Developmentally Appropriate Beliefs and Practices of Public and Private Kindergarten Teachers in

168 Pages·2008·1.36 MB·English

DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE BELIEFS AND PRACTICES OF

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS IN THE

UNITED STATES AND TAIWAN

Huei-Chun Liu, B.A. M.S.

Dissertation Prepare d for the Degree of

DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS

December 2007

APPROVED:

George S. Morrison, Major Professor
Bertina Combes, Minor Professor
Karen Petty, Committee Member
Lien-An, Hsu, Committee Member
Leslie Patterson, Chair of the Department of
Teacher Education and Administration
M. Jean Keller, Committee Member and Dean of
the College of Education
Sandra L. Terrell, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse
School of Graduate Studies
Liu, Huei-Chun, Developmentally Appropriate Beliefs and Practices of Public and
Private Kindergarten Teachers in the United States and Taiwan. Doctor of Education (Early
Childhood Education), December 2007, 155 pp., 33 tables, 2 illustrations, reference list, 160
titles.
The purposes of the present study are to: (a) describe the beliefs and practices of the US
and Taiwan (TW) public and private kindergarten teachers regarding developmentally
appropriate practice (DAP), (b) examine the group differences between the four groups of
teachers, and (c) identify the salient factors related to the variability of developmentally
appropriate beliefs and practice in these teachers. Three hundred and fifty-seven kindergarten
teachers participated in the study. The group sizes were 123, 123, 57, and 54 for Taiwan private,
Taiwan public, US private, and US public kindergarten teachers, respectively. A survey was used
to collect data.
Findings from this study showed: (a) Both the US and Taiwan kindergarten teachers
highly endorsed beliefs about DAP; (b) US and Taiwan kindergarten teachers also held strong
beliefs about developmentally inappropriate practices (DIP); (c) DAP activities occurred
regularly in the classrooms; (d) developmentally inappropriate practice (DIP) activities also took
place a lot although they were lower than the DAP activities; (e) the Taiwan teachers had higher
beliefs about DAP and lower beliefs about DIP than the US teachers; (f) the US teachers reported
both higher DAP and DIP activities than the Taiwan teachers; (g) there were no differences
between public and private kindergarten teachers; (h) hierarchical regression analyses using
teacher’s personal demographic variables as the first block and numbers of boys and girls as the
second block were generally not effective; (i) there were different sets of best predictors from the
backward regression for different dimensions of developmentally appropriate beliefs and
practices; and (j) beliefs about DAP and DIP were usually more powerful than the demographic
and classroom variables in predicting the DAP and DIP activities.
Future studies are needed to refine the Teacher Belief Scale and Instructional Activity
Scale instruments and include classroom observations to verify and expand the findings. Future
teacher training on DAP should promote beliefs about DAP and reduce beliefs about DIP.
Enhancing teachers’ skills to implement the DAP activities and decrease the DIP activities is
suggested.
Copyright 2007
by
Huei-Chun Liu
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge the people who surrounded me and shared their support of
me in my educational journey. My sincere thanks are extended to my dissertation chair,
Professor George S. Morrison, for his constant encouragement and valuable guidance. His
adventure spirit and leadership in the international early childhood field has been an outstanding
role model to me. My dissertation committee members, Drs. Jean Keller, Bertina Combes, Karen
Petty, and Lien-An Hsu, are thanked for their valuable advice and encouragement. Special
appreciation is expressed to the Dean of the College of Education, Jean Keller, for her emotional
support and constructive advice throughout my graduate studies. The entire dissertation
committee made the writing of this dissertation a positive learning experience.
Additionally, thank Dr. Changkuan Xu for his statistical direction. With his step-by-step
guidance, I successfully and clearly presented the research results. The public and private
kindergarten directors and teachers in the United States and Taiwan who participated in the
research are thanked. Without their help, this study could not be completed.
My friends, Mei Ma, Ying-Ying Chen, Jack Yen, and the Bullock family cared and
supported me as this journey was made. I especially want to thank three American elders, Marian
Keller, Tony Garcia, and Elizabeth Garcia. They shared their wisdom and life experiences with
me when I needed it most. Although they passed away during my dissertation writing, their love
will be in my heart forever.
Most of all, I would like to express my heart-felt appreciation to my family, especially
my parents and my sister. They not only gave me financial support during my graduate studies in
the US, but also their endless love, support, and encouragement. They always believed in me,
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were patient with me, and gave me the freedom to pursue my dream. Without them, my studies
and research would not have been possible.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................iii

LIST OF TABLES........................................................................................................................vii

LIST OF FIGURES.......................................................................................................................ix

DEFINITION OF TERMS..............................................................................................................x

Chapters

I INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................1
Development of Kindergarten Programs..........................................................2
Statement of the problem................................................................................10
Purpose of the Study.......................................................................................13
Research Questions and Hypotheses..............................................................14

