The impact of Child Development Associate training on the beliefs and practices of preschool teachers

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Abstract

This study examined the impact of Child Development Associate (CDA) training on the beliefs and practices of early childhood teachers who did not have college degrees or early childhood college coursework. Preschool teachers who were enrolled in CDA classes (n = 76) and a comparison group of teachers (n = 50) completed two surveys of beliefs and practices. Repeated measures Multivariate Analyses of Variance indicated that the CDA training teachers decreased the amount they endorsed beliefs and practices that contrast with Developmentally Appropriate Practice over time more than the comparison teachers. Results suggest that CDA training can be an effective means of increasing the developmentally appropriateness of beliefs and self-reported practices of early childhood teachers, which past research suggests will ultimately impact classroom quality.

Section snippets

CDA programs

In order to assess the impact of CDA training on teachers, we sought participation from programs that offered CDA training in the evenings or Saturday and that could be accomplished without college enrollment. Seventeen programs across Georgia met this criterion. Sixteen were sponsored by institutions of higher learning that had grants to offer CDA training. The remaining class was sponsored by a local resource and referral agency. These programs were in urban, suburban, and rural locations.

Preliminary analyses

Prior to conducting the main analyses, preliminary analyses were conducted to answer two questions. First, is the group difference in ethnicity responsible for any differences in changes between the pre and posttest scores of the two groups? A three-way 2 (time) × 2 (group) × 2 (ethnicity) MANOVA indicated a significant group × ethnicity interaction, F(4,119) = 3.77, p = .006. Follow-up ANOVAs showed a group × ethnicity interaction for the TBPS-Beliefs Scale, F(1,122) = 6.57, p = .012. African-Americans in the

Discussion

The primary goal of this study was to investigate the impact of CDA training on the developmentally appropriateness of the beliefs and self-reported practices of preschool teachers. The secondary goal was to investigate relations between teachers’ beliefs and self-reported practices. The findings suggest that CDA training increases the appropriateness of teachers’ beliefs and self-reported practices by reducing their contrasting beliefs and self-reported practices. This is an important result

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