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Teacher-family partnerships are crucial elements of high-quality early childhood education. The factors influencing these partnerships, particularly for children under age 3, are not well known. This study compares teachers' and mothers' perspectives on their partnership and the ideal practices they would like to see implemented. Additionally, it investigates child, family, and program-level factors predictive of partnership practices. Participants were mothers and teachers of 90 infants who completed the Real-Ideal Teacher-parents Partnership Scale; mothers rated child's temperament, and classroom quality was observed 6-months after infants entered childcare. Home environment was assessed before infants entered childcare. Both mothers and teachers reported a medium-high number of practices being implemented, but ideally, would like more practices to be implemented. The frequency of mother and teacher reports of real and ideal practices were significantly associated, although teacher reports were higher. Findings from the regression analyses showed that teacher level of education (having a Master) was uniquely and positively associated with both teachers' and mothers' reports of real partnership practices, and was significantly associated with teachers' reports of ideal partnership practices. Mothers' education level predicted their ideal partnership practices. Findings highlight the importance of teacher education for partnerships, especially considering the variability in legal requirements regarding qualifications for teaching infants across Europe.

Research Findings: This study examined whether teacher-child interaction quality varied as a function of type of activity in toddler classrooms in four European countries (Finland, Netherlands, Poland, and Portugal). It also investigated whether specific activity settings, namely levels of adult involvement, use of whole group, and children's engagement with materials, explained differences in teacher-child interaction quality across activities. Participants were 129 toddler classrooms and their lead teachers, specifically, 28 in the Netherlands, 40 in Finland, 31 in Portugal, and 30 in Poland. Process quality was measured with the CLASS Toddler (La Paro et al., 2012) and the Activity Setting Measure was used to characterize adult levels of involvement, group organization, and children's engagement with materials. Findings indicated that there were important variations across activities in all countries. Positive associations were found between higher levels of adult facilitation and both Emotional and Educational Support. Other activity settings partially explained differences across activities in interaction quality, although patterns varied by country. Practice or Policy: CLASS scores were conditional on the content and format of the activities. Greater attention to activity types and settings may be a means to increase the precision of quality assessment.

Prior research has consistently shown that motivation is a catalyst for students' writing performance, with important implications for writing instruction. However, this body of research has mainly relied on a variable-centered approach that does not acknowledge the similarities and differences between and within groups of students. In the current study, we sought to address this research gap by examining the association between different motivational profiles and writing performance using a person-centered approach. Accordingly, we aimed to: (1) identify different motivational profiles in writing, based on students' implicit theories and achievement goals; and (2) examine whether students in different profiles varied in writing performance. To this end, we sampled 212 Portuguese sixth-grade students (M = 11.11 years, SD = 0.56) and collected motivational and writing performance measures at a single time point. Cluster analyses revealed two distinct writing motivation profiles: one profile reflected students with a growth mindset who were less oriented toward performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals, and another profile represented students with a fixed mindset who were more oriented toward performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals. Subsequent analyses indicated that one profile could be considered as more adaptive than the other. Specifically, students in the growth mindset and less performance-oriented profile wrote opinion texts with better quality and earned higher writing grades than students in the fixed mindset and more performance-oriented profile. Overall, these findings suggest that teachers should add motivation-enhancing practices to writing instruction and tailor their teaching practices according to students' unique motivational profiles.

This study aimed to examine the unique and joint contributions of behavioral and emotional self-regulation to key but understudied emergent literacy and early social skills, disentangling sex-differentiated paths. The participants were 231 Portuguese preschoolers (50% boys; M[subscript age] = 59.5 months; SD = 8.5) enrolled in 47 classrooms. In the first assessment wave, the children's behavioral self-regulation and receptive vocabulary were individually assessed. The teachers reported on children's emotional self-regulation. In the second assessment wave, individual assessments on children's expressive vocabulary, syntactic knowledge, oral-narrative production, and social problem-solving skills were conducted. The results showed that the children's emergent literacy and early social skills were more related to their behavioral self-regulation than to their emotional self-regulation. Child sex moderated the links between behavioral self-regulation and oral-narrative production skills and the link between emotional self-regulation and early social skills. These findings may have important implications for planning early interventions for developing self-regulation skills.

