About Voices of Practitioners

Teacher research articles share intentional and systematic inquiry done by teachers with the goals of gaining insights into teaching and learning, becoming more reflective practitioners, effecting changes in the classroom or school, and improving the lives of children. Teacher research stems from teachers' own questions about and reflections on their everyday classroom practice. They seek practical solutions to issues and problems in their professional lives.

Supporting teacher research articles are designed as a resource for teacher educators who are interested in incorporating teacher research into their professional preparation programs or refining or expanding their current teacher research efforts. Contributors to this section explore current thinking on using teacher research in two-year, four-year, and graduate early childhood teacher preparation programs and as in-service professional development in early education settings.

Voices of Practitioners welcomes submissions. See the manuscript guidelines (below) to submit to any of the sections.

Leadership

NAEYC Staff

Annie Moses
Editor in Chief, Young Children, Teaching Young Children
Co-editor, Voices of Practitioners

Susan Donsky
Managing Editor, Young Children, Teaching Young Children, and Voices of Practitioners

To reach NAEYC staff please email [email protected].

Voices Editorial Advisory Board

Barbara Henderson
Co-editor, Voices of Practitioners
Professor, San Francisco State University

To reach Barbara, please email [email protected].

Executive Editors

Megina Baker, Neighborhood Villages
Amanda Branscombe, Athens State University
Maleka Donaldson, Smith College
Isauro Escamilla, Las Americas Early Education School
Ben Mardell, Harvard University
Debra Murphy, Cape Cod Community College
Frances Rust, University of Pennsylvania
Andrew J. Stremmel, South Dakota State University

Editorial Advisory Board

Stacey M. Alfonso, University of Washington
Georgina Ardalan, JO Wilson Elementary School
Cindy Ballenger, Tufts University
Nancy Barbour, James Madison University
Megan Blumenreich, The City College of New York
Robyn Brookshire, University of Tennessee
Cheryl Bulat, Morton College
Kathryn Castle, Oklahoma State University
Lori Caudle, Western Carolina University
Sherry Cleary, The City University of New York; New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute
Mary Cronin, Cape Cod Community College
Jerlean Daniel, Early Childhood Consultant
Mary Garguile, Olympic College
Anna Golden, Atelierista Sabot School
Beth Graue, University of Wisconsin
Renata Love Jones, Georgia State University
Martha Melgoza, Consultant and Without Walls Learning Cooperative
Mary Jane Moran, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Leah Muccio, University of Hawaii
Carrie Nepstad, Harold Washington College
Rebecca S. New, University of North Carolina
Gail Ritchie, Fairfax County Public Schools
Danielle Savory Seggerson, Lansing Community College
Jamie Solomon, University of Michigan
Stacia Stribling, George Mason University
Patricia Sullivan, San Francisco State University
Kaile Thomas, The Little School
Nathaniel U. Weber, Russian Hill School
Ashley Williams, Jumpstart for Young Children

Voices of Practitioners Manuscript Guidelines

Who should submit manuscripts to Voices of Practitioners?
Types of articles
Format
Permissions
Submitting a manuscript
Photograph and work sample submission guidelines
Review process
From acceptance to online publication

Who should submit manuscripts to Voices of Practitioners?

All teachers in early childhood settings serving children from birth through third grade are invited to submit their research. The study can focus on children, families, staff, the settings themselves, or other factors that influence teaching. The editors of Voices of Practitioners welcome all teacher research manuscripts and look forward to learning from early childhood communities that are seldom represented in the research literature (such as infant and toddler programs, family child care, or teachers and children from a range of ethnic backgrounds).

Types of articles

Authors can submit manuscripts to the following sections of Voices of Practitioners

Teacher Research Articles feature original research conducted by early childhood teachers of their own practice.
Supporting Teacher Research offers practical information, such as how to design teacher research courses, and stimulating discussions about teacher research issues.

Teacher Research Articles

All teachers in early childhood settings serving children from birth through third grade are invited to submit their research. The study should be conducted in the teacher’s own classroom or other early childhood practitioner setting and can focus on children, families, staff, the settings themselves, or other factors that influence teaching. The article should highlight the full teacher research process, beginning with a meaningful question or questions and ending with a reflection on each step of the process. Teacher research can be carried out by an individual teacher or by a teacher in collaboration with other teachers or with a teacher educator.

Content for Teacher Research Articles

Teacher research manuscripts submitted to Voices of Practitioners should include the following sections:

Introduction/Research Question—What is(are) your research question(s)? How did it(they) evolve?
Review of Literature—What does the professional literature/research say about your question?
Methods—Describe setting and participants. What was your research plan? How was your study conducted? How did you collect and analyze data? What was the process you implemented to answer your question?
Findings and Discussion—What did you learn? Support and illustrate findings with examples from the data.
Conclusions—What are the implications of the study for others in the field, ideas for continuing teacher research as part of daily teaching practices, and further questions raised by the study?

Articles should also include personal reflections on the teacher research journey.

Parallel Voices: Teacher Research Complemented Teacher Educator Commentary

We accept an additional form for teacher research articles, “Parallel Voices” articles, that share the voice of a teacher researcher(s) and the voice of a supporting teacher educator. These submissions should feature a teacher research study performed and described by one or more teachers plus a separately authored commentary from a teacher educator who has supported the teacher(s) throughout the research process. As in the standard Voices format for teacher research, these articles must feature studies by teachers of their own practice and meet all the criteria for teacher research articles described above. The voices of teachers and their original insights are central.

