Education Level and Stability As It Relates to Early Childhood Classroom Quality: A Survey of Early Childhood Program Directors and Teachers

The field of early care and education is continually seeking to determine factors that contribute to the overall quality of the education for young children. Individual characteristics of teachers, including education level, have been associated with classroom quality. Program demographics, including turnover rate for teachers, also have had varying associations with levels of quality. The current study used data from teachers and directors participating in the North Carolina Rated License process to explore relationships between education levels for teachers and directors with levels of classroom quality, and between stability of position for teachers and classroom quality scores. Teacher education level and stability (i.e., consistently working with the same age group) were positively related to classroom quality scores. Higher education levels for center directors and center director enrollment in a college course also were associated with higher quality scores for their programs. Results suggest that, in addition to teacher education, other factors within child care centers are critical to the quality of care that teachers provide.