Articulating high quality free choice time in Head Start preschools: A framework to support professional development and classroom observations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55370/hsdialog.v22i1.750Keywords:
Head Start, guided play, free choice, observation tool, teacher practiceAbstract
Free choice time (FCT) is ubiquitous on Head Start and other preschool’s daily schedules. Yet there is a lot of variation in what FCT looks like across classrooms. We lack tools that identify strong FCT practice, including how teachers ought to facilitate it. A framework for defining and gauging high quality FCT in preschool classrooms is overdue. This study documents the development of and preliminary findings from the Framework for Free Choice Time (F-FCT). Based on a comprehensive field- and research-based understanding of best practices, this framework articulates low, middle-range, and high-quality practice across 26 elements within 5 dimensions. Findings demonstrate some initial validity and reliability of the framework. The F-FCT articulates a range of quality and can be used to support preservice and in-service teacher professional development. Future work with the F-FCT may have implications for preschool curricula, policy, and teacher evaluation.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This Agreement (the Agreement) is made by and between the authors and the HS Dialog Editorial Team.
Author Agreement
By submitting the research article to HS Dialog, I acknowledge it may be published by the J. Murrey Atkins Library at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the Author(s) certify that:
- Warranties:
- Authors are legally authorized and possesses full power and authority on behalf of co-authors to enter into this Agreement.
- Author warrants, on behalf of all article authors, that:
- The article is original, has not been formally published in any other peer-reviewed journal, is not under consideration for publication by any other journal and does not infringe any existing copyright or any other third party rights;
- The named authors are the sole author(s) of the article. Any co-author not signing this Agreement personally has granted full authority to the main author and agree to enter into this agreement of his/her behalf and to gran the following rights to HS Dialog.
- The article contains nothing that is unlawful, libellous, or which would, if published, constitute a breach of contract.
II.Copyright
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Author(s) shall retain copyright to the article but grant the Journal right of first publication, and the irrevocable right to perpetually disseminate the article as part of the Journal subject to the Creative Commons Attribution License, that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Beginning one year after the date of formal publication of the article, Authors may enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work and subject to the Creative Commons Attribution License (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), subject to a proper acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal: This article was originally published in HS Dialog (Vol., Issue, Year).
III. Indemnification.
Author shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Journal from any and all claims, liabilities, damages, expenses (including attorney’s fees and expert costs, penalties, fees, if any arising from enforcement of this Agreement and/or related to claims of infringement of copyrights or proprietary rights allegedly contained in the Article, or resulting from a claim of defamation, obscenity, or invasion of privacy based upon or arising out of the publication of the Article or any other breach of warranty as set forth in No. 1.
