Education Commons^™

Understanding Children's Museums' Approaches To Diversity: A Critical And Socio-Cultural Investigation, Amber Nicole Smith

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Children begin to develop self-awareness and awareness of others at an early age (Marion, 2011). Before they reach kindergarten, children begin to make distinctions about race by noticing similarities and differences between themselves and others (Winkler, 2009). Exposing young children to diversity can help each child embrace their identity, accept and celebrate differences, and be accepting of themselves and others (Cole & Verwayne, 2018).

The purpose of this study is to explore how children’s museums support diversity through their programs and planning. The research of this study focuses on four children’s museums located in the United States. There are many …

Dependability And Reliability Of The Direct Behavior Rating Classroom Management Forms, Kaitlin Angela Cassidy

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Classroom management skills are evidence-based strategies used to maintain a positive and productive learning environment. Utilizing classroom management strategies has been proven effective; however, limited tools are available for assessing such skills and further assessment of the reliability and dependability of such measures is needed. The Direct Behavior Rating – Classroom Management (DBR-CM) forms are measures for assessing classroom management and come in three forms: external rater (DBR-CM ER), self-report (DBR-CM SR), and student rater (DBR-CM ST). This study extended on the information obtained from the Cassidy (2018) study that examined the DBR-CM ER form. The study evaluated the inter-observer …

Text-Influenced Expressions Of Understanding: Differences In Kindergartners’ Discourse And Written Retellings Of Traditional And Digital Texts During Buddy Reading, Julie Parrish

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Buddy reading a text is a collaborative act that typically generates discourse that provides researchers with a glimpse of the comprehending taking place. However, in recent years, the infusion of technology in classrooms has resulted in many traditional texts being replaced by digital versions. Thus, this qualitative case study examined the spoken and written discourse of 12 kindergartners (6 dyads) as they buddy read a traditional and digital text.

Drawing upon two distinct lenses—sociocultural and comprehension signifier—video recordings, transcriptions, and written retellings were analyzed. Specifically, process coding and in vivo coding were used to construct categories and uncover sociocultural patterns …

Investigating Leadership Styles Of Childcare Directors, Michelle P. Grantham-Caston

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The aim of this study was to contribute to the literature on childcare director’s leadership styles and director’s self-perception. For leaders in childcare to be effective they must possess skills, characteristics, and traits of effective leadership which have been identified in the seminal literature of Bass (1995) and Burns (1979). This quantitative study examined early childhood leaders self-identification with the leadership styles in The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) (Bass & Avolio, 1995) as well as other demographic variables which could contribute to early childhood leaders’ self-perception of leadership styles. This study was to break apart the three overarching leadership styles …

Giving Four-Year-Old Children A "Voice" Within The Comprehensive Evaluation Of Quality Teaching Practices, Mistie M. Perry

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Educational research has largely focused on the correlation between governmental entities and classroom pedagogy as policymakers develop more comprehensive evaluation systems that raise the expectations of teacher quality. However, some researchers in the field of early childhood suggest the measurement of teacher quality is largely a “mismatch between informant-based, retroactive methods” (Downer, Booren, Lima, Luckner, & Pianta, 2010, p. 5) as developmentally appropriate measurements of early childhood quality that include the perceptions of the children are few. To examine the potential for researchers to consider the inclusion of children’s perceptions within evaluation systems, this study examines the following area of …