A mixed-methods investigation of early childhood professional development for providers and recipients in the United States

This multi-phase mixed-methods study explores provider and recipient perceptions of the current state of early childhood professional development in a southeastern area of the United States. Professional development for the early childhood workforce has been shown to positively influence the quality of early childhood classrooms. This study examines 320 providers and 1022 recipients (including childcare teachers, Head Start teachers and 4k teachers in public school districts) who completed surveys examining the types of professional development opportunities they experienced over the previous year. Findings from these surveys were used to determine a subsample of providers (n = 20) and recipients (n = 27) who were interviewed to gain a deeper understanding of these experiences. Findings from this study indicate overall dissatisfaction with the quality and purpose of current professional development opportunities. Participants describe a lack of access to high-quality experiences and suggest that professional development requirements should be restructured to be based on recipient needs rather than focus on a prescribed set of topics. In addition, data suggest that follow-up support or evaluation of professional development experiences rarely occurs in these settings. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.