Year of Award

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Degree Name

Teaching and Learning

Department or School/College

Phyllis J. Washington College of Education

Committee Chair

Allison Wilson

Commitee Members

Kate Brayko, Christine Lux, Jingjing Sun, Robert Watson, Shannon Vaughn

Keywords

Early Childhood Education, Education Policy, Educational leadership, Higher education

Abstract

Research on principal leadership in the P-3 continuum is limited, even though leadership is second only to teaching in its impact on student outcomes. Most leadership preparation programs emphasize K–12 content, with little focus on early childhood education. Illinois is the only state to codify legislation requiring early childhood content in educational leadership programs, offering a unique case to examine how such mandates are implemented. This study employed qualitative content analysis to investigate how institutions of higher education represent mandated early childhood content in graduate-level coursework. Data sources included program-level documents from 22 Illinois leadership preparation programs and course-level materials from five embedded case institutions. A coding frame, informed by the Illinois Administrative Code, NAEYC’s Developmentally Appropriate Practice and Professional Standards and Competencies, and NAESP’s Leading Learning Communities framework, guides analysis. Pilot testing strengthened credibility and trustworthiness. Findings suggest that early childhood content was represented primarily implicitly rather than explicitly across leadership programs. Program-level documents demonstrated broad but nonspecific inclusion of early childhood concepts. At the same time, course-level materials revealed uneven representation of core topics, with child development, literacy, and culturally responsive practice appearing more frequently than early numeracy or P-3 continuum concepts. Internship and field-based experiences may have included early childhood contexts, but expectations were rarely articulated explicitly. These findings suggest that policy mandates alone do not ensure consistent implementation and highlight the need for stronger alignment among policy requirements, leadership preparation programs, and leadership practice to support leaders serving young children across the P–3 continuum.

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© Copyright 2026 Anna Louise Puryear