Early Childhood Professional Development

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Professional Learning and Coaching

High-quality professional development (PD) is critical to ensure that all teachers and school leaders have what they need to be successful in their classrooms and schools. Effective PD can change mindsets and build new knowledge and skills necessary to provide students with effective instruction that positively impacts their literacy achievement.

Just like high-quality student learning, adult learning and PD should be intentional and designed to meet the individual needs of educators. PD opportunities should be ongoing, connected, and part of a long-term learning and improvement plan.

Coaching is one of the highest forms of evidenced-based professional development. Job-embedded coaching supports educators as they translate new knowledge and skills into new and/or improved classroom practice. Educators need support as they take new ideas, translate learning into actual practice, and change their own teaching behaviors and practices.

Early Childhood Professional Development

Classroom teaching in the early years provides opportunities for children to gain the foundational skills and access to the learning experiences necessary for successful reading and writing in the early elementary grades. Early childhood educators should receive professional development that builds their capacity to help the infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in their care develop the language, communication, and emergent literacy and writing skills that are essential for school readiness.

Educators working in early childhood education programs must be provided with impactful and meaningful professional learning opportunities that build their capacities for providing strong and comprehensive language and literacy instruction.

Professional learning should ensure effective teacher practice to promote developmentally-appropriate child learning in:

Language

Communicating and speaking to encourage children’s use of language
Listening and understanding to support children’s ability to comprehend what is being spoken around them
Vocabulary development so that children have specific learning opportunities to develop their receptive and expressive vocabulary in a language-rich environment

According to research, the early years are crucial for building language skills associated with positive cognitive development. In addition, ECE teachers must understand their incredible ability to build young learners’ rich background knowledge and oral language comprehension skills that will give children the ability to be able to comprehend texts when they learn to read later on in the primary grades.

Emergent Literacy

Concepts of print/print awareness to encourage children’s ability to develop the understanding that print carries meaning and to understand that letters form words.
Comprehension to encourage children’s engagement in books and ability to comprehend texts read aloud with increasing complexity.
Phonological awareness and sound and rhyme awareness so children can understand that language can be broken into words, syllables, and phonemes (smaller units of sounds) and gain access to experiences that will build their ability to be able to understand the sounds of language.

Early Writing

Recognizing the relationship between spoken and written messages and uses writing and drawing to develop an understanding of the purpose and function of writing.

Professional learning opportunities should include a meaningful plan that is based on teachers’ needs and child outcome data. The traditional model, characterized by one session of learning and then moving on to another topic, doesn’t provide the continuity or alignment that educators need to truly address the instructional needs of young children. Educators need the time and support to apply their new learning in the classroom and have the opportunity to re-engage and reflect on their new practices. Research shows that Communities of Practice/Professional Learning Communities where early childhood educators have the opportunity to participate in peer learning networks with sustained learning relevant to their needs have been effective in improving teacher instructional practice and positively impacting young learners emergent literacy skills.

Early childhood program leaders have a tremendous influence on professional development. Principals and directors, for example, often select the structure, content, and activities for professional learning. By helping teachers strengthen their core competencies, and in creating work environments where these educators can fully implement and grow their knowledge and skills, early childhood program leaders play an instrumental role in improving outcomes for children (Early Childhood Leadership Development Consortium, 2016).

In Arizona, there are several supports in place for early childhood educators working in the variety of early care and education settings that serve infants, toddlers, and preschool children across the state. The Head Start Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECKLC) houses a multitude of PD for Head Start teachers, inclusive of emergent language and literacy. Their coordinated approach to early literacy is known as the Planned Language Approach (PLA), which is a comprehensive, systemic, research-based way for Head Start, Early Head Start, and early learning programs to ensure high-quality language and literacy experiences for all children. It is particularly helpful for young children whose home language is not English.

Resources for Early Childhood Program Leaders

Start Early

https://www.startearly.org

IES Practice Guide-Preparing Young Children for School

https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/PracticeGuide/30

McCormick Center Leadership Framework

https://mccormickcenter.nl.edu/library/whole-leadership-a-framework-for-early-childhood-programs-2023/

Professional Learning Community: Emergent Literacy

https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/rel/Products/Region/southeast/Publication/4022

Child Care Education Institute

https://www.cceionline.com/professional-development-courses-director

Resources for Early Childhood Teachers