Progressive Virtual Learning For Our Youngest Learners, Erica B. Held

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This study addresses how teachers build a progressive curriculum online for our youngest learners. Our youngest learners learn through play and the author sought to gather data in order to understand how teachers approached this age group in an online space. To conduct the research, ten observations were made of a pre-k class and a first grade class. Throuobservation and recording, four main themes were identified that progessive educators were using to create progressive curricula: Building Community, Progressive Pedagogy, Student Voice and the Home-School Connection. To build community the teachers observed had students bring objects from home, offered consistent morning …

Professional Learning On The Neuroscience Of Challenging Behavior: Effects On Early Childhood Educators’ Beliefs And Practices, Angie Rosati, Jacqueline Lynch

Publications and Scholarship

How early childhood educators understand and interpret the challenging behavior of children will affect how they respond and influence student-teacher relationships. While recent neuroscience explains how challenging behavior can be understood as an automatic response to neurophysiological stress, this research is seldom shared with early childhood educators who generally report lacking tools to manage child behavior and may interpret all challenging behavior as a willful act. This mixed method study examined the effects of a 2-day professional learning (PL) program regarding the neuroscience of child behavior on early educator beliefs and practices in regard to challenging behavior. Pre-post analysis of …

Policy Effects On New York City Early Education Centers: Ecological Case Studies, Maria S. Mavrides Calderon

Theses and Dissertations

NYC’s universal Pre-K (PKFA) was implemented through New York Early Education Centers (NYCEECs) and public schools, without considering compensation parity across settings. This study investigates the impact of unequal compensation policies on the experiences of directors, teachers, and parents affiliated with NYCEECs, and how they compare or contrast with the policymakers’ discourse around those policies. While other studies have investigated the PKFA implementation (Akaba et al., 2019; Falk & Souto-Manning, 2020; Fuller & Leibovitz, 2021a; Reid et al., 2019), none have privileged the ecology of those working at and attending NYCEECs. Through critical policy analysis, this study utilized Bronfenbrenner's (1979) …

Teach A Person To Fish: An Examination Of The Functionalities Of Outdoor Classrooms In Windsor-Essex County, Loretta M. Sbrocca

Education Publications

ABSTRACT

Outdoor classrooms are valuable learning environments that are adaptable in the face of differing terrain, climate, geography, weather and changing educational requirements. They can be used to teach all subjects, engage students in personal development goals and organizational priorities, and promote community involvement. How can educators harness the vast potential of outdoor classrooms as a learning tool? Understanding their functionalities is one means. This research employs an online questionnaire and optional follow-up interviews with various types of educators throughout Windsor-Essex County to help participants understand the functionalities of their own outdoor classrooms. Results showed that educators had different interpretations …

Risk And Protective Factors For Sexual Aggression Across The Ecosystem: An Overview, Emily A. Waterman, Katie M. Edwards

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Prevention of sexual aggression (which ranges from perpetration of unwanted sexual contact to attempted/completed rape) is a complex public health and safety issue that requires attention to multiple levels of social ecology (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004). The social ecological model provides a framework for understanding how risk and protective factors for sexual aggression exist at multiple levels, with some factors being more proximal such as the individual attitudes, and other factors being more distal such as the broader culture (e.g., laws and policies) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). Indeed, research indicates a variety of risk …

Informal And Formal Mentoring Of Sexual And Gender Minority Youth: A Systematic Review, Katie Edwards, Jillian R. Scheer, Victoria Mauer

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Research demonstrates that mentoring relationships can promote positive outcomes for youth across numerous domains, a topic of importance to school social workers. Whereas most mentoring research to date has been conducted with heterosexual cisgender youth, there is a growing body of literature that examines mentoring experiences among sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY). The purpose of this article is to conduct a systematic literature review of informal and formal mentoring experiences among SGMY. Results from twelve studies that met inclusion criteria suggested that (1) the majority of SGMY report having a mentor/role model; (2) demographics are generally unrelated to having …

Searching For Mental Health Services: Search Strings And Information Acquisition, Antover Tuliao, Natira D. Mullet, Lindsey G. Hawkins, Derek Holyoak, Marisa Weerts, Anthony Inyang

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Based on decision sciences and information processing theories, how information is acquired is the foundation of decisions and choices subsequently made. Adapting the Active Information Search methodology, the aim for this study is to examine what information potential mental health clients look for in a service provider through their use of search strings. College students (N = 519) from a large public university from the southwest USA (data collection from August to December 2018) were asked in an online survey to imagine themselves needing mental health services and list down the search string they would use in a search engine …

Pilot Test Of A Quality Rating And Improvement System In Early Education Programs In Magadan Oblast, Rf, And In Minnesota, Usa, Elizabeth J. Sandell

Elementary and Literacy Education Department Publications

Quality in early childhood education matters. Scholarly research has demonstrated the critical importance of the first three years of a child’s life. The experiences and interactions children have in these early years significantly affects brain development and helps to establish the foundation for future learning. The topic of this study was to pilot test a Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) in early education programs in Magadan, Russian Federation (RU) and in Mankato, Minnesota, United States of America (USA). The purpose of this study was to understand the use of a specific instrument to provide direction for the improvement of …

Fine And Gross Motor (Physical Domain), Kathy R. Doody Ph.D.

