An exploration of early childhood leaders' perceptions regarding their knowledge, skills, and confidence in the areas of mathematical content, child development, pedagogical content, and instructional leadership strategies

The mathematical ideas that exemplify NCTM Principles and Standards (2002) and mathematics reform necessitate the need for most teachers to shift their paradigms, construct new expectations about student learning, and teach in ways they have never taught before or experienced as students (Schifter, 2004; Wakefield, 2001). The exploration of the possibility that leaders must make analogous changes in the same mathematical constructs that teachers must make is in its' initial stages (Nelson, Benson, & Reed, 2004). Specifically, leaders must be knowledgeable about mathematics content, pedagogy, and current research on instruction (Coldren & Spillane, 2007).;The purpose of this study was to explore the development of leaders' perceptions regarding their knowledge, skills, and confidence in the area of early mathematics using a descriptive survey design. The sample for this study was a group of 47 early childhood administrators and teacher leaders who participated in the piloting of a professional development Effective Math Instruction in the Pre Kindergarten Classroom. Archival data that were previously collected utilizing the instrument, Mid-Course Professional Development Assessment, was utilized for the purpose of the study. The 87-item instrument used a 5-point Likert-type scale to record leaders' responses to the survey items. Descriptive and inferential statistics were computed to investigate the research questions.;The findings of this study demonstrate the necessity for early childhood leaders to be given professional development opportunities with respect to early childhood mathematics. The mean indices regarding the self-reported impact of the professional development on the knowledge, skills, and confidence of the leaders with respect to the four components comprising Effective Mathematics Instruction for the Prekindergarten Classroom indicated considerable impact with the vast majority of the scores being above 4. Similar results were obtained with respect to the self-reported impact of the three professional development sessions, as well. Further, these data showed that both teacher leaders and non-teacher leaders had a need for mathematics professional development. As the open-ended responses revealed, the two groups may have differentiated needs with regards to instructional leadership.;The results obtained provide implications and directions for future professional development training attending to the mathematical knowledge and instructional leadership capacity of early childhood leaders. These data showed that both teacher leaders and non-teacher leaders have a need for mathematics professional development with respect to early childhood mathematics. High quality mathematics instruction for young children is of the essence, therefore timely and distinctive efforts must be made in a quest for excellence in professional development, thereby influencing effective early childhood mathematics instruction.