A New Approach to Supporting the Quality of Early Care and Education Programs in Arkansas: Case Studies of Array

National Center for Children in Poverty. Bank Street Graduate School of Education, 610 West 112th Street, New York, NY 10025. e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: https://www.nccp.org/

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Administration for Children and Families (DHHS), Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE)

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Early Childhood Education; Early Childhood Teachers; Program Effectiveness; Student Behavior; Behavior Problems; Professional Development; Child Care Centers; Teacher Competencies; Stress Management; Intervention; Behavior Modification; Teacher Student Relationship; Barriers; Administrator Role

A recently launched professional development initiative in Arkansas, called Array, is designed to proactively identify early care and education (ECE) programs that could benefit from social-emotional-focused (SE-focused) professional development and support, and to offer assistance tailored to a program's particular needs. Because Array is designed to initiate contact with ECE programs, it has the potential to intervene early and prevent serious escalations of teachers' frustration in response to children's challenging behavior. This report examines results from case studies in three ECE programs that participated in Array between June and December 2022. The results focus on unique features of Array, how it operates, reported benefits to programs, and recommendations for continued improvement.

As Provided

2024

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