My research interests explore the effectiveness of varied recommended practice in early childhood education. More recently, I have worked at the preservice level (future teachers) and the inservice level (professionals already working in the field) to:
Develop The Alabama Reflective Coach as a professional development model in Pre-K programs at the local and state level, expanding the professional development model from just over 200 teachers and classrooms in 2012 to over 1,000 in 2018.
Develop databases and then evaluate the efficacy of First Class, the Alabama state-funded high quality Pre-K program, providing findings from studies of teacher and child outcomes to justify the expansion of the program.
Initial work with the state's pre-k program started in 2011. At that time, the state served roughly 6% (207 classrooms) of all eligible children in the state funded First Class pre-k programs. Most of my work since 2011 has been to support
the growth of the program (currently at more than 1,200 classrooms or 36% of all eligible children), helping create and support the Alabama Reflective Coach as a professional development model (see below), and
develop the state's capacity to use data to support the growth of Pre-K.
Our ongoing research is used to support the development of the Pre-K Program statewide and can be found here. The research includes analyzing Pre-K children that attended First Class state funded classrooms vs. other children for improvements while in preschool, kindergarten readiness, absenteeism, retention, language ability, whether they are receiving special education services, and academic outcomes (specifically math and reading) from 3rd grade on.
Funding/Projects
I've helped develop with colleagues at the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education a model of professional development called the Alabama Reflective Coach (The ARC). This model is being developed and used to provide professional development to teachers, staff, and administrators that work in the state funded Pre-K system in Alabama. The model serves as a pillar of the statewide professional development system for the Alabama State Department of Early Childhood Education.
I also used the same model (ARC) as part of an $8.3 million/year Alabama Department of Human Resources grant (2015-2017) to develop coaching as a framework for the professional development of Early Head Start / Child Care personnel in the state.
I was involved as a co-principal investigator, 2014-2015 in a state-wide longitudinal study of the state's First Class Pre-K program. The study involved collecting literacy, mathematics, language, and social/emotional data on close to 2,000 children that were randomly selected to be in a First Class program or attend some other type of care in the year prior to formal Kindergarten entry. This project was cancelled when the state received a federal Preschool Development Grant (PDG - see below).
Another project was work as part of a grant for the state's $17.5 million/year federal project PDG (2015-2019) to increase statewide access to high quality Pre-K. I work with colleagues in the UAB School of Public Health, Dept. of Health Care Organization and Policy where we developed and reported outcomes for a statewide data management system. The reports have been used extensively to provide a data-based rationale (to the Governor, House Ways and Means Committee presentations, etc.) for pre-k expansion throughout the state.
I also worked with the state using funding (2019-2020) from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), US Dept of Health and Human Services. The first year, the state state received $10.6 million to develop systems to integrate the birth through age 5 system.
The state has more recently received a new ACF Birth-5 grant through 2023 ($33 million) to extend this work.
Project IMPACT - September 2016 - August 2027
With Kelly Hill as the Principal Investigator, our Project IMPACT (2016-2021) grant was ranked 2nd in over 350 eligible applications nationwide. This is a $2.5 million grant that focuses on working with English Language (EL) learners. We will provide inservice training to current Pre-K teachers in the First Class system (state-funded Pre-K) in Alabama. We will also provide specialized coursework and support to bachelor's degree students as well as fund teachers to earn a master's degree focusing on Emergent Bilingual learners.
Project EMPOWER - September 2022-August 2027
Led by Jose Prado as the PI. As a National Professional Development Program grant, Project EMPOWER is a five-year collaboration between the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Alabaster City School District, Birmingham City Schools, Jefferson County Schools, Pelham City School District, Shelby County Schools, Tarrant City Schools, and the Birmingham City Public Library. Funded through the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) in the U.S. Department of Education, EMPOWER provides tuition support toward graduate degrees in education and ESOL certification for practicing teachers and pre-service teachers in partnering districts. Coursework and additional professional development in partnering schools address all aspects of multilingual learners’ (MLs) educational experiences, with an emphasis on promoting authentic family engagement to advance ML learning and school readiness.
Work in Georgia involved yearly inservice professional development workshops throughout all 18 health districts over an eight year period (more than 50, 1/2 day or full day workshops) to develop a coaching model of professional development. Co-Principal Investigator or PI on eight grants that varied from $80,000 to $230,000 / year, and work on an additional four grants and contracts to provide technical assistance to the state. The two main goals were to help with system's change at the state level to work toward providing early intervention services in the natural environment and transition toward a coaching model of interaction as part of an evidence-based support system to families.
Examples of practitioner-oriented publications from this work:
Multiple authors (2008). Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Georgia Families - Babies Can’t Wait Program. Georgia Department of Human Resources, Division of Public Health.
