Education Commons^™

Global Educational Ramifications Of Covid-19 On Minorities And Students Living In Poverty Or Extreme Poverty: A Literature Review, Jessie S. Thacker-King

Journal of Global Education and Research

Public education requires all stakeholders to collaborate as a community and focus on the essential factors that create a path for student progress, growth, and maturity. The result nurtures students from kindergarten to graduation and beyond and affords them opportunities to become efficacious members of their communities. Schools are a business operating on the premise of the service industry, working collectively with and for the communities they serve. Their operational parameters are to work with all stakeholders to successfully facilitate excellence in education for all students regardless of gender, race, or socioeconomic status. Recent COVID-19 school closures have opened dialogues …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Perceptions Of Inclusive Preschool Education Through The Lens Of Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Educators., Brooke Noon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Young children with special needs have been educated in early childhood settings with typically developing peers for over 40 years. Successful educational inclusion in the least restrictive environment requires appropriate aids and supports (Individuals with Disabilities Act, 2004). Although researchers have studied many aspects of special education, little investigation has been conducted on the perspectives of dual certified interdisciplinary early childhood educator’s (IECE) perceptions on full inclusion in preschool. This study was designed to examine the connection between the perceptions of IECE teacher’s experiences as a dual certified educator in preschool. In total, 10 IECE teachers were interviewed and completed …

Developing Self-Efficacy In Mathematics Through Visual Art: An Observational Research Report On A Preschool Child With Exceptionalities, Ever Daw-Powers

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Self-efficacy is a skill that can inspire problem solving, high confidence, and critical thinking skills. As educators seek to create an enriching, inclusive, and engaging academic environment for students with disabilities, it is important to incorporate strategies for building self-efficacy throughout learning. I pose a potential solution to integrate self-efficacy building into mathematical concepts through visual art. The participant in this study is a four-year-old child diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), sensory input issues, and a developmental delay. Over a four-week period, I performed a pre-assessment, four lesson plans, and a post-assessment. I created the assessment to measure …

Improving Inclusion: The Ongoing And Transformative Process Of Improving Education Systems To Meet The Needs Of All Students, Robert Mistler

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

For this Capstone Project the researcher will investigate how instructors view the environment of the classroom when there is a mix of special needs students incorporated into the general population classroom setting and what they think could be done to improve the environment. The inclusion of special needs is necessary for fair and equal treatment; further, by separating the general population from special needs students, brings about a culture of segregation that can have lifelong impacts. Through an evaluation of scholarly literature and interviews conducted with teachers at an elementary school the findings uncovered three emergent themes: collaboration with teachers …

How Can Early Childhood Educators Promote Equitable Outcomes Through Trauma-Informed Practice?, Elizabeth Terry

Graduate Teacher Education

An abundance of research acknowledges the effects of trauma on children from an early age. Prolonged and severe trauma in early childhood can lead to adverse outcomes in important areas of development, such as one’s physical, mental, and social-emotional well-being (Morsy and Rothstein, 2019). Children present school systems and educators with the task of addressing this important, but infrequently considered issue. Trauma has lasting effects regardless of age, but the impacts of trauma during childhood are especially profound during such formative years. Children require safe spaces to learn and flourish as individuals, therefore it is important that early childhood educators …

Creating A Culturally Competent Children’S Library, Rachel Burger, Donia Timby, Jacquelyn D. Wiersma-Mosley, Laura Herold, Shelley Mcnally

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

There is an ever-growing need for cultural competence and a well-rounded education, especially for children. In order to promote cultural competence, this creative project focused on enhancing a library space at the University of Arkansas Bumpers College Jean Tyson Child Development Study Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas with resources that address diversity and cultural competence. The goal was to transform the library into an enticing, relaxing, and judgment-free area where children feel comfortable to explore their culture and the cultures of others. New books added to the library were thoroughly reviewed and chosen for the purpose of promoting cultural competence and inclusion, …

Toward A Culturally Inclusive Canon Of Multimodal Picture Books: Developing Multiliteracies Practices And Assessments For Ontario’S Classrooms, Arwa Jammali

Major Papers

Multimodal picture books are a critical component of children’s literacy development, and in a multicultural province such as Ontario, it is vital that literacy development include cultural literacy. The demographics of the province’s classrooms are increasingly diverse; however, minoritized cultures are underrepresented among teachers, and there are sparse training mandates related to cultural inclusion. Thus, Ontario’s culturally diverse student body is encountering a number of barriers related to gender, ethnicity, perceived race, sexual identity, ability, class, and other social markers. To provide teachers with the tools needed to support their students, the current study utilizes a theoretical framework derived from …

A Circle With Edges: How Story Time Privileges The Abled Learner, Melissa Tsuei

Occasional Paper Series

Takes a critical look at one of the commonplace features of early childhood classrooms—story time. In her essay, Melissa considers the ways in which story time reinforces unequal power dynamics for diverse learners by privileging the able-bodied learner. In response, Melissa creates and presents the SPHERE model, which promotes active engagement and shared dialogue through collaborative storytelling and nurtures an inclusive literacy-learning environment.

