Early Care and Education Teacher Job Satisfaction: Patterns, Predictors, and Impacts Across Three Large-Scale Longitudinal Datasets

Qingqing Yang

Early care and education (ECE) provides individual and societal benefits. ECE teachers are the key to realizing these benefits. This project investigates the patterns, determinants, and developmental consequences of ECE teacher job satisfaction (TJS). The project investigates three primary research questions through analyses of three complementary, large-scale longitudinal datasets using rigorous quantitative methods including extensive covariate controls and fixed-effects modeling. First, how does TJS vary across classrooms and programs, and how has TJS changed before and after the COVID-19 pandemic? Second, what personal and environmental factors uniquely and interactively account for variations in TJS? Third, does TJS predict children's academic achievement, sociobehavioral skills, and executive functioning? The project will provide generalizable and holistic knowledge of TJS patterns across the ECE workforce. The project will also identify specific predictors at the teacher, classroom, and school levels including demographic congruence among teachers, classroom composition, and leadership dynamics. Doing so should result in actionable findings that improve working conditions and retention, particularly through a better understanding of the high turnover among teachers of color. The project will clarify which child groups are most affected by TJS, thereby promoting evidence-based policies and practices that deliver targeted supports fostering school readiness among vulnerable populations.

About Qingqing Yang

Qingqing Yang is a Research Scientist at the Institute for Social and Health Equity at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She earned her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Science with a specialization in Quantitative Methods from The Ohio State University. Dr. Yang uses multidisciplinary theories and methods to examine how malleable aspects of classroom contexts and processes influence both educators and young learners. Her research focuses on promoting optimal developmental and learning environments for young learners, particularly those from historically marginalized communities. She is especially interested in early childhood educator well-being, classroom dynamics, and systems-level contributors to educational equity. Dr. Yang's work has been published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Early Education and Development, Infant and Child Development, and the American Educational Research Journal. Dr. Yang regularly presents her research at national conferences including the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE), and the American Educational Research Association (AERA). She is also committed to making her research accessible to educators, policymakers, and community stakeholders including through policy briefs and white papers. Her work has been cited in Fortune, U.S. News and World Report, and Psychology Today, and highlighted by government agencies including the Ohio Department of Children and Youth.