Title of Poster or Presentation
Leadership in Early Childhood Education: How Head-Start Directors Influence Quality
Submission Type
Oral/Paper Presentation
Degree Type
PhD
Discipline
Social Sciences
Department
Psychology
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract or Description
Children who attend high-quality early childhood education (ECE) programs receive a strong foundation for their academic career (Jeon et al., 2014; Peisner-feinberg & Burchinal, 2016; Weschler et al., 2016). Because the benefits of high-quality programs are known, current research examines how programs achieve and sustain quality (Douglass, 2019; Mims, et.al, 2008; Perlman, et al., 2020). Leaders have been shown to be influential on program quality (Ang, 2011; Liberman, 2017; Talan, et al., 2014). However, the role of leadership and its relation to quality has been far less examined (Douglass, 2019). More research is needed to better understand the direct and indirect influences of leadership on quality.
This study used the Head Start FACES 2017 dataset to examine the degree to which leaders in Head Start programs influence quality. For this study, we used a mediation analysis to understand to what extent directors’ characteristics influence classroom quality by being mediated by teachers’ job satisfaction. Specifically, this study looked to answer four research questions: 1.) To what extent do directors’ characteristics predict classroom quality? 2.) To what extent do directors’ characteristics predict teachers’ job satisfaction? 3.) To what extent does teachers’ job satisfaction predict classroom quality? 4.) Is teacher job satisfaction a mediator between director characteristics and classroom quality?
Contrary to our initial hypothesis, we did not find directors’ characteristics to predict classroom quality or teachers’ job satisfaction. Therefore, we were unable to examine the full mediation model. However, we did find a significant relationship between teachers’ job satisfaction and classroom quality.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Leadership in Early Childhood Education: How Head-Start Directors Influence Quality
Children who attend high-quality early childhood education (ECE) programs receive a strong foundation for their academic career (Jeon et al., 2014; Peisner-feinberg & Burchinal, 2016; Weschler et al., 2016). Because the benefits of high-quality programs are known, current research examines how programs achieve and sustain quality (Douglass, 2019; Mims, et.al, 2008; Perlman, et al., 2020). Leaders have been shown to be influential on program quality (Ang, 2011; Liberman, 2017; Talan, et al., 2014). However, the role of leadership and its relation to quality has been far less examined (Douglass, 2019). More research is needed to better understand the direct and indirect influences of leadership on quality.
This study used the Head Start FACES 2017 dataset to examine the degree to which leaders in Head Start programs influence quality. For this study, we used a mediation analysis to understand to what extent directors’ characteristics influence classroom quality by being mediated by teachers’ job satisfaction. Specifically, this study looked to answer four research questions: 1.) To what extent do directors’ characteristics predict classroom quality? 2.) To what extent do directors’ characteristics predict teachers’ job satisfaction? 3.) To what extent does teachers’ job satisfaction predict classroom quality? 4.) Is teacher job satisfaction a mediator between director characteristics and classroom quality?
Contrary to our initial hypothesis, we did not find directors’ characteristics to predict classroom quality or teachers’ job satisfaction. Therefore, we were unable to examine the full mediation model. However, we did find a significant relationship between teachers’ job satisfaction and classroom quality.
