Accurate, reliable, and scalable measurement of classroom quality represent a critical tool for ensuring that young children benefit from early learning programs. The Early Childhood Classroom Observation (ECCO) study was designed to better understand how video recordings can support high-quality measurement of pre-kindergarten (pre-K) classrooms,…

The aim is to investigate early childhood mathematics in a preschool unit in Sweden. A mixed-method research approach and a case study research design were used. Three preschool staff members and 19 children were enrolled. Data were collected by means of observations and a focus group interview. Numerical and thematic analyses were conducted. The…

The expansion of early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs has generated increasing interest in establishing appropriate structural standards that can optimize child outcomes. To contribute to this discourse, this study aims to investigate the characteristics and influencing factors of classroom quality. Ninety-six classrooms (202…

Within the research field quality in preschool, interactions between staff and children are widely recognised as the single most important factor. Hence, preschool teachers play an important role in underpinning children's well-being, learning and development. However, prior research into preschool teachers' educational level and other…

A quality preschool education plays a key role in achieving its objectives. To benefit from this effect of preschool education in a positive way, countries should investigate education systems and the educational methods and practices of other countries so as to understand the problems of education and the factors affecting it. This brings about…

Dramatic play is a typical activity that provides many benefits for preschool children's learning and development. This paper presents the findings of a mixed-method study that examined the level of preschool children's involvement in dramatic play and the connection between this involvement and the quality of the classroom environment. The study…

The Inclusive Classroom Profile (ICP) is a structured observation instrument. It has been developed to support high-quality early childhood inclusion of children with special educational needs and disabilities. The aim of this study is to examine the cultural validity of the instrument in Swedish preschools and to investigate its perceived…

The results of a Russian national study of the quality of preschool education (2016-2017, N[subscript kindergartens]= 1,301) are discussed with a focus on possible predictors of quality dynamics on the relations between Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale--Revised scores and group size, number of teachers in a group, child/adult ratio,…

The aim of this study is to investigate quality in Danish preschools and to establish whether disadvantaged children benefit from preschool attendance in an inclusive perspective? The conceptual framework of the research project rests on bio-eco-systems theory [Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006. "The Bioecological model of human development.…

Background: Socioeconomic gaps in children's academic and social skills are large upon Kindergarten entry (von Hippel, Workman, and Downey 2018; Reardon 2011; Reardon and Portilla 2016). Preschool programs may yield particularly large benefits to low-income students and racially minoritized groups and may be promising for reducing inequalities…

This collaborative project explores the nature of teacher-child sustained shared thinking (SST) in two kindergartens. SST involves teachers engaging with children in play, working together in back and forth conversations that provide opportunities to discuss, explore, and think about everyday experiences, problems or challenges in an inquisitive…

School readiness is often defined as being at an expected developmental level across domains such as social and emotional, language and literacy, math, and science (Office of Head Start, 2015; Washington State Department of Early Learning, 2012; Teaching Strategies, 2001). Suppose children start without the foundation and identity in early science…

This research investigated the relationship between adult resilience, resilient leadership practices, and variables that reflected turnover to learn if increasing adult resilience or resilience leadership practices is an avenue to reduce turnover of high quality early childhood education teachers. The areas of adult resilience and resilient…

Public preschool programs require the use of a research-based, whole-child curriculum, yet limited research examines whether curricula influence classroom experiences and children's development. We use five samples of preschool children to examine differences in classroom processes and children's school readiness by classroom curricular status…

The purpose of the study on which this article rests is to supplement ECERS-3 observations of the learning environment (n = 31) for 3-5-year-old children attending preschool activities in Favrskov Municipality, Denmark. The paper gives an in-depth analysis of characteristic features of high-quality preschool activities within the areas of…