Are teachers' education, major, and credentials related to classroom quality and children's academic gains in pre-kindergarten?

To date, few studies of state-funded pre-kindergarten have fully addressed questions about the association between teachers' education, major, and credentials with classroom quality or children's academic gains. The current paper uses data from the National Center for Early Development and Learning's (NCEDL) Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten, involving 237 pre-kindergarten classrooms and over 800 children, randomly selected from six states with well-established state-funded pre-kindergarten programs. The study includes multiple days of classroom observation, direct child assessments of children's early academic skills in the fall and spring of the pre-kindergarten year, and questionnaires from teachers. For the current paper, teachers' education has been operationalized in three different ways (years of education, highest degree, and Bachelor's versus no Bachelor's). Additionally, the paper considers the role of college major, state teaching certification, and CDA credential. Consistent with findings in the K-12 literature, this study finds few associations between any of the measures of education, major, or credentials and classroom quality or children's outcomes. Teachers' education, regardless of how it is operationalized, is linked to gains in children's math skills across the pre-k year, and the CDA credential is linked to children's gains in basic skills; however, education, training, and credentialing are not consistently related to classroom quality or other academic gains for children. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.