High quality preschool can play a key role in helping low-income children enter kindergarten with foundational skills that will help them succeed. A critical support to quality preschool is an on-site education leader (e.g., the education director or principal) who can promote excellent teaching. In partnership with Bank Street College, this project investigates factors that support or hinder teachers’ use of effective practices in New York City preschool programs. These activities include coaching by education directors or principals, organizing learning communities, and arranging planning time for teachers. Through interviews and observation, the researchers hope to learn how education leaders spend their time, strategies they use to help teachers strengthen their practices, supports the leaders rely on to help them work effectively with teachers, and obstacles they might face, such as time constraints or policies that prioritize other goals or activities.
Funded by the Foundation for Child Development
Contact
For more information about NYC Preschool Education Leaders’ Support of High Quality Teaching, please contact:
Sheila Smith, PhD
National Center for Children in Poverty
215 West 125th Street, 3rd floor
New York, NY 10027
(646) 284-9643
sheila.smith@nccp.org