Is Teacher Qualification Associated With the Quality of the Early Childhood Education and Care Environment? A Meta-Analytic Review

Author
Manning M., Wong G. T., Fleming C. M., Garvis S.
Year
2019

Purpose

The study is a meta-analytic overview of knowledge that investigates evidence of the correlation between teacher qualifications and the quality of educational and care environments for children in their early childhood. The purpose is to confirm the importance of teachers’ and carers’ level of education at various child institutions. The study attempts to answer the following research question: Is there a correlation between teachers’ education and the quality of the learning environment in early childhood, as measured by The Early Childhood Rating Scale, the Infant Toddler Environment Rating Scale, and their revised versions?

Result

The results show a positive correlation between the teacher’s education and the quality of the educational and care environment, measured by ERS. The authors believe these results highlight that further research is likely to support the need to raise the level of education for teachers in the early childhood education sector.

Design

The meta-analysis includes studies conducted at institutions that are mainly indoor institutions and care for infants, toddlers, pre-school children and kindergarten children. The studies must specify the teacher’s education programme.

Firstly, the authors conducted a search among selected journals published in the period 1980-2015. In addition, searches were carried out in electronic databases using keywords where grey literature was also included. Relevant articles were included based on a list of criteria selected by the authors. Finally, 49 studies were categorised that qualified for inclusion in the meta-analysis.

References

Manning, M., Wong, G. T. W., Fleming, C. M. & Garvis, S. (2019). "Is Teacher Qualification Associated With the Quality of the Early Childhood Education and Care Environment? A Meta-Analytic Review". Review of Educational Research, 89(3):370-415. 

Financed by

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