Early Childhood Research Quarterly 39 (2017) 35–46 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Early Childhood Research Quarterly Examining early childhood teachers’ writing practices: Associations between pedagogical supports and children’s writing skills Gary E. Bingham a,* , Margaret F. Quinn a , Hope K. Gerde b a Georgia State University, United States b Michigan State University, United States a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 25 March 2016 Received in revised form 10 January 2017 Accepted 11 January 2017 Keywords: Early writing Early writing development Teachers writing support Early childhood education Early childhood teaching a b s t r a c t Despite a wide recognition about the importance of young children’s language and literacy environments to later achievement, little is known about teachers’ supportive approaches to early writing in preschool classroom contexts and the ways in which these supportive approaches relate to children’s writing devel- opment. This study examined how teachers support writing in their classrooms and how these supports related to children’s expressions of early writing skill. Forty-one preschool and Pre-K teachers in three US states and their students (N = 488) participated. Teachers were observed in their classrooms and instances of writing support were recorded and qualitatively coded and analyzed. Findings indicated that teachers supported children’s use of writing, however, the scope and focus of the supportive strategies used were limited. Examinations of teachers’ supportive writing practices revealed that teachers were much more likely to focus on children’s handwriting and spelling skills, with less attention to composing. Analyses examining associations between teachers’ pedagogical practice and children’s writing skills indicated that children from classrooms with teachers who supported composing exhibited stronger writing skills. Results are discussed in relation to early childhood curricular and teaching practices as well as to broader policy issues. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Quality early language and literacy environments in preschool classrooms are important for children’s growth and later school success (National Early Literacy Panel [NELP], 2008). Over the last two decades, considerable empirical literature has amassed illus- trating how children’s exposure to early reading instruction is important to their development of early literacy skills. Much less attention has been given to ways in which early writing skills are supported or promoted in these classrooms. Recent research on how teachers can support young children’s development of early writing skills suggests that the physical environmental supports available in early childhood classrooms, such as environmental print, writing routines, and prevalence of writing materials, are important to encourage children’s writing (Gerde, Bingham, & * Corresponding author at: Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Educa- tion, Georgia State University, 30 Pryor Street, Suite 550, Atlanta, GA 30303, United States. E-mail address: gbingham@gsu.edu (G.E. Bingham). Wasik, 2012; Puranik & Lonigan, 2011), yet insufficient to devel- oping children’s writing skills (Diamond, Gerde, & Powell, 2008; Guo, Justice, Kaderavek, & McGinty, 2012). Rather, how teachers use these writing materials and the ways in which they ped- agogically approach young children’s writing attempts, through encouragement, modeling, and individualized and whole group instruction, appear important to children’s writing development (Gerde, Bingham, & Pendergast, 2015; Guo et al., 2012). Despite this emerging evidence, the nature, quality, and prevalence of pedagog- ical approaches to writing in early childhood classrooms remains unknown. Hence, the purpose of this study was to (a) identify the nature, depth and frequency of teachers’ supportive practices in preschool classrooms and (b) examine their relation to children’s early writing development. 1.1. Conceptual and theoretical frameworks We employed two frameworks to guide our understanding of ways that teachers may support writing within early childhood classrooms. First, we used a conceptual framework that considers the complex nature of writing as a task involving the development http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2017.01.002 0885-2006/© 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.