This study examined the extent to which the quality of teacher-infant interactions varies across play and routine care activities. In addition, the effects of the quantity of adult involvement in the quality of teacher-infant interactions were investigated. Participants were teachers and infants from 90 infant classrooms in Portugal. Classrooms had, on average, six infants enrolled (M = 6.38, SD = 2.34), with the number of adults ranging from 1 to 3 (M = 2.00, SD = 0.60). Classrooms were observed by trained observers using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System--Infant (CLASS-Infant). Research Findings: Multilevel models showed that interaction quality varied as a function of type of activity. The quality of interactions of all CLASS domains was lower in routine care activities compared to play activities. Findings further showed that adult involvement was positively associated with all CLASS domains. In addition, after adding adult involvement to the models, differences between play and routine care activities were no longer statistically significant for most CLASS domains. Practice or Policy: Findings suggest the importance of considering the context of the activity and the levels of adult involvement when assessing and improving the quality of teacher-infant interactions.

The interplay between self-regulation related skills and language is well recognized in dynamic theories, but few empirical studies have tested it, especially in toddlers. The current study examines the bidirectional links between self-regulation related skills and expressive vocabulary in a longitudinal study during toddlerhood. Participants were 268 toddlers (M[subscript age] = 29.6 months, SD = 4.2; 52% boys), mostly of Portuguese nationality, with medium to high sociocultural and economic status, attending private for-profit and nonprofit facilities in Portugal. Self-regulation (executive function and effortful control) and expressive vocabulary were assessed across three assessment waves. Results from cross-lagged panel models suggested bidirectional links between self-regulation and expressive vocabulary across the three assessment waves. These findings add to previous research by taking a first step into establishing the early onset of the intertwined development of these two foundational skills.

Although intercultural practices are believed to be extremely relevant to combat educational disadvantages, evidence on the factors that are related to their implementation is not yet well established. This study aims to deepen the understanding regarding the implementation of intercultural practices by professionals working in disadvantaged and culturally diverse contexts, examining its association with the institution's socioeconomic and cultural diversity, organizational climate and professionals' self-efficacy and job satisfaction. Participants were 78 professionals (95.3% female, with an age average of 42.52), working in disadvantaged and culturally diverse educational settings in Portugal. Self-efficacy was positively associated with the use of intercultural practices, while higher concentration of Roma and lower education/low-income children were negatively associated with the implementation of intercultural practices, self-efficacy and job satisfaction. A supportive organizational climate was positively associated with professionals' sense of efficacy and job satisfaction. Findings highlight the importance of promoting a positive organizational climate and helping professionals to effectively handle diversity, namely by providing conditions to improve their levels of self-efficacy.

This study intends to extend previous work by examining associations between literacy-related beliefs and home literacy experiences during the transition from preschool to Grade 1, taking maternal education into consideration. Fifty-seven Portuguese children and their mothers participated. Data about families' sociodemographic characteristics, home literacy environment, mothers' interactive behaviours during storybook reading, and mothers' literacy beliefs were collected in two moments during home visits. Overall results indicate that mothers' educational level and literacy beliefs are variables of particular interest for understanding home literacy experiences. Together, mothers' educational level and literacy beliefs explained a moderate proportion of the variance in reported and observed home literacy experiences, when children were at the end of preschool education, and one year later, when children were at the end of Grade 1. Moreover, findings reveal that mothers' literacy beliefs contribute independently to the quantity and quality of home literacy experiences after controlling for maternal education. These findings have implications for professionals who have the responsibility of working with families to increase the likelihood of academic success, particularly in contexts that serve children at-risk for reading failure.

Although issues of global justice are increasingly considered an important topic to include in elementary school curricula, little is known about children's perspectives on complex distributive justice issues. This exploratory study investigated children's understanding of a fair economic distribution between the workers involved in international trade. As part of a classroom project, in mixed-aged groups, 57 elementary school children were invited to discuss how they would fairly divide 30 coins among five workers involved in the banana trade. Results showed that half of the groups decided for equal distributions, based on arguments of strict equality, equal work, equal value, or interdependence. The other half of the groups decided for unequal distributions, based on the different contributions, and costs and profits. In each group, children generally agreed or accepted others' ideas. Findings provide preliminary insights on how elementary school children collectively reason about distributive justice concerning a complex global issue.

