Education Commons^™

The Effects Of Collaboration On Teacher Empowerment, Brittany Kay Feinauer

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research project was to measure the effects that collaborative curriculum planning had on three early childhood classrooms in a private Montessori school. The study population included six early childhood teachers who collectively designed a curriculum and helped collect data for the first seven weeks of the intervention. Each participant filled out a teacher feedback form which was based on Spreitzer’s (1995) psychological empowerment scale to measure changes in perceptions of four different aspects of empowerment: meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact. The primary researcher also analyzed data from individual teacher journals, notes from weekly discussions, and …

Behavior Modification: Addressing The Challenging Behaviors Within An Early Childhood Program, Marie Gewiss

Graduate Education Student Scholarship

Addressing challenging behaviors in our Early Childhood Programs will always be a topic of concern for the teachers as well as for the students. One solution in avoiding misbehavior is to find the antecedent before the behavior can begin to be a disruption. A discussion of the consequences are also important aspects for children and adults to understand when thinking about how to control an unwanted act of aggression. “Aggressive behavior usually follows an event that the patient perceives as provocative. Types of provocation include perceptions of disrespectful treatment; unfairness/injustice; frustration/interruption; annoying traits, and irritations” (Daffern & Tonkin, 2010, para. …

Self-Monitoring: A Behavioral Intervention For Children Attending Head Start, Samantha Riggleman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Addressing the needs of preschoolers with behavioral problems is important, as these issues often have long-term impacts on the outcomes of students (Fox et al., 2002). Self- monitoring strategies and techniques have the potential to improve the outcomes of this population of children. Self-monitoring requires students to pay attention to a specific aspect of their behavior and record whether the behavior being monitored has occurred or not occurred (Amato-Zech et at., 2006). Although preschoolers are capable of self-monitoring (Otero & Haut, YEAR), it is not widely used in early childhood education settings for increasing compliance or appropriate behaviors. A component …

A Qualitative Content Analysis Of Early Algebra Education Ios Apps For Primary Children, Lissa S. Ledbetter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Educational software applications (apps) on multi-touch, mobile devices provide a promising space to help learners work toward long-term educational goals, like learning with understanding (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000). Such goals are particularly relevant in supporting a learner’s efforts to become more mathematically literate. Yet, a number of current apps do not appear to be living up to this potential. As such, this study drew upon the theoretical framework of Learning Science and the conceptual framework of TPACK theory (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) to define curricular characteristics that ideally support primary children’s potential to learn early algebra concepts with understanding, …

An Exploration Of The Math Names For Numbers: An Early Childhood Mathematics Intervention, Suzanne Magargee

Theses & Dissertations

A longitudinal study of the effects of an early childhood mathematics intervention was conducted in 2 private elementary schools in a large city in central Texas. The study included 377 participants in prekindergarten through fifth grades. Explicit non-inverted number names were taught in English and Spanish to prekindergarten and kindergarten students, with formative assessments conducted during this timeframe. Summative assessment results from standardized achievement tests were collected in grades 1 through 5 from 341 of the participants. Normal curve equivalent scores of total mathematics achievement, problem solving, and mathematics procedures were compared among groups of children with no or up …

Building Peer Independence Among Children, Sienna D. Kuhn

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The research was conducted to determine if grace and courtesy lessons could increase the peer to peer reliance in a new community of 12 children ranging in age from thirty-three months to four years old at a private Montessori school in a metropolitan area. It is rare to experience starting a new community and only having 12 children of the same relative age in a Montessori school. The study was conducted with grace and courtesy lessons, given an average of three times a week, on how to ask other peers for help and how to offer help to others. Data …

Storytelling And Emotional Response To Conflict, Angela K. Boris

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This research was conducted to assess the impact of daily oral storytelling and emotional response to conflict in preschool aged children. Research was done in a Montessori primary classroom with 23 students between the ages of two-and a-half and six years old. Quantitative data included tallies and averages of the total number of conflicts per week and per child and a conflict checklist to monitor any changes in language and behavior used in times of conflict. Qualitative data included observational field notes to evaluate children’s responses to and repetition of oral storytelling and a reflective journal to record any changes …

Grace And Courtesy In Living With Conflict In The Montessori Children’S House, Katie J. Gregoire

