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Power to the Profession is focused on equitably advancing an effective, diverse, and well-compensated early childhood education profession across states and settings. Our children live in an increasingly diverse world, and they both need and benefit from a workforce that reflects and embodies that world. As such, when our current systems cause harm to educators, they can also harm children and their families. The inverse is also true: when our systems help educators, we help children and their families. We know that higher education plays a critical role, with many opportunities to support the workforce. If we are going to see our vision through and reimagine what could be, we have to take stock of the progress we have made, identify missed opportunities and barriers, and develop an action plan. Our panel will share perspectives and experiences from different parts of the higher education system and discuss key issues including equity, compensation, pathways, leadership, and financing, and will share recommendations for an aligned system designed to support early childhood educators.

Early writing ability for young children is essential for later literacy and academic achievement. Early writing, especially composing, with young children offers rich opportunities to foster both emergent literacy and language skills simultaneously, which may help boost overall growth for children in poverty. This study examines early writing supports of teachers in prekindergarten and kindergarten classrooms within an early writing framework that includes language, as well as literacy, supports during early writing instruction. Fifteen teachers’ writing instruction was examined during two instructional contexts: morning message and small-group in the fall of the school year. Results suggest that, in general, teachers used morning message to reinforce emergent literacy skills related to the alphabetic principle and concepts of print. Teachers’ language (i.e., translation) supports during writing were sparse. However, during small group writing activities, teachers’ supported child language related to pragmatics/discourse at higher rates, specifically, guiding children’s attention to topic. Additionally, a unique relation emerged between teachers embedding language supports within writing instruction to their overall global classroom quality. Results suggest that composing with young children may be an optimal context to support child language growth. Few teacher background or control factors were systematically linked to quality writing in the classroom; however, teachers who spoke using more complex syntax also used more abstract writing supports (i.e., explaining and connection), suggesting linguistic features may be connected to teacher approach during instruction. Implications for professional development are discussed. / Literacy & Learners

Children with disabilities might experience multiple transitions during their early years. One important transition that occurs for many children with disabilities or developmental delays and their families is the transition from Early Intervention (EI) to Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) services at three years of age. The stress of this transition may be exacerbated for families of young children with disabilities as the shifts between services involve many choices and decisions depending on the child’s level of need. Effective transition procedures for children with disabilities sets the stage for future positive or negative transition experiences and optimal learning experiences in the school setting. The study of transition is multifaceted and researchers, as well as professionals, attempt to understand the complexities of the transition experiences of young children with disabilities and their families. There is a common assertion in the literature that providers assist in the transition by providing environmental supports and involving families in transitions, yet provider perspectives and specifics of how they are involved in transition is mostly absent in studies about transition. Some researchers suggest that little is known about how relationships between families and service providers, which often begin during the transition between systems, are established. The purpose of this study is to investigate the common practices that EI professionals engage in during the EI-to-ECSE transition, and the perceptions of EI professionals during the EI-to-ECSE transition focusing on determining which actions, policies, and procedures contribute to make the experience a positive one for all of those involved. The research questions are answered through two focus groups and two interviews with Early Intervention providers in the Southern part of Illinois. The major themes that emerged are related to professionalism, working within the EI system, and supporting families. EI providers discussed their roles, staff shortages, schedules and funding, parent education, and collaboration. Implications and future research are discussed.

Failure to recognize and respond to early signs of deterioration in hospitalized patients can have significant implications associated with delays in treatment. This lack of recognition was the impetus for rapid response teams in the United States and the recommendation by the Institute of Healthcare Improvement for use of early warning scores. This project was designed to evaluate the pilot implementation of an early warning score on 2 units in a community hospital in the Northeast. The practice-focused question was used to explore how patient outcomes changed following implementation of an early warning score (EWS) compared to patient outcomes associated with a rapid response team alone. The translating evidence into practice model informed this project. Supporting evidence from existing hospital data was collected for rapid response, code blue, and mortality. Analysis using the chi-square test of homogeneity compared post-implementation with baseline data. The findings indicated the differences between the proportions were not statistically significant, indicating the metrics did not change appreciably following the implementation of the early warning score. While the evaluation analytics of this pilot did not demonstrate significant change in the outcome measures post-implementation, the results may be useful for the facility when performing a future evaluation of the EWS. It is possible that the results of the 2 units were not representative of the facility, and it is therefore recommended to repeat the evaluation using data from the entire facility for a longer period. Increasing the capacity for early recognition in decline has implications for social change through improvement in safety and quality of health care for all hospitalized patients.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This basic qualitative research study focused on the internal constructions of ten early childhood education teachers who take new information acquired from workshops, coursework, or other educational venues and quickly incorporate it into their teaching. The participants were all women who work in a variety of classroom settings with two-through-six-year-olds in San Antonio, Texas. They were identified as teachers who are in the forefront in adopting new ideas in comparison to other early childhood teachers (Rogers, 2003). A wide range of experience and education levels were represented. Using the interpretive paradigm as well as the ideological framework of constructivism, a grounded theory was established in response to the research question. Of special interest were factors that can be addressed in pre-service and in-service instructional opportunities for early childhood students and professionals. There were three major findings. First, the participants expressed core moral values in relation to their jobs as early childhood teachers: they look upon their work as a moral endeavor; they have a spiritual connection to their work; and they care deeply about others. Second, they shared the character traits of a positive attitude, persistence, and flexibility. Third, they held two learning dispositions in common: they perceive and practice learning as a continual, on-going process; and they are highly reflective. Viewed together, these three findings form a continuous internal loop that impacts the external cycle of gaining new information and adopting it into classroom practice. The findings in this study parallel previous teacher knowledge research done with K-12 grade teachers in the United States and in other countries. It supports models of change that consider one's frame of reference in terms of individual belief systems and how this impacts the change process. The implication is that focusing on technical knowledge is not enough. Early childhood teacher educators must consistently employ specific strategies with their students that help illuminate and strengthen the tacit traits identified in this study.

This basic qualitative research study focused on the internal constructions of ten early childhood education teachers who take new information acquired from workshops, coursework, or other educational venues and quickly incorporate it into their teaching. The participants were all women who work in a variety of classroom settings with two-through-six-year-olds in San Antonio, Texas. They were identified as teachers who are in the forefront in adopting new ideas in comparison to other early childhood teachers (Rogers, 2003). A wide range of experience and education levels were represented. Using the interpretive paradigm as well as the ideological framework of constructivism, a grounded theory was established in response to the research question. Of special interest were factors that can be addressed in pre-service and in-service instructional opportunities for early childhood students and professionals. There were three major findings. First, the participants expressed core moral values in relation to their jobs as early childhood teachers: they look upon their work as a moral endeavor; they have a spiritual connection to their work; and they care deeply about others. Second, they shared the character traits of a positive attitude, persistence, and flexibility. Third, they held two learning dispositions in common: they perceive and practice learning as a continual, on-going process; and they are highly reflective. Viewed together, these three findings form a continuous internal loop that impacts the external cycle of gaining new information and adopting it into classroom practice. The findings in this study parallel previous teacher knowledge research done with K-12 grade teachers in the United States and in other countries. It supports models of change that consider one's frame of reference in terms of individual belief systems and how this impacts the change process. The implication is that focusing on technical knowledge is not enough. Early childhood teacher educators must consistently employ specific strategies with their students that help illuminate and strengthen the tacit traits identified in this study.

Thesis (M.S.)--Villanova University, 2007. / Psychology Dept. Includes bibliographical references.