Ernest, J.M., Hull, K., & Myers-Jennings, C. (2008). Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) - Frequently Asked Questions (6 p.). Georgia Department of Human Resources, Division of Public Health.
Ernest, J.M. (2007). Babies Can’t Wait implementation manual for Primary Service Provision (25p.). Georgia Department of Human Resources, Division of Public Health.
Ernest, J.M. (2007). From here to …?. Family Focus: Early Intervention in Georgia, 1(4), 1,3,4
Ernest, J.M. (2007). Program planning: Evaluation, assessment & Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) development. Family focus: Early Intervention in Georgia, 1(2), 1,3,4.
Ernest, J.M. (2007). Helping a family help their child. Family Focus: Early Intervention in Georgia, 1(3), 1,3,4.
Ernest, J.M. (2006). Getting to know you: The intake process. Family Focus: Early Intervention in Georgia, 1(1), 1,3,4.
New York (1998-2002)
Work in Buffalo, New York included a $200,000 grant for two years from the US Agency for International Development to help develop primary education in Ethiopia. Working with Addis Ababa University, we supported the development of programing to help with the government initiative to provide primary education to all Ethiopian children by 2015.
Just before I left Buffalo, we had secured a $600,000 grant for five years. My role was to help develop, support, and collect data on a plan to accredit early childhood programs in Western New York.
Many new teachers have grown up as digital natives. In teaching, there has been a huge investment in technology, the use of ipads (nooks, kindle's, etc.), children's time with video games / TV, etc., with little research of the intersection of these types of technology and young children.
Ernest, J. M., Nichols, A.#, Alazemi, M.#, Dixon, D.#, Hafiz, F.#, & Vardanyan, S.# (2019). Childhood remembered: Reflections on the role of play for holistic education in Armenia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the USA, and Wales. International Journal of the Whole Child, 4(1), 5-19.
Play remains a topic for discussion, debate, and research within the education community. In this article, the authors argue for a broader view of education in line with Plato's observation (gender not withstanding) that "The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life" (Jowett, 1874, p. 249). The authors begin with a short overview of the potential and traditional developmental and academic benefits of play. Their argument then focuses on a less common consideration of the holistic benefit of play: they explore teachers' cultural reflections about the nature and worth of play through their personal accounts of playful childhood in Armenia, Great Britain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United States of America. Finally, they provide recommendations for the value of play as part of a whole child education.
Sharkins, K.A., Newton, A.B., Albaiz, N.E.A., & Ernest, J.M. (2016). Preschool children’s exposure to media, technology, and screen time: Perspectives of caregivers from three early childcare settings. Early Childhood Education Journal, 44(5), 437-444. DOI: 10.1007/s10643-015-0732-3
Young children are being increasingly exposed to media, technology, and screen time (MeTS) at home and in instructional settings. Little is known about the long-term effects of MeTS and there is a lack of research concerning caregivers’ opinions regarding young children’s exposure to and utilization of MeTS. Therefore, this study explored the opinions of parents and teachers of preschool-aged children from three diverse centers and examined MeTS usage across the varying centers and socio-demographic strata. Principal Components and MANOVA analyses indicated differences across, as well as similarities between, the centers. Collectively, caregivers from the three centers concur that MeTS can expand children’s knowledge, and that children’s exposure to violent MeTS is harmful. Caregivers from the varying centers differ in opinion regarding linking children’s MeTS exposure to harmful social and health outcomes, and teachers’ responsibilities regarding the developmentally appropriate usage of MeTS. Recommendations are provided for administrators and teachers to consider regarding communication efforts with parents, and MeTS usage in the childcare setting.
Ernest, J.M., Causey, C., Newton, A., Sharkins, K., & Summerlin, J., & Albaiz, N. (2014). Extending the global dialogue about media, technology, screen time and young children. Childhood Education, 90(3), 182-191. DOI:10.1080/00094056.2014.910046. Also available here.
Questions about the potential benefits and dangers of media and technology use abound, with competing theories regarding its effects among young children. This article explores global perspectives on children's exposure to media, technology, and screen time (MeTS) in the schools, homes, and communities of an increasingly technology-driven world. The authors take a critically reflective approach by presenting competing narratives about the relationship of MeTS to the teaching, learning, and development of young children from around the world. The objective is to stimulate dialogue and create awareness about this issue in order to mobilize local decisions about MeTS. Given the undeniable exposure of young children to media and technology in their daily lives, this article recommends careful consideration and understanding of the potential benefits and concerns related to MeTS as educators guide children toward the positive aspects of technology and media use.