The teacher educator writes the accompanying commentary after the teacher researcher has finished writing up his or her study. Through the commentary the teacher educator provides his or her outside perspective of the teacher research study, thereby enhancing the dialogue and extending the meaning, not to merely summarize or restate the findings of the teacher research. Commentary might include suggestions for ways to further improve practice (building on the research findings), the contributions of the teacher’s research to the early childhood field, discussion of broader theoretical issues raised by the teacher research, connections to other empirical studies or the professional literature, or additional questions that are raised by the research. The teacher educator might describe aspects of the process he or she has used to support the teacher inquiry or how it is built into her professional program.

Though usually published at the same time, each research article and accompanying commentary will have a separate title and credited authorship. Ultimately, Parallel Voices commentary should be considered together as a partnership between teacher researcher and teacher educator, each contributing scholarship and insights to enhance teaching and learning in the early childhood field.

Supporting Teacher Research

Teacher educators or professional development specialists who are experienced in teacher research may submit manuscripts that describe innovative practices in their professional preparation programs, teacher research issues, and/or innovative ways to support teacher research in early childhood communities and settings. Articles may be designed to help readers understand the diverse nature of teacher research. Authors can describe techniques to help early childhood teachers design studies, collect and analyze data, report and reflect on findings, and write up their research for professional audiences.

Format

Cover page

Article title and name(s) of author(s)
Author information: full name, affiliation, title, address, phone, fax, and e-mail for each author
Designation of one author as the primary contact.
The intended section (teacher research, for the teacher educator, teacher research initiatives) for the manuscript
Brief abstract of the research project. Describe the question or problem, the subjects, the findings, and the implications of the study (approximately ½ page).

Length

Teacher Research manuscripts should be no more than 3,500 words, including references or appendices.
Parallel Voices accompanying commentaries should be no more than 2,000 words.
Supporting Teacher Research manuscripts should be a maximum of 3,500 words, including references.

Style of text

Double-space lines, and leave at least 1-inch margins
Follow appropriate word count
Include the title and date in the footer
Use a clear informal style of writing. Avoid excessive educational and research jargon.
Write in active voice…”The children contributed ideas…” rather than “Ideas were contributed by the children…”
Include subheads and visuals (children’s work samples, photographs, charts, graphs).
Photos or other graphics should illustrate and clarify the data and not just serve as decorative elements.
Do not include the name(s) of author(s) anywhere except on the cover page as all manuscripts are subject to a blind review.
Provide accurate and complete information for references and resources. Follow Chapter 15, “Documentation II” in the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition, or use a recent Voices article in Young Children as a guide.

Permissions

Authors are responsible for seeking and maintaining written permission from parents or legal guardians to include children’s art and work samples.
Authors are encouraged to submit photos with their teacher research. We require model releases for all recognizable people in each photo (signed by all adults who appear in the photo and by the parents or legal guardians of all the children photographed). We may ask photographers to provide copies of the model releases.
For quoted material longer than 100 words, authors must seek and submit written permission from the copyright holder prior to publication.

Submitting a manuscript

Authors should submit manuscripts through E ditorial Manager, the online manuscript submission system for Voices of Practitioners and Young Children. On many of the pages, you’ll see the Young Children logo and other information specific to Young Children. After creating an account, authors will find instructions for Voices of Practitioners submissions.

Be sure to select Voices of Practitioners under manuscript type and to submit the cover page, article, and photographs as separate files. Each manuscript will receive an ID number. Authors may check the status of their submissions at any time in Editorial Manager. For assistance with Editorial Manager, email the editorial team: [email protected].

Photograph and work sample submission guidelines

Photographs and work samples play a powerful role in communicating the content of your article. Each photo must be technically excellent and convey an important message about the care and education of children from infancy through age 8. Voices of Practitioners uses color photographs only. To see the types of photos used, photographers can review past issues of Voices of Practitioners.

For details on taking and submitting photos, please see our guidelines.

Review process

Voices editors jointly determine whether the article meets the basic guidelines. If not, the author is advised why the manuscript is not appropriate for consideration. If they choose to, authors can revise their manuscript accordingly and resubmit.
Manuscripts that meet the basic guidelines are peer reviewed by members of the Editorial Advisory Board, a group of early childhood teacher research experts, including teacher researchers, who represent geographic, cultural, linguistic, and subject matter diversity.
Using all the reviews as a guide, one of the following decisions will be made and notification will be sent to the author by email:
- The manuscript will be accepted for publication in Voices of Practitioners on the NAEYC Web site.
- The author will be asked to revise and resubmit the manuscript for further review or possible acceptance. Reviewers’ suggestions for enhancing the manuscript will be sent to author. Authors will have up to four months to complete revisions and resubmit the manuscript.
- The author will be advised the manuscript is not accepted for publication.

From acceptance to online publication

It is not possible to determine in advance the exact publication dates of accepted manuscripts. Most manuscripts require some revisions during the editing and production process.
Authors may be asked to update, clarify, or expand article content or references. An editor will return the edited article to the author via e-mail for final approval before the manuscript enters production.
When an article is scheduled for publication, authors are asked to complete biographies and copyright transfer forms. Both forms are provided electronically.