Education Commons^™

The Effect Of Ipad Instruction On Capital Letter Recognition Of Preschoolers, Jessica Adkins

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this study is to look at the effect of iPad instruction on capital letter recognition in preschool children between the ages of four and five. The study divided participants into two groups. One group received capital letter instruction with an iPad. The second group received capital letter instruction using letter manipulatives. Letter manipulatives were wooden puzzle letters. Baseline data was taken on capital letter recognition of all participants before this study began. At the end of the study, data was taken on capital letter recognition of all participants. Baseline and final data was compared to show growth. …

Play In Early Childhood, Keri Griswold

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This literature review looks at play in early childhood education and why play is important for early learners. The review looks at the history of play and the benefits that play has on brain development, as well as defining play. Adults play an important role in play, as does the early childhood learning environment. Early learners develop their critical thinking skills and their social and emotional skills through play. The curriculum that is offered to early learners should revolve around play but should ensure that they are being provided the opportunity to learn about the outdoors, math, reading, and all …

Leadership Effectiveness In Curriculum Adoption For A Kindergarten, Bo Peng

All Theses And Dissertations

This study of leadership effectiveness focused on adoption, implementation, and evaluation of kindergarten curriculum. The researcher evaluated leadership effectiveness through the processes and outcomes of the team’s decision-making. Research questions were: How does the kindergarten leadership team make decisions about adoption of kindergarten curriculum? How does the kindergarten leadership team evaluate the quality of kindergarten curriculum? How does the kindergarten leadership team evaluate student learning in the three curriculum areas of Chinese language, English language and science? How does the curriculum they have adopted align with the CKEG national standards for kindergarten curriculum in China? The program evaluation, guided by …

Parental Involvement Among Low-Income Filipinos: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Aileen S. Garcia

Aileen Garcia

Parental involvement in children’s education is an integral component of young children’s academic achievement. In the Philippines, a developing country with high rates of poverty and input deficit in basic education, school dropout rates are high especially among the poor. Given that many children from disadvantaged backgrounds do not get enough support (PIDS, 2012) and many parents are not equipped with skills to support their children’s education, it is essential to investigate how Filipino parents can help and contribute to their children’s academic success. In response to the lack of parental involvement literature situated in the Philippine context, the present …

Effects Of Print In Early Childhood Programs, Marcie Lentsch

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This paper will discuss the effects of print on early childhood classrooms. The first goal was to determine if referencing print during read alouds would increase foundational literacy skills. The second goal, was to identify if implementing the Sit Together and Read (S.T.A.R.) framework would increase emergent literacy skills with three, four and five year olds students. Two early childhood classrooms from the same school district were included in the study. One classroom embedded print references and the S.T.A.R. framework during repeated read alouds. The other classroom continued with normal read aloud routines. Data was analyzed using the Early Literacy …

Using Music And Movement To Enhance Cognitive Development, Bobbie Jo Pogue

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This literature review explores the research done in the use of music and movement in enhancing cognitive development, focusing mainly on the early childhood setting. The demand on preschool students has increased over the years and many even say preschool is the new kindergarten. For many years, young students have been taught through song, movement and actions, listening to music, and how to play an instrument. These are all interrelated to helping enhance a child’s cognitive development. Teachers tend to be so focused on just the academic part of teaching, even in preschool, that they forget the importance of music …

An Investigation On Gender And The Effects On Behavior In Early Childhood Classrooms, Chia Jung Yeh, Aspen Rae Yordy, Ajay Singh

Journal of Research Initiatives

Researchers who have studied children behavior in early childhood classrooms have found that classrooms are the first place where children learn about acceptable behavior and societal norms. Gender and behavior have been studied on children of later ages, i.e.; elementary, middle, high school, and higher education, but little has been researched regarding children of younger ages. Researchers of this study used quantitative methods to investigate, gender and the effects on children behavior in early childhood classrooms? The researchers recruited a total of 105 preschoolers from seven different classrooms in the Southwest Central region in the United States, to investigate, if …

No Room For Silence: The Impact Of The 2016 Presidential Race On A Second-Grade Dual-Language (Spanish-English) Classroom, Sandra L. Osorio

Occasional Paper Series

“¡Quiere sacar a todos los suramericanos! Quiere quedarse con solo los blancos,¹ shouted second grader Salvador² to his classmate Victor. They were supposed to be reading Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin, but somehow the conversation had turned to the then presidential candidate for the Republican Party, Donald Trump. That was how Trump and his rhetoric entered our dual language classroom.

