[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-600213-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-600213-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","elementary-school-principals-perceptions-regarding-early-childhood-education","Elementary School Principals’ Perceptions Regarding Early Childhood Education","","Elementary principals increasingly supervise, support, and evaluate early childhood teachers and young children, shaping both instructional quality and learning outcomes. This study examines principals’ preparation for early childhood education, their knowledge of child development, and their hiring preferences, using state certification data and survey evidence. Results show few principals hold early childhood certification, most supervise early childhood classrooms, and many report limited commitment to the PreK-3 continuum.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/elementary-school-principals-perceptions-regarding-early-childhood-education/600213/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/elementary-school-principals-perceptions-regarding-early-childhood-education/600213.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"RuangKosong","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",5,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"How does the study assess principals’ preparation for early childhood education?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It uses state certification data to examine principals’ preparation and survey data to explore their perceptions and reported practices.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What does the study find about early childhood certification among elementary principals?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Findings indicate that few principals hold early childhood certification, even though most supervise early childhood teachers and young children.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What concern do principals raise regarding the PreK-3 continuum?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Principals indicated a lack of commitment to the PreK-3 continuum, suggesting insufficient alignment across early childhood and later grades.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},600213,1792166614,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":55,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},962090883219,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","| \u003Cbr>| Elementary School Principals’ Perceptions Regarding Early Childhood Education |\n| --- | --- |\n\nDenise D. Cunningham, Sascha Mowrey, & Sarah Jean Baker Missouri State University  \nAbstract  \nElementary principals are increasingly responsible for the supervision, support, and evaluation of early childhood teachers and young children. Previous research demonstrated that principals may prefer to hire elementary-certified rather than early childhood-certified teachers and that principals without early childhood preparation may not advocate for developmentally appropriate practices. This study examines elementary principals’preparation for and perceptions of early childhood education, including their knowledge of child development and hiring preferences. We use state certification data to understand principals’preparation and survey data to explore principals’perceptions and practices. Findings indicate that few principals hold early childhood certification while most supervise early childhood teachers and young children. Principals also indicated a lack of commitment to the PreK-3 continuum. Along with previous literature, our findings suggest that principal preparation requirements should be revised to ensure that all who support and evaluate early childhood teachers and young children receive relevant coursework and experiences.  \nKeywords: principals,preparation, early childhood education, perceptions, elementary  \nIntroduction  \nStrong leadership is vital for any organization, including our schools. School principals affect both teacher and student performance. While teachers influence the children in their classroom, principals impact all the students in the school building. In fact, a principal’s leadership is only second to teaching for impact on children’s learning outcomes (Mead, 2011) . Therefore, it is imperative that schools have effective and knowledgeable principals, and those principals hire the most qualified teachers to maximize student achievement.  \nTwenty years ago, the federal government in the United States set a goal that all children would enter school ready to learn (Goals 2000: Educate Americans Act of 2000) . Accordingly, the U.S. federal government and many individual states are investing in early childhood education (ECE) programs (birth-third grade), especially for children at risk for school failure. There is a consensus that high-quality early childhood programs are vital for cognitive, social, and academic outcomes (Barnett, 2011; Calder, 2014), make a significant impact on long-term health and wellbeing (Phillips and Meloy, 2012), and aid in the development of citizenship, and relationship-  \nbuilding,(Douglas, 2018) . Studies show that achievement gaps appear early in a child’s life and widen over the years a child is in school (PreKindergarten-3rd Grade National Work Group, 2013) . Attending high-quality PreKindergarten (PreK) programs for one-or two years at ages 3 and 4 will reduce the gap by about one-third (Reynolds, [et. al](et. al)., 2017). Although this reduction is impressive, it is apparent we must look beyond one or two years of PreK for answers to our educational shortfalls.  \nA national discussion in the United States has been underway regarding the disconnect in early childhood between the birth-to-age-five sector and kindergarten to third grade. The PreK- 3rd movement intends to create a continuum of learning (Ritchie and Gutmann, 2014) that concentrates on quality services for children and families along that continuum. This intervention includes a focus on bridging the disparities between the ECE field and the K-12 school system (Howard, 2008) . The PreK-3 continuum builds on the notion that achievement gaps reflect fragmented services and inconsistent quality from grade to grade and accounts for a “fade-out” effect (Guernsey et al., 2014) . This means even if a child receives a high-quality PreK experience, the effects begin to fade out or converge without appropriate cur","cbCaipxZBtf9j3lD","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaipxZBtf9j3lD","pdf",367380,18,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n## Importance of principal leadership\n## PreK-3 continuum and achievement gaps\n# Literature Review\n## Principals’ background and preparation","[{\"question\":\"How does the study assess principals’ preparation for early childhood education?\",\"answer\":\"It uses state certification data to examine principals’ preparation and survey data to explore their perceptions and reported practices.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the study find about early childhood certification among elementary principals?\",\"answer\":\"Findings indicate that few principals hold early childhood certification, even though most supervise early childhood teachers and young children.\"},{\"question\":\"What concern do principals raise regarding the PreK-3 continuum?\",\"answer\":\"Principals indicated a lack of commitment to the PreK-3 continuum, suggesting insufficient alignment across early childhood and later grades.\"}]","Elementary School Principals’ Perceptions Regarding Early Childhood Education | PDF",1792090256,45]