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this research was to determine in what ways increased role-play lessons of grace and courtesy affected conflict resolution in an early childhood classroom. This research study was conducted at a private Montessori school in a midwestern metropolitan area. The sixweek study was completed in a classroom with 29 children, ranging in age from thirty-three months to six years old. During the study, data was collected on the number of conflicts and grace and courtesy lessons. Data was also collected on levels of cooperation and use of respectful language among children, as observed and reflected on, by the …

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Video Modeling Other And Peer-Implemented Pivotal Response Training To Video Modeling Other On Positive Social Interactions Of Young Children With Developmental Disabilities, Maryssa Kucskar

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Young children with developmental disabilities (DD) frequently have delays in social play skills. Students with DD may require social skills instruction in order to be successful in playing cooperatively with others. These opportunities to practice social play skills learned from specialized interventions must be available throughout the school day. Providing opportunities for positive social interactions, engagement, and play within a classroom setting allows children to make friendships, engage in higher levels of play, participate with peers in multiple social contexts, and lead to overall school success.

The purpose of this study was to answer two research questions. The first question …

An Examination Of Kindergarten Readiness Perceptions From Prekindergarten Teachers, Kindergarten Teachers, And Parents: A Quantitative Study Of Kindergarten Readiness Perceptions, Angela Cross

Education Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the perceptions of kindergarten readiness for kindergarten teachers, public prekindergarten teachers in both public and private settings, and parents. Data were collected and analyzed through a quantitative method using an inferential approach. A Likert-style survey was distributed to current kindergarten teachers, prekindergarten teachers, and parents; and the data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The data collected from the surveys indicated differences in kindergarten readiness perceptions in the areas of social/emotional skills, literacy skills, and communication between kindergarten parents and teachers and between public and private prekindergarten participants. There were also differences in …

Early Strategies Of Kindergarten Teachers And Administrators To Lessen The Literacy Gap, Kirstin A. Rossi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Proficiency in literacy is paramount during a child's education. Lacking proficiency can have lasting effects. At both the state and local level, continuing gaps in student achievement in literacy have been documented. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to focus on kindergarten teachers and administrators' early literacy strategies, specifically current practices in early literacy skills and possible resources needed in early literacy to lessen the gap between White students and ethnic minority and students who qualify for free/reduced meals. The constructivist framework was the platform used to investigate teacher and administrator understanding of the 6 early literacy skills, …

A Description Of Early Access In Colorado, Ruthi Manning-Freeman

Teaching and Learning Sciences: Doctoral Research Projects

Early access, as defined in Colorado statute, remains optional. There is a shortage of administrative units engaged in an early access process to admit gifted young learners ahead of neurotypical age peers. Only 21 school districts currently use their addendum as evidenced by the receipt of Colorado state funding. Indeed, “there exists a basic lack of awareness of the effectiveness of the intervention, the impact on the student’s social-emotional development, as well as concern for the lack of consistent procedures for making this decision” (Assouline, Colangelo, Van Tassel-Baska, & Lupinski-Shoplik, 2015, p. 54). In this retrospective mixed-methods study, the researcher …

Educators' Practices For Promoting The Spiritual Development Of Children Aged 3 To 4 Years, In The Context Of Catholic Childcare Centres In Western Australia, Christine Robinson

Theses

The Australian early years’ mandated document, the Early Years Learning Framework (Department for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations [DEEWR], 2009), outlines the need for educators to attend to children’s spiritual capacity as part of a holistic approach to the early years (p. 9). Additionally, policy that governs the Catholic sector (such as Early Childhood Education Care Policy 2-B6 (Catholic Education Commission Western Australia [CECWA], 2013a)) reinforces this requirement for educators to attend to the holistic development of children, inclusive of their spiritual capacity alongside the cognitive, social, emotional, physical, creative and moral capacities. Consequently, educators employed in Catholic childcare are …

Infants, Toddlers And Mobile Technology: Examining Parental Choices And The Impact Of Early Technology Introduction On Cognitive And Motor Development, Karin Archer

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Despite recommendations of no screen time for children under the age of 2, parents are introducing mobile technology to their children at very young ages (Rideout, 2013). While research on television use has found negative impacts in all areas of development (Barr, Lauricella, Zack & Clavert, 2010), research has yet to investigate the impact of mobile technology use with very young children. The current set of 3 studies included interviews, a survey, and direct observations of parents using mobile technology with children 1 to 2 years of age. The main finding across all studies was that parents introduce mobile technology …