This study examines the association between teacher--child interaction quality and children's self-regulation in Finnish and Portuguese toddler classrooms. The participants included 230 Finnish (M = 29; SD = 3 months) and 283 Portuguese M = 30, SD = 4 months) toddlers and their teachers (n = 43 Finland; n = 29 Portugal). The children's behavioural self-regulation (attention, working memory, and inhibition control) was individually tested, and the teachers evaluated the children's self-regulation skills in the classroom. The quality of the teacher-child interactions (i.e., emotional and behavioural support and engaged support for learning) was evaluated using the CLASS-Toddler observation instrument. The analyses were conducted with path models using a complex option. The results for Finland show that the engaged support for learning was positively associated with children's attention and inhibitory control, and emotional and behavioural support was positively associated with children's inhibitory control. For Portugal, engaged support for learning was positively associated with children's attention. The results aid in recognizing the characteristics of teacher support that is beneficial to the development of children's self-regulation skills in two sociocultural contexts, hence being of relevance for teacher in- and pre-service training.

The present study was particularly interested in identifying resilient trajectories of engagement, and analyzing their association with student's motivation, specifically, their perceived control. In a longitudinal study following 391 students across three measurement points, encompassing the transition from 9th to 10th grade (from basic to secondary school), students' beliefs (control, effort capacity, and ability capacity beliefs), engagement, and academic achievement were assessed. Consistent with previous research, an overall decline in levels of engagement was found over this time, associated with perceived control. To uncover alternative pathways, latent class growth analysis was used, and three groups of students were identified based on their distinct engagement trajectories: (1) students whose engagement started high but decreased (high-decreasing engagement), (2) students who started at average levels and declined (average-decreasing engagement), and (3) students whose engagement started low but then increased (low-increasing engagement). Comparison of the three groups demonstrated that control beliefs play a critical role in reducing the normative rate of decline in engagement. The recovery trajectory (low-increasing engagement), which is of particular interest, showed smaller declines in control beliefs. Findings also suggest that effort capacity beliefs seem to protect engagement in the face of the challenges this group of lower performing students are likely to encounter. The emergence of the three distinct engagement groups is of special interest as it shows positive, counter-normative changes in engagement trajectories. The observed changes in engagement, motivation, and achievement of the potentially at-risk students (low-increasing engagement group) suggest that these students may be especially sensitive to a supportive and engaging academic environment.

Research Findings: In this study, we examine specific features of arts-related activities in crèche and its associations with the quality of group and child level interactions. Participants were 31 toddler classrooms and 50 children (M[subscript age] = 30.56; 52% girls). The quality of group level interactions was observed with the CLASS Toddler and the quality of child level interactions with the inCLASS Toddler. Results revealed that the vast majority of activities were Arts & crafts, conducted in small group, and were open-ended, although substantial variation was found. Findings further showed positive associations between active facilitation and the quality of interactions at both levels. Other activity features, such as the use of hands-on materials, social grouping and open-ended, were also associated with interaction quality. Practice or Policy: Results from the current study can inform crèche educators on how to better plan and conduct artistic activities. Arts & crafts activities can become especially fruitful moments for quality interactions, from the group and child perspectives, when the educator acts as a facilitator and co-player, providing materials that children can freely manipulate and giving children the freedom to create products from their imagination. Such suggestions are important to consider in arts-oriented curriculum guidelines for toddlers.

Self-regulation can be relevant for engagement, as children need to be able to modulate behaviors and control attention to be engaged. Although previous studies focus on the relation between self-regulation and engagement, little is known about this subject in children with disabilities or at risk. This study analyzes relations between self-regulation and engagement in inclusive preschool settings, considering children's developmental functioning (DF). The main goal is to examine whether DF moderates the relation between self-regulation and engagement. Participants include three groups of children: with disabilities (n = 54), at risk (n = 78), and typically developing (n = 115). DF was assessed with a short version of the Matrix for Assessment of Activities and Participation; self-regulation with Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders; and engagement with Child Observation in Preschool. Results indicated that higher levels of self-regulation were related to higher levels of engagement. A moderation effect between self-regulation and DF was also found: in the group of children with disabilities, the influence of self-regulation on engagement was larger. This highlights the relevance of promoting self-regulation, particularly in children with lower DF.

Although literature reports associations between parent-teacher communication and childcare quality, little is known about how such communications are related to family, child and childcare characteristics. This study examines whether child, family and childcare experience characteristics predict the level of parent-teacher communication, and differences between parents' and teachers' reports of communication. Participants were mothers of 90 infants and their teachers in childcare in Portugal. Results show that both parents and teachers report higher levels of communication in higher-quality programmes. Teachers reported more frequent communication than parents. Teachers, but not parents, reported more frequent communication when children spent fewer hours in childcare. Discussion highlights the relevance of monitoring the quality of childcare contexts, especially in early ages, and to increase parent-teacher communication when children spend more time in childcare. The importance of promoting high-quality childcare and accounting for variables at the mesosystemic level of development in teacher training are also discussed.

