TY - JOUR
T1 - Stability and change in early childhood classroom interactions during the first two hours of a day
AU - Curby, Timothy W.
AU - Grimm, Kevin J.
AU - Pianta, Robert C.
N1 - Funding Information:
The first author gratefully acknowledges support from the University of Virginia Interdisciplinary Doctoral Training Program in Education Sciences, supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through grant R305B040049 to the University of Virginia. The work presented herein was conducted in partial fulfillment of the first author's dissertation. The second author was supported by a National Science Foundation REECE Program Grant ( DRL-0815787 ) and the National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education ( R305A06021 ). The authors gratefully acknowledge the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), The Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Foundation for Child Development for their support of the State-Wide Early Education Programs Study, and the U.S. Department of Education for its support of the Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten. However, the contents do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the funding agencies, and endorsement by these agencies should not be assumed.
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - Early childhood classrooms support children's learning in a variety of ways. Of critical importance are the interactions teachers have with children. The type and quality of classroom interactions vary and can be grouped into three domains: instructional, organizational, and emotional. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which the quality of classroom interactions is stable over time and the extent to which certain types of interactions (e.g., organizational) set the stage for other types of interactions (e.g., instructional) during the first two hours of a typical pre-k day. Classrooms (n= 693) were observed during four contiguous observation cycles (20. min for observation, 10. min for ratings) using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System. Stability estimates from autoregressive models showed the quality of classroom interactions was highly stable. Latent difference score models were then fit to determine how these domains of teacher interactions related with one another over time. Contrary to hypotheses, higher levels of Classroom Organization and Emotional Support were not related to positive changes in Instructional Support. However, the final model indicated that Classroom Organization and Emotional Support were positively related to one another over time. That is, higher levels of Classroom Organization were related to higher levels of Emotional Support at the next observation cycle and vice versa. Implications for the understanding of classroom interactions and the measurement of interactions are discussed.
AB - Early childhood classrooms support children's learning in a variety of ways. Of critical importance are the interactions teachers have with children. The type and quality of classroom interactions vary and can be grouped into three domains: instructional, organizational, and emotional. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which the quality of classroom interactions is stable over time and the extent to which certain types of interactions (e.g., organizational) set the stage for other types of interactions (e.g., instructional) during the first two hours of a typical pre-k day. Classrooms (n= 693) were observed during four contiguous observation cycles (20. min for observation, 10. min for ratings) using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System. Stability estimates from autoregressive models showed the quality of classroom interactions was highly stable. Latent difference score models were then fit to determine how these domains of teacher interactions related with one another over time. Contrary to hypotheses, higher levels of Classroom Organization and Emotional Support were not related to positive changes in Instructional Support. However, the final model indicated that Classroom Organization and Emotional Support were positively related to one another over time. That is, higher levels of Classroom Organization were related to higher levels of Emotional Support at the next observation cycle and vice versa. Implications for the understanding of classroom interactions and the measurement of interactions are discussed.
KW - Classroom interactions
KW - Early childhood education
KW - Latent difference score model
KW - Stability
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77952997580&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=77952997580&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ecresq.2010.02.004
DO - 10.1016/j.ecresq.2010.02.004
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:77952997580
SN - 0885-2006
VL - 25
SP - 373
EP - 384
JO - Early Childhood Research Quarterly
JF - Early Childhood Research Quarterly
IS - 3
ER -