Gary E. Bingham

• Georgia State University

Teachers' knowledge impacts their practices in classrooms. While considerable research has sought to understand teachers' broad emergent literacy knowledge, less is known about the specific knowledge teachers hold regarding early writing. The present study engaged 66 diverse early childhood teachers in five Head Start programs across two states to...

Early writing is an important early literacy skill related to later reading and writing development. Writing assessment and instruction, however, tends to focus on just part of early writing development, transcription (i.e., handwriting and spelling), whereas composing (i.e., text generation) is an essential component of early and later writing. In...

Experiences with nature are important for children’s development and there are many ways for educators to provide children with exceptionalities opportunities to interact with nature. Children with diverse needs can, and should, have opportunities to interact with nature. This article describes how to apply Universal Design for Learning (UDL) princ...

Coaching is a popular mechanism for supporting teachers’ improved use of teaching strategies. However, relatively little is known about which coaching processes are used or how those are implemented, especially in emerging formats like online asynchronous coaching. We used a multiple-case study design to examine coaching logs from an asynchronous w...

Culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) that builds on and sustains students' cultural and linguistic practices is important for students' academic achievement and identities. While CSP is applicable to any content area, a critical time to incorporate it is during differentiated reading groups—small‐group contexts that provide explicit code‐based and/...

US dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs have a goal to develop students' sociocultural competence, but little is known about how preservice teachers (PSTs) do this. This descriptive study involved quantitative and qualitative analysis of 82 videos of instruction and 76 lesson plans from nine Latinx PSTs placed in Spanish DLBE classroom...

This article provides early educators with guidance for promoting early writing development by integrating writing opportunities throughout the school day.

This study examined the early writing beliefs, ideas, and practices of 54 early childhood teachers. Teachers completed a survey designed to examine their early writing beliefs and provided definitions about early writing development through a written response. Teachers were also observed in their classrooms and writing practices were coded for inst...

Online professional learning approaches are positioned as a key way to support the knowledge and practice of the early childhood workforce. Within the research literature, however, limited attention has been given to early childhood teachers’ perceptions of, and experiences with, online learning programs, particularly those using asynchronous conte...

This inquiry examined the pedagogical practices in mathematics of elementary teachers (N=27) who had been identified as experienced and successful and were working in an urban school district with underserved student populations. Also investigated were relationships between their instructional practices and other elements of proficient teaching of...

This 5-year mathematics professional development project involves 27 elementary teachers prepared and supported as Elementary Mathematics Specialists (EMSs) in high-need, urban schools. Our inquiry centers on their experiences in the EMS preparation program and the development of important outcomes, specifically productive beliefs and teacher leade...

Emergent bilingual children express their ideas in written language through meaningful marks on a page by leveraging their oral language and print focused skills from home and school languages. Because writing is a complex task, particularly for children learning more than one language, teachers must make decisions about how they guide children thr...

This 5-year mathematics professional development project involves 27 elementary teachers prepared and supported as Elementary Mathematics Specialists (EMSs) in high-need, urban schools. The EMSs are a distinctive population as informal teacher leaders, with a primary responsibility of teaching students. Described here are data collected at the end...

Preschool children’s relationships with their teachers play an important role in their learning and development. Despite this importance, extant research mostly relies on teachers’ perceptions about the relationships with children limiting our understanding of the bidirectional nature of these relationships. The present study aimed to explore teach...

Having a dual focus on teaching content information and language is important in language-learning contexts and is a defining feature of dual language bilingual education (DLBE). However, systematically teaching both language and content is challenging for DLBE teachers. This exploratory mixed methods study of nine Spanish-English bilingual Latinx...

Writing skills grow along a predictable developmental trajectory, yet what is considered “writing” can look very different in preschool and early elementary classrooms. The way in which writing may look in each setting reflects that teachers are working with different sets of learning standards, with different conceptualizations of writing to infor...

Research Findings: High quality STEM professional learning is necessary for supporting early educators to implement early childhood STEM education in ways that promote young children’s development. This is particularly important for educators serving young children of color or from under-resourced backgrounds who have few STEM early learning opport...