Preschool process quality and activity setting are considered important aspects influencing child engagement. As such, it is important to understand how educational settings can promote engagement, particularly for children with disabilities and/or at risk. This observational study describes process quality and activity setting in inclusive preschools, analyzing its predictive role for child engagement. Participants were 184 children attending 39 preschools. Three groups of children, nested within classrooms, were considered: with disabilities (n = 45), at risk (n = 59), typically developing (n = 80). Child Observation in Preschool assessed engagement and activity setting; Classroom Assessment Scoring System assessed quality of teacher--child interactions. Research Findings: Results from multilevel regressions show that classroom emotional support and organization and more time in free play were positively predicting child engagement, whereas more time in whole group was a negative predictor of engagement. Besides these main effects, an interaction effect between child developmental functioning and activity settings was found. For at-risk children, more time in whole-group activities had greater negative effects on child engagement. For children with disabilities, more time in free-play had greater positive effects on child engagement. Practice or Policy: Results contribute to inform teachers regarding the importance of individualizing interactions and planning activity settings to promote engagement and participation in inclusive preschools.

Parental engagement in positive activities with the child may show significant variation across time, assuming a crucial influence on child development. In dual-earner families, work-family conflict can interfere with parental engagement, with negative consequences for children's behavior. The current study examined the change trajectories of mothers' and fathers' engagement in early childhood, analyzing whether these trajectories are influenced by parents' work-family conflict and whether they predict child behavioral self-control. Data from 156 four-year-old children (67 girls) from dual-earner families were collected annually for 3 consecutive years, through mothers', fathers', and teachers' reports. Results from latent growth curve analysis revealed mothers' engagement remained stable across time while fathers' engagement had a significant increase over time. The negative association between work-family conflict and parental engagement was constant over time both for mothers and fathers. For mothers, initial levels of engagement positively predicted child behavioral self-control. As for fathers, both the initial level and positive change in engagement positively predicted child self-control. These findings emphasize the role of parental engagement in fostering child behavioral adjustment, underlining the need for considering work-family dynamics to understand changes in parental engagement.

The main aim of this study is to explore early childhood teachers' social self-efficacy in Cyprus, Greece, and Portugal. In addition, this study examines the validity of the factorial structure of the Teachers' Social Self-Efficacy Scale (TSSES). A sample of 349 early childhood teachers across the three countries participated in this study. An exploratory analysis and then a confirmatory factor analysis were employed to reveal the structure of the TSSES. Configural and metric invariance were established for the one-factor structure of the TSSES. The results showed that teachers in Portugal and Cyprus experience high levels of social self-efficacy, whereas Greek teachers experience moderate to high levels of social self-efficacy. The TSSES seems to be a reliable instrument for assessing social self-efficacy beliefs. Possible implications for practice are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has shown that caregiver education and training can be important in determining levels of quality in early childhood, but has mainly considered the education and training of the lead teacher. In infant child care, however, classrooms have more than one caregiver with varying levels of education and in Portugal it is less common to have a qualified teacher exclusively assigned to infant classrooms. This study examines the quality of caregiver-child interactions in infant classrooms and its association with caregiver qualifications and training, specifically the level of pre-service education and in-service training of the lead caregiver, whether she is exclusively assigned to an infant classroom or to more classrooms, and the pre-service education of the multiple caregivers in the classroom. Participants were 90 infant classrooms from Porto, Portugal. The CLASS-Infant was used to measure quality of caregiver-infant interactions. Classrooms with one lead caregiver holding at least a bachelor's degree, whether exclusively assigned to the infant classroom or not, showed higher levels of quality. Few effects were found for in-service training. Results suggest that lead teachers with pre-service education in early childhood are likely to play an important role not only directly by interacting with children but also indirectly through team work.

