- x3751
- Wednesdays 9:00-11:30 am, 1:30 - 4:30 pm and by appointment
I have a fresh and rich understanding of the current state of Early Childhood Education gained as I spent the past two years visiting early childhood classrooms across the country as an assessor for the National Association of the Education of Young Children. Putting my feet in that many classrooms gave me a practical, grounded understanding of the post-Covid realities of teaching young children.
Before that, I worked as a Program Implementation Specialist for an Early Head Start Partnership grantee in New Orleans. There, my theoretical and abstract beliefs grew into an edgy recognition of the struggles Head Start families experience every day. It was eye-opening work that often shocked me to the core and left me with a deep compassion and appreciation for the value of comprehensive early childhood education.
As a reliable Teachstone CLASS observer, I used CLASS to assess preservice teacher education students in the PK-3 teacher certification program I developed and led. As program leader, I had all student supervisors use the tool to evaluate students in their field experiences and two semesters of student teaching. This practice facilitated consistent, profound preservice teacher growth because all supervisors used consistent language and measurement. Later, I worked for three years assessing toddler and preschool classrooms using the CLASS tool as an external evaluator for the state.
I taught undergraduate, honors, and graduate students at the master's and doctorate levels in a land-grant university for a number of years. I taught them Early Childhood Education, Child Development, Family Studies, Methods and Materials, Research Methods, Assessment, and Critical Thinking. As a researcher, I collected, analyzed, and disseminated data in many projects. For one interesting federally funded project, we assessed young children’s knowledge of hurricanes after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. My primary research focus is on developmentally appropriate teaching, particularly as it relates to the culture of the learner and modeled by teacher-educators and administrators.
- Ph.D., Child Development and Family Studies/Early Childhood Education (1993), Purdue University (Lafayette, IN)
- M.S., Human Ecology/Child Development (1988), Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, LA)
- B.S., Business Administration/Management (1985), Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, LA)
SELECTED FUNDED GRANTS
Louisiana NSF Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research /Pfund 2005-E, $9,896, 2009
Buchanan, T., Investigating the Psychometric Properties of a Measure of Young Children’s Support Networks.
Studied the reliability and validity of a measure of the context of children’s development.
University of North Carolina-Charlotte/NIMH, $26,460, 2007
Buchanan, T. (2007). The Parent-Child Relationship and Children’s Adjustment Post-Hurricane Katrina.
Collaborated with trauma researchers to study the impact of Katrina on children and their families.
National Science Foundation, $88,925, 2005
Buchanan, T.K., Burts, D.C., & Page, T., Early Childhood Educators’ Response to Katrina and Child Outcomes.
Surveyed 592 teachers in 4 states to assess the impact of hurricanes on teaching and determined the hurricane knowledge of 84 young children using an adapted extensive interview process.
U.S. Department of Education, $700,000, 2001
Collins, D., Sciaraffa, M., & Buchanan, T.K., Childcare Access Means Parents in School.
Supported the work done to plan, build, and open a childcare center at Louisiana State University.
Louisiana State Department of Education, Part-B and Preschool Flow-Through Grant, $227,933, 1997-1999
Buchanan, T.K., & Nowak, T. The LSU Comprehensive Eligibility Criteria Project: Years 1, 2, and 3.
Evaluated the effectiveness of transdisciplinary play-based assessment to determine preschool eligibility for services.
Louisiana State Department of Education, $190,000, 1997-1999.
Tashakkori, A. & Buchanan, T.K. (1997-1999). Reading and Math Initiative Evaluation Project, Years 1, 2, and 3.
Evaluated the effectiveness of a state-wide initiative to improve the instruction of reading and math in early primary grades.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Petitpas, D. & Buchanan, T.K. (2022). Using observation to guide your teaching. Teaching Young Children, 16(1), 4-7
Buchanan, T. (2017). Mindfulness and meditation in education. Young Children. 72(3), 69-74.
Csaszar, I. & Buchanan, T. (2015). Teacher stress and meditation. Dimensions, 43(1), 4-7.
Page, T., Buchanan, T., Verbovaya, O. (2014). Children’s attachment-related narratives following US Gulf Coast hurricanes: Linkages with their understanding and teacher stress. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 14(3), 229-246.
Baumgartner, J., Burnett, L., DiCarlo, C., & Buchanan, T. (2012). An inquiry of children's social support networks using eco-maps. Child and Youth Care Forum, 41(4), 357-369.
Plummer, C., Buchanan, T., Kennedy, B., Rouse, L., & Pine, J. (2011). Broadening perspectives: A multi- disciplinary collaborative teaching and learning experience. The Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 4(1), 60-73.
Baumgartner, J.J., Buchanan, T.K., & Casbergue, R.C. (2011). Developmentally appropriate teacher education: "Practicing what we preach.” Theme Issue of Childhood Education, 2011 – Teacher Education Programs. 87(5), 332-336.
Buchanan, T.K., Casbergue, R.C., & Baumgartner, J.J. (2010). Consequences for classroom environments and school personnel: Evaluating Katrina’s effect on schools and system response. In R.P. Kilmer, V. Gil-Rivas, R.G. Tedeschi, & L.G. Calhoun (Eds.), Helping families and communities recover from disaster: Lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath (pp. 118-139). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
Buchanan, T. & Liggett, S. (2010). Making the primary grade curriculum relevant. Ubiquitous Learning: An International Journal, 2(3), 151-166.
Kim, Kyung-Ran & Buchanan, T. K. (2009). Teacher beliefs and practices survey: operationalizing the 1997 NAEYC guidelines. Early Child Development and Care, 179(8), 1113-1124.
Kilmer, R.P., Gil-Rivas, V., Tedeschi, R.G., Cann, A., Calhoun, L.G., Buchanan, T., & Taku, K. (2009). Use of the revised Posttraumatic Growth Inventory for Children (PTGI-C-R) to assess positive changes post-Hurricane Katrina. Journal of Traumatic Stress. 22(3), 248-253.
Aghayan, C., Schellhaas, A., Wayne, A., Burts, D.C., Buchanan, T., & Benedict, J. (2005). Project Katrina. Early Childhood Research and Practice, 7(2), Urbana-Champaign, IL: Early Childhood and Parenting (ECAP) Collaborative. Retrieved from: http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v7n2/aghayan.html.
White, F., Buchanan, T., Burts, D.C., & Stuhlmann, J. (2001). Developmentally appropriate practice in the primary grades: Profiles of 6 teachers. Young Children, 56(1), 22-32.
Jones, L.D., Burts, D.C., Buchanan, T.K., Jambunathan, S. (2000). Beginning pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers' beliefs and practices: Supports and barriers to developmentally appropriate practices. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 21(3), 397-410.
Buchanan, T., Burts, D.C., & Pellar, L., (1998). Developmentally appropriate practices in teacher education: Lessons from one semester. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 19(3), 275-284.
Buchanan, T., Burts, D.C., White, V.F., Bidner, J., & Charlesworth, R. (1998). Predictors of the developmental appropriateness of the beliefs and practices of first, second, and third-grade teachers. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 13(3), 459-483.
SELECTED HONORS AND AWARDS
Amborski Distinguished Honors Professor Award Honors College Student Council (2012)
Tiger Athletic Foundation Undergraduate Teaching Award, Honors College (2012)