6 - 24 credits in early childhood education and 16 credits more in general education; 7 - in early childhood education, 6 of which may be non-credit courses. 8 - update June, 2003. Reprinted with Permission From The National Institute for Early Education Research. 7 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Inconsistentand in many cases, inadequatestandards for pre-kindergarten teachers are in sharp contrast to current policy trends in K-12 education which increase the demand that teachers be better educated in their fields. The Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences argues that there exists a serious "mismatch" between the preparation (and compensation) of early childhood teachers and the expectations for their jobs: i.e., helping children develop the knowledge and skills essential for success in the school years and beyond (Bowman et al. 2001). But if teachers are required to have bachelor's degrees, specialized training, and credentials once children reach kindergarten, then why are the requirements not the same for our pre-kindergarten teachers? Dr. Jack Shonkoff of Brandeis University, the chair of the National Research Council Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development, was succinct in posing the question recently to Congress: How can the recently enacted No Child Left Behind Act emphasize the need for stronger performance standards and financial incentives to attract bright and highly motivated [K-12] teachers, while we simultaneously tolerate large percentages of inadequately trained and poorly compensated providers of early child care and education who have an important influence on the foundations of school readiness? (Testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, February 12, 2002, p.3.) Review of the Research This paper will review what the scientific research literature tells us about the relationship between pre-kindergarten teacher preparation and outcomes for children in early childhood education. This review focuses on one central questionwhether teachers with a bachelor's degree in early childhood education (or higher) provide better pre-kindergarten experiences than teachers with less education and training. Relatively few studies have dealt directly with this question or posed it exactly this way. Some have dealt more generally with the issue of college-level education for early childhood teachers (without distinguishing four-year-degrees from two-year-degrees or other combinations of education and training). Nevertheless, our review of the literature indicates a reasonably strong basis for addressing our central question: does specialized ... if teachers are required bachelor's-level preparation contribute to a strong pre-kindergarten program and better to have bachelor's outcomes for children? degrees, specialized training, and credentials We restricted our literature review to research on center-based settings and articles once children reach published in peer-reviewed journals or reports issued by agencies that subject their kindergarten, then why reports to peer advising. Most of the studies reviewed here have been published in are the requirements not the same for our pre- journals, with a few released as freestanding reports. For some of the large-scale studies, kindergarten teachers?