This study examined preschool teachers’ writing knowledge and how this knowledge relates to classroom writing practices. Head Start teachers (N = 47) across two states participated by completing a knowledge questionnaire in which they responded to three vignettes and samples of preschool children’s writing. Teachers’ writing practices were gathered...

Learning to write is challenging for young children, as they must integrate their still-developing fine motor skills with an understanding of written language to produce a mark that has meaning. Complicating things more is the fact that children are often asked to produce a variety of written products with varying task demands (e.g., writing single...

This study presents an initial investigation of a professional development intervention model for promoting preschool teachers’ high-leverage writing instruction through a modification of the “Morning Meeting Time” (MMT) classroom routine. Using a quasi-experimental design, 14 teachers and 112 children were assigned to intervention and comparison c...

Although writing is a critical foundational skill and teachers’ approaches to writing is connected to development, writing instruction in preschool is often limited, infrequent, and narrow. While research has investigated literacy environments of preschool classrooms, often with a focus on reading, less is known about writing environments. Thus, it...

Early writing skills are among the strongest predictors of later reading and writing achievement; however, these crucial skills are often neglected in early childhood classrooms. In this article, we present a systematic, quantitative content analysis of early learning standards (for ages 3–5) in states that were using the Common Core State Standard...

Conceptual models of early writing suggest multiple component skills support children’s early writing development. Although research interest in early writing skills has grown in recent years, the majority of studies focus narrowly on procedural knowledge or transcription skills (i.e., handwriting and spelling) to the relative exclusion of how chil...

Early writing is a foundational component of emergent literacy. Despite recent increases in early writing research, studies often narrowly focus on transcription (i.e., letter and/or name writing, spelling) to the exclusion of their ability to compose or generate ideas and translate into writing. Research investigating composing approaches it in di...

In early childhood, both self-regulation and fine motor skill proficiency are positively related to academic achievement – and recent research suggests that these two factors are interrelated and co-develop such that skill in one may make up for deficiencies in another. PURPOSE: The aim of the present investigation was to determine the extent to wh...

Despite a growing body of literature in English-speaking contexts documenting associations among children’s early reading, executive function (EF), and early writing development, relatively few studies investigate the development of these skills in young Chinese children. Utilizing a longitudinal research design, this study followed 84 Chinese chil...

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine narrative language samples of Spanish-speaking preschoolers to analyze changes in microstructural and macrostructural skills in their first language (L1) from fall to spring, relationships between narrative and vocabulary skills in L1, and the extent to which fall skills predict spring performance....

Early writing—a valuable early literacy skill—begins to develop prior to kindergarten. Young children participating in preschool benefit from writing opportunities facilitated by teachers. Writing opportunities, however, are often limited in preschool settings. It is important to understand teachers’ beliefs and practices for promoting early writin...

The authors conducted a qualitative content analysis of the 400 National Science Teachers Association Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12 from 2010–2017 selected for their instructional usefulness in science classrooms. The authors examined these expert‐recommended science trade books to better understand their design and to identify...

The number of dual-language learners (DLLs) from low-income backgrounds who attend early education programs in the U.S. is rapidly increasing, leading to a need for research that examines the effects of classroom practices, including whether teachers speak English or the home language, on DLL children’s school readiness. This issue was examined in...

Using data from a large study of 78 high-quality Head Start classrooms in 12 sites across the U.S., this study examined whether peers' receptive vocabulary skills and teacher-reported social-emotional (S-E) functioning (i.e., behavior problems and self-regulation) measured at the beginning of the preschool year were related to children's gains in t...

Despite the importance of early writing development to children’s school success, research documents that early childhood teachers spend little time actively supporting children’s writing development in preschool classrooms. This article provides a framework for integrating writing experiences across the early childhood curriculum. Practical exampl...

Young children's writing development (i.e., writing occurring in preschool and kindergarten prior to the skilled, fluent writing associated with formal schooling) is an important predictor of later literacy achievement. Current policy movements, such as the Common Core State Standards, invoke increased composing demands, yet research has often focu...