With colleagues at Valdosta State University (Georgia), work has focuses on how special education teachers have used differentiated instruction strategies in a classroom. The first abstract describes a study of 35 teachers using DI in their classrooms over a period of five weeks. The teachers taught in a variety of settings and used DI strategies to help learn math, science, and in the areas of reading and social studies. The second abstract describes DI in more detail: using a single teacher as a case study, we explored her development as a teacher that used DI over a period of a couple of years.
According to Tomlinson (2000), teachers are engaged in differentiated instruction when they provide ongoing assessment of instruction/learning, learning activities that are interesting and relevant for each student, and individual/group work that allows each student to experience many different roles and settings. Teachers may select strategies from the four areas of content, process, product, and learning environments. First, content refers to the overall learning outcome, which can be presented at varied levels to the individual, enhanced by use of multimedia, or taught in tiered lessons to small groups of students. Second, process refers to differentiating how the content is taught. Examples include differentiated/individualized tasks/agendas; use of different modalities, time schedules, or resources; or different groups/roles for the students. Third, a teacher may change the product that students produce. Students can choose to work as individuals or in groups to demonstrate their content knowledge through producing different products (a paper, visual presentation, oral account, skit, etc.). Finally, altering the learning environment can refer to ways in which changing the physical environment and/or the learning environment support all individuals’ learning. Examples may be group and individual work space, providing choice with available technology, or flexibility of movement.
Ernest, J.M., Thompson, S., Heckaman, K.A., Hull, K., & Yates, J. (2011). Effects and social validity of differentiated instruction on student outcomes for special educators. The Journal of the International Association of Special Education, 12(1), 33-41.
Student outcome data were examined for 35 teacher education candidates working toward special education certification who used an iterative differentiated instruction process over a 5-week period. Data were analyzed across a range of content areas and ages. Results indicated statistically significant and noteworthy effects across students regardless of whether teachers were working in an elementary, middle, or high school in a number of content areas. Qualitative data support a conceptual shift in how teacher education candidates use outcome data to inform their teaching, providing support for the social validity of this approach to implementing differentiated instruction.
Ernest, J.M., Heckaman, K.A., Thompson, S.E., Hull, K. M., & Carter, S.W. (2011). Increasing the teaching efficacy of a beginning special education teacher using differentiated instruction: A case study. International Journal of Special Education, 26(1), 191-201.
This article provides a description of how a beginning special education teacher in an inclusion classroom used pre-assessment, self-assessment, and on-going assessment to implement the principles of differentiated instruction to become more responsive to her students’ needs in a systematic way. This article describes a case study of one beginning teacher’s use of differentiated instruction. First, a discussion of the usefulness of differentiated instruction in increasing the likelihood of success for children with disabilities is provided. Next, qualitative data supported the implementation of the differentiated instruction process to help the teacher realize how she could positively impact students’ learning using Tomlinson’s (2000) categories of content, product, process, and learning environments. Finally, recommendations are provided for how to engage teachers to implement differentiated instruction as a data-based iterative process of using evidence-based practices to meet the needs of all children in an inclusion classroom.
Heckaman, K., Thompson, S.E., Hull, K., & Ernest, J.M. (2009). Preparing teacher candidates to use evidence-based practices to impact student learning.Southeastern Teacher Education Journal, 1(3), 5-17
The trend to identify teacher quality in terms of student performance has become increasingly evident in the restructuring of accrediting agencies and in recommendations to revise the No Child Left Behind Act to include language that specifies a highly qualified and effective teacher in every classroom. The challenge for teacher programs is to build teacher candidates' knowledge and skills in identifying evidence-based practices, implementing appropriate strategies for their learners, and analyzing learner outcomes. In this article we present the program components we have developed to prepare our teacher candidates to positively impact student learning using evidence-based practices in P-5 classrooms, including examples of candidates' impact data from a culminating project in the program.
Q Methodology has been adopted as a cross-disciplinary approach to studying subjectivity using a blend of qualitative and quantitative processes. The following are abstracts of articles I've written or helped write about Q methodology:
Ernest, J.M. (2011). Using Q Methodology as a mixed method approach to study beliefs about early childhood education. International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches, 7(2), 226-240.
Q Methodology was used as a mixed method to quantitatively and qualitatively explore teachers’, parents’, and teacher education candidates’ beliefs about developmentally appropriate practices (DAP). A principal components analysis of the data indicated three conceptual viewpoints that provided distinct narratives about the types of practices and experiences that are considered appropriate and inappropriate in early childhood education. The three views were of the culturally responsive teacher, the classroom that has a social cohesiveness based on open communication, and the teacher as the primary mechanism as an agent of change. A rationale for the use of Q Methodology to explore the inherent subjectivity in educational values, beliefs, or opinions is provided.
Ernest, J.M. (2001). An alternate approach to studying beliefs about developmentally appropriate practices. Contemporary Issue in Early Childhood, 2(3), 337-353.
