%0 Journal Article
%T Classroom Age Composition and PreschoolersĄ¯ School Readiness: The Implications of Classroom Quality and Teacher Qualifications
%A Arya Ansari
%A Kelly M. Purtell
%J AERA Open
%@ 2332-8584
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/2332858418758300
%X Recent research has shown that the age composition of preschool classrooms influences childrenĄ¯s early learning. Building on prior research, this study examines whether the association between classroom age composition and childrenĄ¯s learning and development vary based on classroom quality and teacher characteristics using a subset of the Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), a nationally representative sample of 3- and 4-year-old children attending Head Start (n = 2,829). Results revealed that the association between age composition and childrenĄ¯s academic skills was dependent on classroom quality and that classroom quality was less predictive of childrenĄ¯s skills in mixed-age classrooms. Teacher education but not experience also moderated the influence of age composition such that mixed-age classrooms taught by a teacher with higher education were not associated with decreased literacy gains among older children
%K age composition
%K classroom quality
%K teacher experience and education
%K Head Start
%K FACES 2009
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2332858418758300