This article addresses the importance and benefits of integrating informational texts into read alouds in preschool classrooms through an instructional approach entitled REAL Time. Teachers use the REAL Time framework to pair complex storybooks with one or more informational texts in order to develop children’s understanding of key vocabulary and i...

Parenting is a multidimensional construct that includes practices, attitudes, and emotional capacity. The aims of the study were to examine variation within parenting through a person-centered approach and the extent to which child and family characteristics were associated with profiles of parenting as well as the link between parenting profiles a...

This study examined associations among parenting style, parents’ literacy beliefs, home literacy practices, and children’s emergent writing skills. A total of 190 African American parents with varied educational experiences and their preschool-aged child participated. Parents completed a survey designed to examine their parenting practices and beli...

The purpose of the present study was to examine associations among children’s emergent literacy (early reading), language, executive function (EF), and invented spelling skills across prekindergarten. Participants included 123, primarily African American, 4-year-old children enrolled in a variety of prekindergarten settings. In addition to describi...

Objectives: Emerging evidence suggests that early phonological awareness in deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children with functional hearing is significantly related to their reading acquisition, and the assessment of phonological awareness can play a critical role in preventing reading difficulties. Validation of the scores obtained from standardi...

Despite a wide recognition about the importance of young children’s language and literacy environments to later achievement, little is known about teachers’ supportive approaches to early writing in preschool classroom contexts and the ways in which these supportive approaches relate to children’s writing development. This study examined how teache...

This study examined associations among parenting style, home literacy practices, and children's language skills. A total of 181 ethnically diverse parents, primarily African American, and their preschool‐aged child participated. Results suggest that an authoritative parenting style was positively associated with informal home literacy (book reading...

This study examined teachers? implementation of an early literacy intervention, Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy (SEEL), on kindergarten children?s development of early literacy skills. One hundred forty-nine kindergarten children (102 treatment) across six classrooms participated in this study. Results reveal that children who received SEEL...

Dialogic reading is an evidence-based practice for preschool children who are typically developing or at-risk; yet there is limited research to evaluate if it has similar positive effects on the language and preliteracy skills of children with disabilities. This quasi-experimental study examined the effects of dialogic reading, with the incorporati...

Print in the environment is typically posted in early childhood classrooms. However, the print that exists is often not meaningful to children, and teachers rarely engage children in using the print. This is a missed opportunity to support children's writing. This article presents research-based ideas for engaging children with meaningful print in...

Early writing is important to young children's development—research indicates that writing is predictive of later reading and writing. Despite this, preschool teachers often do not focus on writing and offer limited scaffolding to foster children's writing development. This article shares innovative ways to scaffold early writing across the three c...

Authors May and Bingham advocate for interactive read-alouds of informational texts as an avenue for supporting literacy development while building on the experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse children.

The purpose of the present study is to revisit and validate the current conceptualization of helicopter parenting with Korean college students by using the Helicopter Parenting Scale. Using an individuation-separation process framework from family systems theory, we also examined associations between college student’s retrospective self-report of t...

As U.S. schools continue to grow more culturally and linguistically diverse, it is important for teacher-educator programs to include pedagogy that promotes engaging learning opportunities for all children. One way these learning opportunities can occur is through interactive read-alouds. Interactive read-alouds provide the teacher and child an opp...

The purpose of the present study was to examine associations among English and Spanish emergent literacy skills of prekindergarten (pre-K) Spanish-speaking dual language learners in relation to their English invented spelling. Study participants included 141 Spanish-speaking 4-year-old children enrolled in state-funded pre-K programs in a large urb...

The teacher readaloud is an instructional tool established in its ability to foster children's language and literacy development. Increasing cultural and linguistic diversity and changing standards place pressure on teachers to provide literacy and language instruction relevant to children's everyday lives and learning. This article presents a fram...

Early literacy intervention programs are predicated on the understanding that children's early literacy performance in preschool is one of the most important early predictors of subsequent school success. As the largest U.S.-funded early literacy intervention program, Early Reading First (ERF) sought to advance the language and literacy outcomes of...

