Abstract

Over the last decade, education accountability tied to student achievement has spawned a focus on identifying how teachers contribute to student learning. Evidence suggests that quality teacher and caregiver performance (e.g. see Hamre & Pianta, 2005; Peisner-Feinberg et al., 2001; Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000) in high-quality early childhood educational (ECE) experiences yields short- and long-term benefits for children and communities (Knudsen, Heckman, Cameron, & Shonkoff, 2006; National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2007), making the assessment of early childhood teachers a growing concern for the field.