Far too often, the voices of students of color, their experiences, and their lives are not validated in the classroom. When Salvador and Victor’s conversation about Trump erupted, the teacher and I—the teacher …

An Action Research Investigation Into An Early Childhood Digital, Storytelling-Based Solution, Jessica Smith

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The development of literacy skills prior to the classroom has been established as essential for future school and life successes. However, the present achievement gap between lower-socioeconomic neighborhoods and their higher-income counterparts illustrate vast dissimilarities in early childhood provisions for quality reading materials and instructional aides. In an effort to bridge the educational breach, a collaborative, storytelling-based program entitled Kid Forward was introduced to five nationwide families as a means of assistance for early childhood literacy development. Through the use of demographic surveys, interviews completed before and after the program implementation, and exit surveys, the action research study examined early …

Teaching Towards A Culture Of Peace In Early Childhood Education Classrooms, Samantha Ferber

Master's Projects and Capstones

This curriculum guide was conceived keeping in mind the diverse educational settings of early childhood education in the United States. It is especially targeted for preschool classrooms of children aged two and a half to four years old. However, it can be modified for use in early elementary school where teachers hope to incorporate peace education into their classrooms. Early childhood educators are the primary audience for this guidebook, but any educator, parent, or caregiver can benefit from the concepts of peace education.

This curriculum guide should stem from a critical engagement between teachers and the communities within which they …

The Emergence Of Friendships And Social Groups In Kindergarten, Denae Shake

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

The school classroom is an inherently social setting where students interact with each other for seven hours, five days a week. The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of how students select their friends and how social groups begin to form and emerge. The author collected data through student and teacher interviews, dictated drawings, a sociogram, and a parent survey. After analyzing the data by using the constant comparative method, the author found four major themes. The first was that each social clique came equipped with unique characteristics that the clique members embodied. Second, there were …

Engagement During Math Small Groups Using The Interactive White Board, Grace Diana Cozby

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

Interactive whiteboards are an integral part of many elementary classrooms. These boards are becoming increasingly common in the early childhood setting. This study looks at how the interactive whiteboard impacts engagement in a Head Start, pre-kindergarten classroom. This study was done by teaching math small groups, both with and without the use of the interactive whiteboard, and recording the results in regards to engagement. Interviews, surveys, checklists, tally sheets, and journaling were used to garner both teacher and student perceptions about the use of the interactive whiteboard. This study found that interactive whiteboards increased direct instruction engagement and were perceived …

Parental Involvement Among Low-Income Filipinos: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Aileen S. Garcia

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Parental involvement in children’s education is an integral component of young children’s academic achievement. In the Philippines, a developing country with high rates of poverty and input deficit in basic education, school dropout rates are high especially among the poor. Given that many children from disadvantaged backgrounds do not get enough support (PIDS, 2012) and many parents are not equipped with skills to support their children’s education, it is essential to investigate how Filipino parents can help and contribute to their children’s academic success. In response to the lack of parental involvement literature situated in the Philippine context, the present …

What Effects Will Collaborative Art Have On Social Cohesion?, Nadine Clarke-Manning

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this project is to determine the effects of group art on social closeness in the early childhood Montessori classroom. The study had nineteen participants ranging in age from three years to six years old and their parents. The data was collected by means of parent pre and postproject questionnaires, student feedback forms, observations and tallies, and reflective teacher journals. The intervention spanned over a six-week period in an established Montessori school in a rural area of Ontario, Canada where social connection and bonding had not been reached. In small groups, students completed a cohesive group art project …

Let Our Children Play: The Importance Of Play In Early Childhood Education, Julie Kessel

University of Montana Journal of Early Childhood Scholarship and Innovative Practice

No abstract provided.