The value of positive teacher‐child relationships for child development is well established for preschool‐ and school‐age children, but little is known regarding children under the age of 3. The current study examined the links between teacher‐child relationship, stability of care, and toddlers' expressive vocabulary. It also examined whether the associations between the expressive language and the teacher‐child relationship differ depending on the stability of care. Participants of the study were 212 toddlers (50.9% boys) and 36 teachers. Expressive vocabulary skills were assessed individually across two waves, and relationship quality was reported by teachers in the second wave. Results suggested that closeness was associated positively with expressive vocabulary, whereas neither conflict nor dependency were associated with vocabulary. Prior expressive vocabulary also positively predicted closeness, particularly for children with less stable relationships with teachers. Moreover, children who stayed with the same teacher were more likely to have closer, more dependent, and less conflictual relationships with them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Findings: This study examined concurrent associations between family sociodemographic risk, self-regulation, and early literacy and mathematics in young children from Azores, Portugal (N = 186). Family sociodemographic risk was indexed by low maternal education, low family income, and low occupational status. Behavioral aspects of self-regulation were assessed using a direct measure called the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task. Results of structural equation modeling revealed that family sociodemographic risk had significant negative effects on behavioral regulation and academic achievement. Behavioral regulation was positively associated with academic achievement when we adjusted for the influence of family sociodemographic risk and child verbal IQ. Furthermore, behavioral regulation mediated the association between family sociodemographic risk and mathematics achievement. Practice or Policy: The results suggest the detrimental effect of family socioeconomic risk in Portugal and the potential importance of behavioral regulation for school success for Portuguese children.

The observation and assessment of quality of teacher--child interactions in elementary school settings are increasingly recognized as important; however, research is still very limited in European countries. In this study, we examined the quality of the interactions between teacher and children in first-grade classrooms in Portugal and the extent to which structural features at teacher-, classroom-, and school-level explained variation in this quality. One hundred fifteen classrooms participated in the study. Classrooms were observed through a standardized rating scale concerning emotional, organizational, and instructional support. Results indicated that the levels of emotional and organizational support in most classrooms were of moderate quality, but the levels of instructional support were low, suggesting that most observed activities did not encourage students' higher-order thinking skills. An examination of the associations between teacher and classroom characteristics and the quality of teacher-child interactions indicated a small effect for teacher education. Teachers with an advanced degree were more likely to be more emotionally sensitive and to have better instructional interactions in the classroom. For school-level characteristics, findings showed that the classrooms in private and smaller schools were likely to provide higher levels of emotional, organizational, and instructional quality. The results suggest that focusing on the interactions between teacher and children can provide valuable information to enhance classroom quality.

The main purpose of this study is to analyze whether quality of preschool classrooms relates to 4- and 5-year-old children developmental outcomes. The study was conducted in 60 classrooms in Porto Metropolitan Area, Portugal. Children (N = 215) were evaluated in the literacy, math, and behavior domains. Preschool quality was assessed through classroom observations using the ECERS-R and the "Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation". Global classroom quality although relatively low, predicted children's literacy skills and behavior but not math skills. Quality of language and literacy environment was not consistently related to child outcomes. Mother educational level stood out as consistently predicting most of child developmental outcomes. The relevance of these results is discussed considering the Portuguese educational scenario, in the realm of an international context.

The associations between the quality of teacher-student interactions and first grade academic and adaptive behavior outcomes were examined in a study of 106 Portuguese students in 64 first grade classrooms. Students' vocabulary, print concepts, math, and adaptive skills were assessed both at the end of preschool and in first grade. Classrooms were observed in the spring of first grade. After taking into account family risk factors and preschool skills, the quality of teacher-student interactions, particularly in terms of classroom organization, was positively associated with students' first grade vocabulary and print concepts. In addition, classroom quality predicted number identification outcomes differently depending on student skills prior to school entry. Students with lower preschool math skills seemed to benefit from higher quality teacher-student interactions. These findings provide further support for the unique contribution of the quality of teacher-student interactions in first grade and suggest that it may be an important mechanism to improve academic skills. (Contains 6 tables.)

This study examined the effects of the accumulation of family risk factors on children's literacy skills, both in preschool and in first grade. Children's (N = 106) vocabulary, conventions of print, phonological awareness, knowledge of letters, reading decoding, and reading comprehension were assessed. Family risk factors, consisting of household composition, years of maternal education, job situation of the mother, and income level of the family, were combined to create a cumulative risk index. Canonical correlation and multiple regression analyses were performed. Results revealed the negative impact of cumulative risk index on both the preschool and first-grade literacy skills. In addition, the number of risk factors present in the family context negatively predicted the majority of the first-grade literacy skills, after taking preschool skills into account. The results provide further evidence of the negative impact of the accumulation of family risks on child literacy development and call attention to the importance of early experiences for later academic achievement. (Contains 5 tables.)