The impact of coaching models within an ongoing prekindergarten professional development program on the classroom literacy environment

Currently, there is a great deal of attention being paid to the impact of quality preschool programs on improving the academic achievement of at-risk students and closing achievement gaps. Educational research suggests that the academic skills a child has prior to kindergarten are predictive of their academic achievement in subsequent grades (Stevenson & Newman, 1986). To meet the unique needs of these young learners, educators who work in prekindergarten classes must be adequately trained. Current research suggests that there is a strong link between the qualifications of teachers and improvements in students' academic achievement (Barnett, 2003; Costa & Garmston, 1994; Darling-Hammond, 2000, Early et al., 2006).; For prekindergarten teachers, educational requirements in 17 states are lower than the educational requirements of kindergarten teachers (Barnett, 2003). Variations in teacher training, education, and credentials undoubtedly influence the quality of the workforce in the teaching profession. Professional development plays a large role in helping teachers to demonstrate competency and become highly qualified. For teachers who are not entering into the teaching profession highly qualified, professional development intended to improve content and pedagogical knowledge is particularly important (Guskey, 2003). Very few professional development studies have examined the impact of professional development on early childhood educators.; The focus of this study was to examine the impact of an ongoing professional development program on prekindergarten teachers' literacy environments. The participants in this study consisted of 179 prekindergarten teachers with different levels of certification and teaching experience who participated in a three-year professional development project designed to provide high-quality, research-based information to prekindergarten teachers in high-need areas. Prior to and following the professional development program, trained observers administered the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (ELLCO) literacy environment checklist to record observations about participating teachers' literacy environments.; This study used pre and posttest data collected from the ELLCO literacy environment checklist subsection to answer the following two research questions: (1) To what extent does an ongoing and collaborative professional development program (C3 Coaching) impact the literacy environments of prekindergarten classrooms? (2) To what extent do various levels of coaching in an ongoing and collaborative professional development program (C3 Coaching) impact the literacy environments of prekindergarten classrooms?; The data for research question one were analyzed using a paired samples t-test and crosstabulation analysis to compare all pre and posttest ELLCO literacy environment subscales. Results indicated that after participation in C3 Coaching, there was a positive, statistically significant change in participants' scores in four of the five literacy environment checklist subscales from pretest to posttest. These subscales included Book Area, Book Selection, Book Use, and Writing Materials.; The data for research question two were analyzed using a repeated measures general linear model analyses that compared teachers over time and by treatment group. Results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between coaching models and impact between pretest and posttest ELLCO data over time. The expert (university) coaching model had the greatest impact on mean ELLCO literacy environment scores. Prekindergarten teachers participating in this form of coaching increased their mean ELLCO classroom literacy environment scores from pretest to posttest. The mean ELLCO literacy environment checklist scores of prekindergarten teachers participating in MasterCoaching (peer coaching) and distance (electronic) coaching decreased from pretest to posttest.; This study is one of only four c...