II REVIEW OF LITERATURE...................................................................................16
Developmentally Appropriate Practice...........................................................16
Human Development and Learning Theories related to Developmentally
Appropriate Practice Principles.........................................................17
Measurements of Developmentally Appropriate Practice..............................22
Studies of Teachers’ Developmentally Appropriate Beliefs and Practice in the
US......................................................................................................33
Early Childhood Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices about DAP in Other
Countries............................................................................................43
Summary.........................................................................................................50

III METHODOLOGY..................................................................................................51
Participants......................................................................................................51
Data Collection Procedures.............................................................................52
Survey Instruments.........................................................................................53
Translation of the Questionnaires...................................................................55
Assumptions....................................................................................................56
Data Analysis Strategies.................................................................................57

IV RESULTS...............................................................................................................59
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The Assessment of Psychometric Properties..................................................59
Status of Kindergarten Teachers’ Developmentally Appropriate Beliefs and
Practice...............................................................................................62
Developmentally Appropriate Beliefs and Practices – Group Differences....63
Predictions of Developmentally Appropriate Beliefs and Practices...............70

V DISCUSSION.........................................................................................................97
Summary and Discussion................................................................................97
Contributions and Limitations......................................................................104
Findings and Conclusions.............................................................................105
Implications...................................................................................................107

Appendices

A TEACHER’S DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE BELIEFS AND
PRACTICES SURVEY......................................................................................110

B INFORMATIONAL TABLES............................................................................131

C SELECTED PROFILE PLOTS FOR TWO-WAY ANOVAS............................144

REFERENCES............................................................................................................................146
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LIST OF TABLES
Page
1. Internal Consistency Reliability of the Teachers Beliefs and Practices Survey................60
2. Intercorrelations among Teacher Belief Scale and Instructional Activity Scale Subscales
within Sample....................................................................................................................61
3. Descriptions of the Teachers’ Beliefs and Instructional Activities Scales........................63
4. Means and Standard Deviations by School Location and School Type............................67
5. Two-way ANOVA of Developmentally Appropriate Beliefs and Practices.....................69
6. Hierarchical Regressions for Taiwan Private and Public Teachers Related to Teacher
Beliefs and Instructional Activities....................................................................................76
7. Hierarchical Regressions for US Private and Public Teachers Related to Teacher Beliefs
and Instructional Activities................................................................................................77
8. Backward Regression for Taiwan Private Group..............................................................81
9. Backward Regression for Taiwan Public Group...............................................................83
10. Backward Regression for United States Private Group.....................................................86
12. Correlations among the Three Belief Factors for the Four Groups...................................89
13. Hierarchical Regression on Developmentally Appropriate Practice Instructional
Activities (DAPIA) with Structural and Belief Variables for Taiwan Private Group.......90
14. Hierarchical Regression on Developmentally Inappropriate Practice Instructional
Activities (DIPIA) with Structural and Belief Variables for Taiwan Private Group.........91
15. Hierarchical Regressions on Developmentally Appropriate and Inappropriate Practice
Instructional Activities with Structural and Belief Variables for Taiwan Public Group...93
16. Hierarchical Regressions on Developmentally Appropriate and Inappropriate Practice
Instructional Activities with Structural and Belief Variables for United States Private
Group.................................................................................................................................94
17. Hierarchical Regressions on Developmentally Appropriate and Inappropriate Practice
Instructional Activities with Structural and Belief Variables for United States Public
Group.................................................................................................................................96
B.1 Demographic Characteristics for the Taiwan Private Group...........................................132
B.2 Demographic Characteristics for the Taiwan Public Group............................................133
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B.3 Demographic Characteristics for the United States Private Group.................................134
B.4 Demographic Characteristics for the United States Public Group...................................135
B.5 Correlational Matrix of the Demographic Variables for the Taiwan Private Group.......136
B.6 Correlational Matrix of the Demographic Variables for the Taiwan Public Group........136
B.7 Correlational Matrix of the Demographic Variables for the United States Private Group
..........................................................................................................................................137
B.8 Correlational Matrix of the Demographic Variables for the United States Public Group
..........................................................................................................................................137
B.9 Model Summary for the Backward Regression for the Taiwan Private Group...............138
B.10 Model Summary for the Backward Regression for the Taiwan Public Group................139
B.11 Model Summary for the Backward Regression for the US Private Group......................140
B.12 Model Summary for the Backward Regression for the US Public Group.......................141
B.13 Intercorrelations among the Subscales of the Developmentally Appropriate and
Inappropriate Practice Instructional Activities in TW Private Group.............................142
B.14 Intercorrelations among the Subscales of the Developmentally Appropriate and
Inappropriate Practice Instructional Activities in TW Public Group...............................142
B.15 Intercorrelations among the Subscales of the Developmentally Appropriate and
Inappropriate Practice Instructional Activities in US Private Group...............................143
B.16 Intercorrelations among the Subscales of the Developmentally Appropriate and
Inappropriate Practice Instructional Activities in US Public Group................................143
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