Purpose This study had 4 primary purposes: (a) to describe the oral narrative performance of typically developing African American prekindergarten children with commonly used macro- and microstructure measures; (b) to examine the concurrent and (c) predictive relations between narrative performance, spoken dialect use, vocabulary, and story compreh...

Background Little empirical research examines relations among the quality of both mothers’ and fathers’ social emotional and linguistic support of toddlers across multiple parent–child interaction contexts. Objective The current study investigated the influence of parent gender (mother vs. father) and activity setting (structured task vs. free play...

This study examined mothers’ and fathers’ parenting challenges and strategies/resources used when parenting toddlers. Through a qualitative interview protocol, implemented with mothers and fathers separately at a university laboratory, this study found that both fathers and mothers appeared to be transitioning from traditional gender roles towards...

This study investigated the effect of full- and half-day kindergarten programmes on English language learners (ELL) and English-only-speaking children's literacy and mathematics performance in a large urban school district. Considerations were given to how the length of the school day, children's language status (ELL and non-ELL), and children's at...

While many embrace balanced literacy as a framework for quality literacy instruction, the way in which teachers operationalise the tenets of balanced literacy can vary greatly. In the present study, 581 teachers in the United States completed questionnaires concerning: (a) their beliefs about literacy skills and literacy instructional strategies th...

Writing is a critical emergent literacy skill that lays the foundation for children’s later literacy skills and reading achievement. Recent work indicates that many early childhood programs offer children materials and tools for engaging in writing activities but teachers rarely are seen modeling writing for children or scaffolding children’s writi...

This study investigated mothers' and fathers' language use in dyadic and triadic contexts. Specific attention was paid to factors associated with the quantity and quality of mother and father language use in triadic settings. Sixty-three predominantly middle-class, two-parent families with toddlers (age 16 to 37 months) participated. Mother–child a...

The underachievement of African American, Latino, and American Indian students in the United States has been partially attributed to poor engagement in school (e.g., Connell, Spencer & Aber, 1994; Steele, 1997). In this chapter, we consider the role of ethnicity in student engagement. A number of factors have been posited to influence minority stud...

The connection between language and reading is well established across many languages studied to date. Little is known, however, about the role of language in reading in Arabic—a Semitic language characterized by diglossia—in which the oral and written varieties differ across language components. This study examined the relationship among multiple...

This study examined the effect of explicit and engaging supplemental early literacy instruction on at-risk kindergarten children’s literacy development. Sixty-three kindergarten-aged children who had been ranked in the lowest 20th percentile on basic literacy skills participated in this study (38 treatment). Results reveal that children who receive...

Elementary students aren't too young to use self-assessment. With the teacher's help, it can boost motivation and achievement.

Child maltreatment represents a serious threat to children's rights and is a grave problem in the US and around the world. It is the second leading cause of death for children in the US. Each year, hundreds of thousands of reports are made to child protective services across the US. A fraction of these reports are made by the alleged victims of chi...

Sixty-seven American Indian and 96 European-American undergraduate students responded to questions about their educational and ethnic beliefs and their perceptions of their mother’s and father’s support for education. The American Indian participants completed some additional items regarding their ethnic beliefs and their perceptions of their paren...

Research Findings: This study investigated the effects of full- and half-day kindergarten programs on classroom instructional quality and children's academic achievement. Considerations were given for how the length of the school day, language status (English language learner [ELL] and non-ELL), and children's attendance patterns influenced achieve...

This study examined the relation among mothers' literacy-related beliefs, the home literacy environment, the quality of mother–child book-reading interactions, and children's development of early literacy skills. The participants of this study were 60 mothers and their 4-year-old children. After controlling for mothers' educational attainment, moth...

The primary goal of this study was to examine how the quality of the parent-child relationship and parenting style are related to the quality and quantity of parent-child literacy interactions and children's early literacy development. Little is known about the indirect effects that the parent-child relationship may have on children's acquisition o...