Due to the predominance of positivism in the twentieth century, many researchers have been trained to use traditional research methods. The use of these methods determines how research questions are framed, data are collected, results are analyzed, and hence, what conclusions are drawn. This article uses the concept of developmentally appropriate practices to explore some of the limitations of traditional research methods and to describe an alternate method of research that has been found to be useful in explicating subjective phenomena. This method, known as Q-methodology, has been used in such diverse fields as political science, communication science, medicine, psychiatry, psychology, sociology, and linguistics, but has received little attention in education. The method has developed over a period of 65 years and takes into account cultural and contextual factors when providing multiple stories or narratives about an issue.
Sexton, D., Snyder, P., Wadsworth, D., Jardine, A., & Ernest, J.M. (1998). Applying Q methodology to the investigations of subjective judgments of early intervention effectiveness. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 18(2), 95-107.
Most approaches to determining effectiveness in early intervention emphasize data collection procedures that are objective, unbiased, and reliable. Subjective views held by individuals usually are considered unreliable, and less relevant to early intervention efficacy research. However, systematic investigations of how early intervention services are viewed subjectively by both recipients and providers can facilitate the interpretation of efficacy data gained when more traditional, objective methods are used. This article describes Q methodology, a technique that can be used to gain important insights on individuals' judgments, attitudes, and points of view on topics or situations that involve early intervention effectiveness issues. Examples of Q application drawn from the extant literature of several disciplines are used to indicate how the technique might be used to address important questions of early intervention effectiveness. Specific steps involved in Q methodology are illustrated in a description of an early intervention efficacy study designed to explore views of family-centered practices held by family members of children enrolled in early intervention programs.
Over the years I have worked with colleagues in Alabama, Georgia, and the Czech Republic on a variety of research projects. The work relates to my background in Physical Education (Bachelor's honors degree) and Human Performance and Human Promotion (Master's degree).
Examples of articles:
Stelzer, J., Klimešová, I., Ruzicka, M., & Ernest, J.M. (2018). Importance of motivation on physical activity behavior and knowledgeabout benefits of physical activity. International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 7(1), 74-81.
Klimešová, I., Miklánková, L., Stelzer, J., & Ernest, J.M. (2016). The effect of regular breakfast on body mass index in 9- to 10-year-old children. American Journal of Health Education, 47(1), 42-46. DOI: 10.1080/19325037.2015.1111175
Sanderson, S. L., Heckaman, K., Ernest, J. M. & Rabb, S. (2013). Strategies for inclusive PE settings. Strategies: A Journal for Physical and Sport Educators, 26(1), 20-25.
McCurdy, K., Kutz, M., O’Kelley, E.O., Langford, G., & Ernest, J. (2010). External oblique activity during the unilateral and bilateral free weight squat. Clinical Kinesiology, 64(1), 16-21.
McCurdy, K., O’Kelley, E.O., Kutz, M., Langford, G., Ernest, J., & Torres, M.R. (2010). Comparison of lower extremity EMG between the 2-leg squat and modified single-leg squat in female athletes. Journal of Sport Rehabilitation, 19, 57-70.
McCurdy, K., Langford, G., Ernest, J., Jenkerson, D., & Doscher, M. (2009). Comparison of Chain- and Plate-loaded bench press training on strength, joint pain, and muscle soreness in division II baseball players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 23(1), 187-195.
Frömel, K, Stelzer, J., Groffik, D., & Ernest, J.M. (2008). Physical activity of children aged 6-8: The beginning of school attendance. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 28(1), 29-40.
Langford, G., McCurdy, K., Ernest, J., Doscher, M., and Walters, S. (2007). Specificity of machine, barbell, and water-filled log bench press resistance training on measures of strength. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 21(4), 1061-1066.
McCurdy, K., Langford, G., Jenkerson, D., Ernest, J., Walters, S., and Doscher, M. (2007). Specificity of chain- and plate-loaded bench press training on measures of strength, power, and throwing velocity. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 21(4), e33.
Langford, G., McCurdy, K., Ernest, J., Doscher, M., and Walters, S. (2007). Effects of machine and different types of free-weight bench press training on measures of power and strength. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 21(4), e34.
Stelzer, J. & Ernest, J.M., Fenster, M. J., & Langford, G. (2004). Attitudes toward physical education: A study of high school students from four countries - Austria, Czech Republic, England, and the USA. College Student Journal, 38(2), 171-179.
Larson, D. E., Hunter, G. R., Trowbridge, C. A., Turk, J. C., Ernest, J.M., Torman, S. L., & Harbin, P. A. (2000). The effect of creatine supplementation on muscle strength and body composition during off-season training in female soccer players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 14(4), 434-442.