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ERIC Number: EJ1477371
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Aug
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1053-1890
EISSN: EISSN-1573-3319
Available Date: 2024-11-29
Teachers' Perceptions of Quality in Head Start
Child & Youth Care Forum, v54 n4 p903-924 2025
Background: Quality in early care and education (ECE) has been widely studied across several decades, though there is not a single standard definition of quality across ECE contexts. Classroom quality often encompasses both structural and process features of quality. Teachers are often not included in discussions about quality in ECE programs despite their role in implementing ECE policies and regulations. Objective: This study used an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach to understand teachers' perceptions of classroom quality in Head Start. Methods: A convenience sample of center-based Head Start teachers in the mid-Atlantic United States participated in an electronic survey (n = 48) and semi-structured interviews (n = 10). Results: Our quantitative results suggest that teachers perceived teacher-, structural-, process-, and center-level indicators of quality as being important for overall classroom quality. However, our qualitative results provide more nuanced information about how teachers define quality, such as specifying teacher-child ratios that would promote high-quality instruction. Our integrated mixed methods findings identify areas of alignment and misalignment between the quantitative and qualitative results, with teachers prioritizing structural and process indicators of quality in both phases of the study. Conclusions: These findings highlight the need to review and revise ECE standards to reflect the experiences of our current ECE workforce.
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: Head Start
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1University of Oklahoma-Tulsa, Early Childhood Education Institute, Tulsa, USA; 2University of Delaware, Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, Newark, USA