The Future of Education

A wide range of skills and behaviors critical for school readiness have been identified in early childhood education (Iruka et al., 2020). The interaction between the child, the child’s teachers, and the environment creates a dynamic process from which the quality of the environment and teacher-child interactions impacts the school readiness skills of the students (e.g., Pianta et al., 2020). As many of the teacher candidates without certification are employed due to teacher shortages in the United States, they lack knowledge and skills to address urgent and ongoing problems (such as school readiness) in their classrooms. This proposal intends to report the research findings from a study that uses an action research approach to document how new teachers learn through their graduate courses and apply research-based practices to help young children get ready for school. The experiences of teachers of learning and implementing tools and strategies to prepare their students’ school readiness skills in early childhood will be presennted.