BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE: TEACHERS’ EXPERIENCES IN MEETING THE ABBOTT

Abstract

Because teacher training is an important component of high-quality early care and education (ECE), states are employing various efforts to increase the credentials of teachers in private ECE centers. In New Jersey, teachers who serve disadvantaged students in the state’s community-based Abbott preschools are under a court mandate to obtain a Bachelor’s degree and Preschool – Grade 3 certification by September 2004 or lose their jobs. This chapter describes a phenomenological study of five teachers’ experiences in attempting to meet that mandate, and offers implications for policymakers to consider when evaluating the overall success of this reform effort.

Citation

Ackerman, D.J. (2004), "BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE: TEACHERS’ EXPERIENCES IN MEETING THE ABBOTT", Reifel, S. and Brown, M. (Ed.) Social Contexts of Early Education, and Reconceptualizing Play (II) (Advances in Early Education and Day Care, Vol. 13), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 93-136. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0270-4021(04)13004-8