Effects of the Length of Tenure of Child Care Center Teachers on their Instructional Practices

By W. Robert Houston and Pamela F. Tobe.

Published by Ubiquitous Learning: An International Journal

Format	Price
Article: Print	$US10.00
Article: Electronic	$US5.00

This study examined the effects of the length of tenure in child care centers and the instructional strategies used by teachers. Data were collected on twelve child care centers in high poverty areas during the past seven years. The program has been externally studied since its beginning, with extensive data collected including demographic composition of centers and individuals, student achievement, annual observation of all classrooms using the Infants and Toddlers Environmental Rating Scale, Revised (ITERS-R) and the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale (ECERS-R), nationally standardized instruments, interviews with about one-half of staff and all directors, staff length of employment, reaction to professional development, annual perceptions of directors, staff, and parents, and general outcomes of the program. This report specifically examined the effect of the staff’s length of tenure and their change in teaching strategies. The length of tenure of nearly 200 teachers was significantly related to the quality of classroom instruction as measured through classroom observations.

Keywords:	Early Childhood Education, Child Care Centers, Professional Development

Ubiquitous Learning: An International Journal, Volume 2, Issue 2, pp.127-136. Article: Print (Spiral Bound). Article: Electronic (PDF File; 1.505MB).

Dr. W. Robert Houston

John and Rebecca Moores Distinguished Professor, Institute for Urban Education, College of Education, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA

Teacher educator, chair of the National Commission on Teacher Educator Standards, 1994-2000 and co-editor of “Visions of Teacher Educators” 2009; author of 45 books and hundreds of journal articles, research monographs, and chapters; honored with the two most prestigious awards for teacher educators in the United states: Distinguished Teacher Educator, Association of Teacher Educators, 1997, and Edward Pomeroy Award for Distingushed Contributions, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, 2000.

Dr. Pamela F. Tobe

Senior Research Associate, Institute for Urban Education, College of Education, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA

Dr. Pamela Tobe is Senior Research Associate for the Institute for Urban Education, and Researcher and Co-PI with the Sociology of Education Research Group (SERG), both at the University of Houston. She is currently working as a grant and program evaluator in addition to working with urban school districts and non-profit organizations to assist them in understanding student academic achievement, teacher work attitudes, curricular pracices, and professional development.