Sample module-themed coursework with Sesame Street examples

This module will provide an overview of the physical domain in early childhood, specifically, fine motor(small muscles such as those found in the hands and fingers) and gross motor (large muscles such as those found in arms, legs,and core) and its development. The module will also provide insight into how Sesame Street has stressed the importance of physical activity to young children, as well as how they have provided age appropriate activities,songs, and video segments to teach fine and gross motor skill development.

Incarceration, Pamela Schuetze Ph.D.

Sample module-themed coursework with Sesame Street examples

In this module, students will consider how having an incarcerated parent impacts children. Using clips from Sesame Street, students will consider how children cope with and understand having an incarcerated parent. Students will also how having an incarcerated parenting impacts socioemotional development.

International Conflict, Pamela Schuetze Ph.D.

Sample module-themed coursework with Sesame Street examples

In this module, students will consider how international conflict and associated traumas impact children.Using clips from versions of Sesame Street that air in countries experiencing violence and other children’s media, students will consider the impact of violence/trauma on neurological, cognitive and socioemotional functioning.

Social-Emotional Development, Lisa Timmons Ph.D.

Sample module-themed coursework with Sesame Street examples

In this module, students will consider the importance of fostering social and emotional skills (e.g., emotion regulation, how to positively initiate and maintain interactions with others) in early childhood and beyond. Students will discuss strategies used to teach social and emotional skills which can be used by parents, teachers, or other child development professionals. Students will specifically reflect on the potential value and impact of focusing on social and emotional skills in child-targeted media, such as Sesame Street.

Executive Function, Susan Geffen Ph.D.

Sample module-themed coursework with Sesame Street examples

This module will explore the various aspects of executive function (inhibition, cognitive flexibility, working memory). Students will use topical readings and Sesame Street video clips to explore how executive function develops throughout childhood and adolescence, common methods for studying executive function (e.g., Stroop task, marshmallow task), and techniques that parents and teachers can use to help children develop executive function skills.

Language Development, Susan Geffen Ph.D.

Sample module-themed coursework with Sesame Street examples

This module will explore the various aspects of language development (phonetics, syntax,semantics and pragmatics). Using topical readings and clips from Sesame Street, students will consider the steps involved in learning language (e.g., learning word-object pairings), cues available in daily language, and techniques that parents and teachers can use to help children acquire language.

Parenting, Pamela Schuetze Ph.D.

Sample module-themed coursework with Sesame Street examples

In this module, students will consider various aspects of parenting impact children. Using clips from Sesame Street, students will consider how parenting decisions and communication may impact child development. Students will also explore parenting resources developed by Sesame Worksheet to support and educate the parents of young children.

School Readiness (Behavior), Kathy R. Doody Ph.D.

Sample module-themed coursework with Sesame Street examples

This module will provide an overview of the social-emotional and adaptive skills required for kindergarten success. The module will also provide insight into how Sesame Street has prepared children for their first days of preschool or kindergarten and all that entails: following the rules, playing with others, taking turns, etc.

Sesame Street Seminar – Autism Spectrum Disorders, Kathy R. Doody Ph.D

Sample module-themed coursework with Sesame Street examples

This module will provide an overview of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The module will also provide insight into how Sesame Street has raised awareness and acceptance of ASD through a Muppet named Julia who is on the spectrum.

Death & Dying, Jill M. Swirsky Ph.D

Sample module-themed coursework with Sesame Street examples

In this module, students will consider how to discuss the difficult topic of death and dying with children. Using clips from Sesame Street and other children’s media, students will consider children’s cognitive capacity related to their ability to understand the concept of death. They will also learn about the role of parents in using children’s media as a teaching tool.

Sesame Street Seminar – Academic Readiness, Kathy R. Doody Ph.D

Sample module-themed coursework with Sesame Street examples

This module will provide an overview of the social-emotional and adaptive skills required for kindergarten success. The module will also provide insight into how Sesame Street has prepared children for their first days of preschool or kindergarten and all that entails: following the rules, playing with others, taking turns, etc.

Cognition, Susan Geffen Ph.D.

Sample module-themed coursework with Sesame Street examples

This module will explore various aspects of cognition, including such processes as memory, learning, attention, perception and problem-solving. Students will use topical readings and Sesame Street video clips to learn about the processes by which children acquire, integrate, and understand information about the world around them.