Experimental impacts of a teacher professional development program in early childhood on explicit vocabulary instruction across the curriculum

Relationships of Teachers’ Language and Explicit Vocabulary Instruction to Students’ Vocabulary Growth in Kindergarten

“…This sample of classrooms was part of a randomized experimental evaluation of a coaching‐based professional development program that included training in providing explicit vocabulary instruction during book reading. Although this intervention did not show impacts on students’ vocabulary growth, previous analyses of these classrooms found that trained teachers were more likely to devote time to literacy activities, particularly book reading, and when literacy instruction was provided, it lasted 13 minutes more, on average, with a corresponding increase in explicit vocabulary instruction during these activities (Bowne et al., ; Yoshikawa et al., ).…”

“…During these episodes, teachers did not rely on books to introduce words and communicate information; they tended to refer to photographs, drawings, objects, and explanations to introduce the necessary ideas. In fact, another analysis found that book‐reading episodes were weaker sources of conceptual information in these classrooms, when compared with instructional episodes in other topics, such as science, social studies, and math (Bowne et al., ). The rate at which teachers in our sample provided conceptual information during vocabulary episodes is similar to that found during book reading, content instruction, and small‐group activities in a study of Head Start classrooms in the United States (Dickinson et al., ), suggesting that these findings may not be unique to this sample.…”

“…Analysis focused on whole-group instruction, the most typical context for explicit vocabulary instruction (e.g., Penno et al, 2002;Silverman, 2007) and where most instruction in these classrooms occurred. A recent review of the same data found that there was very little free play and no differentiated center time in the classrooms (Bowne et al, 2016). When students were not in whole groups, they were out of the classroom, eating, transitioning, or working on individual worksheets, and few teacher-student conversations occurred during these times.…”

Understanding the Workforce of the South Carolina Child Early Reading and Development Education Program: Teacher Education Requirements and Professional Development Opportunities

“…Indeed, ensuring access to high-quality professional development is the second identified component of an effective professional development system. Individual evaluations of professional development interventions indicate that they can have a positive effect on teacher practice and classroom quality (Bowne, Yoshikawa, and Snow, 2016;Dickinson and Caswell, 2007;Early et al, 2017;Landry et al, 2009). However, research suggests that certain types of professional development, such as one-on-one or small-group coaching, or trainings that are long-term, sustained, and instructionally specific, may be more effective than other opportunities, such as stand-alone workshops (Muenchow et al, 2013).…”

“…Evaluations of these different professional development activities suggest that they can have positive effects on teacher practices, classroom quality scores, and child developmental outcomes, but that is not always the case (e.g., Bowne, Yoshikawa, and Snow, 2016;Dickinson and Caswell, 2007;Early et al, 2017;Landry et al, 2009;Landry et al, 2006;Powell et al, 2010). These evaluations have used multiple methods and focused on a variety of classroom quality outcomes or children's school readiness skills in examining various professional development interventions (e.g., online-only courses, workshops, in-person courses, a mix of professional development offerings).…”