Talking Tolerance Inside The “Inclusive” Early Childhood Classroom, Karen Watson

Occasional Paper Series

Provides an inside look into what the Australian government calls “inclusive learning communities.” This term emerges from a national early-years learning framework that highlights ability and disability as diversity. Following the course of a six-month period in three “inclusive” early childhood classrooms, Karen offers an account of the transformative potential of inclusion in contrast to the harmful effects of teaching tolerance. Tolerance, as Karen’s study reveals, preserves the dualism of normal versus abnormal (or Other) and hinders critical reflection about ableist assumptions.

Classroom Readiness For Successful Inclusion: Teacher Factors And Preschool Children’S Experience With And Attitudes Toward Peers With Disabilities, Kyong-Ah Kwon, Soo-Young Hong, Hyun-Joo Jeon

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The current study examined (1) associations among teachers’ experiences regarding children with disabilities (i.e., education, specialized training, years of work experience), their attitudes toward disabilities, and their classroom practices in relation to inclusion and (2) associations among children’s attitudes toward peers with disabilities and child and teacher factors. Ninety-one 4- and 5-year-old children participated in an interview, and their teachers completed a survey. Teachers’ specialized training and bachelor’s degree in early childhood education (ECE) were positively associated with their inclusive practices in the classroom; teachers’ bachelor’s degree in ECE and experiences working with children with disabilities were positively associated with …

Preschool Experience Vs. No Preschool Experience: Long Term Effects On Academic And Social Readiness Of Children, Dionne C. Estes

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Despite federal and state investments in early education intervention programs,achievement gaps continue to afflict the education system with children from low-income families having an increased need for high quality preschool education. When children from underprivileged families move through the education system, the chances of academic success becomes difficult as the education gap increases year after year, and they fall farther behind. By the time these students enter high school, they are behind academically and unable to meet grade level requirements. Many of them to give up and quit attending school, leading to an increase in the dropout rate.

Research indicates …

2014 Maine Head Start Annual Report, Linda Labas, Jill Downs, Maine Head Start Directors' Association, Maine Head Start State Collaboration Office

Early Childhood Resources

The goal of Head Start is to improve outcomes for young children (ages 6 weeks to 5 years) from low-income families by promoting school readiness through a continuum of comprehensive services (early childhood education, health, nutrition, and social services) that support children’s development and family functioning. The term “Head Start” refers to the Head Start program as a whole which serves pregnant women, infants, toddlers, preschool-aged children, and their families in various service options (home visiting, center-based, and family child care). This annual report presents aggregate data from the 11 non-tribal Head Start grantees in Maine for the 2012-2013 program …

Transforming Selves For Inclusive Practice: Experiences Of Early Childhood Preservice Teachers, Joseph S. Agbenyega, Sunanta Klibthong

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In this paper we discussed the impact of ‘spaces of difference’ on teachers’ professional learning to embrace and celebrate diversity, as perceived by early childhood preservice teachers who share their opinions through online group discussions. Spaces of difference is a first year undergraduate course unit designed to support preservice teachers’ professional education to embrace and implement inclusive practice in early childhood education. Informed by Critical theoretical ideas of Bourdieu (Capital, Field, Habitus), we investigated early childhood preservice teachers’ concept of spaces of difference and their personal transformations. Results of this qualitative study suggested that teachers’ understanding of space extended and …

Keynote : The Early Years, Gina Milgate

Gina C Milgate

No abstract provided.

Early Childhood Teachers' Knowledge Of Children With Disabilities And Teaching Children With Disabilities, Pamela A. Kilgallon

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Trends to integrate students with disabilities into general education schools, rely on early childhood teachers utilising their knowledge and skills to provide successful induction into the education system, and fully including students with disabilities in the teaching program. This study describes early childhood teachers' knowledge of children with disabilities, and the teaching of these children, through teachers recounting their sources of knowledge and experiences in teaching children with disabilities. This study was conducted in the northern metropolitan teaching districts of Perth, Western Australia. Using both quantitative and qualitative methodology, 22 early childhood teachers completed a survey involving open-ended questions, followed …

A Project Designed To Identify And Assist Potential Slow Learners At The Pre-Kindergarten Level, Anita Louise Rakoz

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this paper is to research students who have continuous academic problems in school. Data is collected to identify the needs and problems of these children. Solutions are presented to meet identified needs. Behavior testing and an adult training program, which involves the services and funds of various existing social services agencies, are introduced as methods for meeting the student problems.