Critique Of The Owl Curriculum, Judi Guisti, Kathryn Hinkle, Gretchen Oldenburg, Heidi Paul, Jessica Vlasie, Beth Lincoln, Cindy Moulton

University of Montana Journal of Early Childhood Scholarship and Innovative Practice

No abstract provided.

Critique Of The Creative Curriculum For Preschool, Hannah Gullickson, Raelynn Cameron, Lucy Marose, Irene Tiefenthaler, Tasha Van Nice

University of Montana Journal of Early Childhood Scholarship and Innovative Practice

No abstract provided.

An Evaluation Of The Efficacy Of Preschool Participation Upon Kindergarten Readiness, Simone Sellers

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore whether children who attended a full day of preschool were better prepared for kindergarten than those who attended a part-time program or no program at all. Two levels of the independent variable, preschool participation, were utilized: (a) full-time participation and (b) part-time or no participation. Readiness rates among children who attended a public preschool in a large school district in Florida were examined using standardized academic achievement scores as dependent variables. When looking at kindergarten readiness, males who attended preschool scored higher academic levels than males who attended no preschool. However, …

Parent-Implemented Communication Intervention For Preschool-Aged Children With Autism, Heather M. Coleman

Theses and Dissertations

Exploring the interventions that promote expressive, verbal language for preschool-aged children with autism is essential. When a child is lacking the ability to communicate, parents express that they would like their child to speak. B.F. Skinner (1957) proposed that the mand repertoire (communicative requests) should be an initial focus of language training. Mand training has been shown to be effective for teaching children with autism to communicate. However, many studies exploring mand training utilize highly trained instructors for intervention implementation. Early childhood best practices recommend the use of family-centered interventions and teaching within the natural environment. This study followed these …

Congruency Between Spoken Language And Guidance Beliefs In Early Childhood Programs, Jennifer Mager

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The language in a child’s environment either supports or weakens the growth of conflict resolution skills. A study using the language sampled from three early childhood educators, (two in family childcare homes and one in a childcare center) found that those in family child care programs reported stronger beliefs that children can solve problems, teachers support the development of problem solving skills, and conflict can create opportunities for learning than was recorded in practice. This was determined with a frequency count of unilateral strategies employed during perceived conflict. The third participant in a childcare center demonstrated congruency between questionnaire-reported positive …

Strengthening Identities And Involvement Of Aboriginal Children Through Learning On Country., Elizabeth M. Jackson-Barrett, Libby Lee-Hammond

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Djarlgarra Koolunger (Canning River kids) is a culturally centred outdoor learning project referred to as ‘On Country Learning’ or OCL. The project explores Aboriginal connectedness to the spiritual, social, cultural, environmental and geographic dimensions of particular outdoor spaces. This allows Indigenous and non- Indigenous students and their educators to connect at what Nakata (2007) terms the ‘cultural interface’. OCL offers opportunities to transform the ways in which schools engage with Aboriginal perspectives whilst facilitating deep learning through what we describe as culturally responsive pedagogies. This paper stories the journey of Aboriginal students and their teachers, engaging in learning that is …

Early Childhood Teachers’ Perspectives Of Growth Mindset: Developing Agency In Children, Fiona Boylan, Lennie Barblett, Marianne J. Knaus

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The integration of mindset theory into classrooms can assist children in optimizing academic achievement, increasing their agency for learning. The development of a growth mindset allows children to exercise autonomy over their learning, helping them to develop positive lifelong learning habits for the twenty-first century. This paper explores early childhood teachers’ perspectives of mindset and the role of a growth mindset in developing children’s agency for learning. Despite increasing research in this field, little is known about the perspectives that early childhood teachers have of mindset. This paper reports on the data from a study that describes teachers’ perspectives towards …