Where Do Standards Come From? A Phenomenological Study of the Development of National Board Early Childhood/Generalist Standards

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to construct a description and interpretation of the standards development process of the Early Childhood/Generalist Standards documents, both first edition and second edition, using an analysis of the actions of and interactions between committee members, professional organization representatives, and National Board for Professional Teaching Standards staff. An additional purpose was to discover and analyze the influences upon which standards committee members drew when articulating the specific teacher behaviors that exemplify accomplished early childhood practitioners. Participants were selected in a purposive manner to obtain a diverse sample in terms of gender, ethnicity, geography, K-12 employment, and higher education representation. A series of three telephone interviews were conducted with two members from the first committee, three members from the second committee, and four members who served on both committees. Transcribed interview data were triangulated with archived secondary data to generate a description of the standards development process. Results from the interpretation of the data revealed the following assumptions: 1) despite the diversity and different perspectives of the committee members, discourse led to collaboration, and they easily reached consensus; 2) participants' decision-making was heavily influenced by the National Association for the Education of Young Children; 3) constructivist and progressive ideology as well as research studies played an important part in discussions and decision-making; and 4) experiential teacher knowledge and expertise was highly valued by standards committee members and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.