@article{little_drake_chapman_gragson_2024, title={Preparing Early Education Leaders: An Analysis of UCEA Principal Preparation Programs}, volume={9}, ISSN={0013-161X 1552-3519}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0013161X241281514}, DOI={10.1177/0013161X241281514}, abstractNote={Purpose: Recently, a confluence of factors has focused elementary school leaders on early education. One factor is that nearly 60 percent of all public elementary schools in the U.S. today have a Pre-K program in the building. Yet, prior research reveals that leaders are often not prepared to effectively lead early education programs. This study assesses the current state of early education leadership preparation among UCEA-affiliated programs. Method: Using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach, our study draws on survey data from 232 principal preparation faculty members at UCEA-affiliated programs, follow-up interviews with 20 purposively sampled survey respondents, and content analysis of 113 program web pages. Findings: We found that preparation programs currently afford little attention to early education leadership coursework and content, despite faculty expressing it as an important goal. Only four percent of faculty from the survey reported that their program required a course focused on child development and/or early education—a finding corroborated by the website analysis. Last, our interviews reveal reasons for the limited engagement with early education leadership, including time constraints, limited faculty experience, and licensure and accreditation requirements. Implications: Policymakers aiming to improve early education leadership may revise principal certification requirements that could prompt revisions in principal preparation programs. Principal preparation programs, similarly, could revise their programming to intentionally expose principal candidates to key topics in early education leadership. A bi-directional and concerted reform effort is likely needed to meaningfully advance change in this area.}, journal={Educational Administration Quarterly}, publisher={SAGE Publications}, author={Little, Michael H. and Drake, Timothy and Chapman, Kathryn and Gragson, Austin}, year={2024}, month={Sep} } @article{little_drake_cohen-vogel_gragson_cadilla_2024, title={Principal Leadership of Pre-K Programs in Elementary Schools: Evidence from North Carolina}, volume={9}, ISSN={0895-9048 1552-3896}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/08959048241271365}, DOI={10.1177/08959048241271365}, abstractNote={Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) programs are becoming increasingly common in elementary schools across the United States—in fact, a recent analysis of federal data revealed that 57% of public schools have a Pre-K grade. Despite the prevalence of Pre-K programs in schools, principals—known to be among the most important factors in school success—often lack the knowledge and professional supports to effectively lead Pre-K programs. In this study, guided by sensemaking theory, we work to advance knowledge on Pre-K principal leadership through a sequential mixed-methods analysis of elementary school principals in the state of North Carolina. Our study includes a statewide survey of all lead and assistant principals in the state ( N = 520) as well as follow-up interviews with 27 of the surveyed principals. Our findings reveal that while they report strong conceptual support for the Pre-K programs in their schools, principals demonstrate limited engagement with them. We also find that principal background and preparation in early education and the proportion of students from a Pre-K program that ultimately enroll in the school for kindergarten are important factors that help explain variation in principal orientations to Pre-K leadership.}, journal={Educational Policy}, publisher={SAGE Publications}, author={Little, Michael and Drake, Tim and Cohen-Vogel, Lora and Gragson, Austin and Cadilla, Victor}, year={2024}, month={Sep} } @article{little_gragson_2023, title={Nationally Representative Evidence on the Association Between Preschool and School-Based Parental Involvement in Elementary School}, ISSN={["1552-3896"]}, DOI={10.1177/08959048231167169}, abstractNote={ Increasing school-based parental involvement—which has links to improved student outcomes like academic achievement—is a core area of focus in many preschool programs. Yet, little research to date has examined what the association is between attending preschool and school-based parental involvement in early elementary school. This study addresses this gap by drawing on nationally-representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 2010 to 2011 ( N = 18,174) to examine the association between preschool attendance and measures of school-based parental involvement in early elementary school. The findings reveal consistent positive associations between preschool attendance and school-based parental involvement. There is little evidence of variation in associations based on the type (e.g., private and Head Start) or location (e.g., center-based and school-based) of the preschool program. }, journal={EDUCATIONAL POLICY}, author={Little, Michael and Gragson, Austin}, year={2023}, month={Apr} } @article{little_gragson_2023, title={State leaders in early childhood education: Perspectives on instructional policy supports and alignment}, volume={63}, ISSN={["1873-7706"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.ecresq.2022.12.016}, abstractNote={States may regulate instructional policies—standards, curricula, assessments, and professional development—of early childhood education programs with the goal of improving student learning outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to report findings from a national survey (61 respondents from 30 states) and follow-up interviews (N = 12) on how state early education leaders think about key issues related to instructional policy supports. Notable findings include broad support from state leaders for using a combination of global and content-specific curricula and for developing consistency in curricula regulations across disparate early childhood programs. State leaders also report moderate alignment among the instructional policy supports investigated. Understanding the views of these state leaders is important given the latitude the departments and agencies they represent have in shaping instructional policy of early education programs.}, journal={EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH QUARTERLY}, author={Little, Michael and Gragson, Austin}, year={2023}, pages={288–298} } @article{drake_little_cohen-vogel_gragson_cadilla_2023, title={What Shapes Principals’ Early Education Leadership Practices? A Mixed-Methods Study of North Carolina School Leaders}, volume={11}, ISSN={1570-0763 1744-5043}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2023.2277270}, DOI={10.1080/15700763.2023.2277270}, abstractNote={Principals can play an important role in the effectiveness of early education programs and early grade levels in their school. The purpose of this study is to describe the relationship between principals' backgrounds and their self-assessed early education leadership practices. Using a mixed-methods approach that draws on surveys and interviews from school leaders in North Carolina, we found that principals often lacked experience or training in early education. We also identified factors (e.g., training in early education) that predicted higher self-assessed early education leadership practices. We conclude by discussing the implication of these findings for research, policy, and practice.}, journal={Leadership and Policy in Schools}, publisher={Informa UK Limited}, author={Drake, Timothy A. and Little, Michael and Cohen-Vogel, Lora and Gragson, Austin and Cadilla, Victor}, year={2023}, month={Nov}, pages={1–22} }