ABSTRACT
Educators, researchers, and policy makers increasingly recognize that high-quality early childhood education prepares young children for long-term social-emotional and academic success. A critical aspect of early childhood education is classroom management. Teachers’ effective management of behavior is an important mechanism for promoting young children’s school readiness. When teachers are able to create nurturing classroom environments that promote positive behavior, children demonstrate a high level of task engagement, self-regulation, and social competence (Thompson, 2002). Moreover, by preventing misbehavior and effectively dealing with challenging behavior when it does occur, teachers’ classroom management skills contribute to children’s early literacy and language learning (Espinosa, 2002). Recent research on the negative trajectories of early problem behavior also underscores the need for educators to address the behavioral needs of young children. Thus, from the vantage of strengthening young children’s school readiness and literacy skills, as well as preventing the occurrence or escalation of problem behavior, a focus on early childhood education classroom management is warranted.
