Education Commons^™

Making Room For Play: Preschool Center Choices, Hailey S. Morelos

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to examine the learning center choices of preschool students who received special education services and preschool students who did not receive special education services in order to identify the preference of teacher-led vs. student-led learning centers. Both children who receive special education services and children who do not receive services displayed a wide range of choosing student led and teacher led centers. It is hypothesized that there will be a difference between the student led center vs. teacher led center between children who receive special education services and children who do not. The study …

Pre-Service Student-Teachers' Perceptions Of Play In The Early Childhood Classroom After Research Analysis With Discussion-Case Application: A Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Approach, Meredith Resnick

Theses and Dissertations

Despite persuasive research demonstrating the importance of play in early childhood education, there is a problematic trend in early childhood classrooms of increased academics and high-stakes test preparation, with less opportunity for play (Brashier & Norris, 2008; Lynch, 2015; Nicolopoulou, 2011). This sequential explanatory mixed method study was designed to examine the impact and experience of participating in facilitated research analysis with discussion-case application on early childhood pre-service teachers’ knowledge of and attitude towards the role and value of play in the classroom, as well as their self-confidence in promoting developmentally appropriate play opportunities in the classroom. The findings indicate …

Reading Between The Play Lines, A Play-Based Research Study: Children At Play Acquiring Literacy Skills Socially And Through Self-Discovery, Brianne Siderio

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this qualitative research were to observe a group of kindergarten students during play exploration and determine how kindergarten students acquire literacy skills socially and through self-discovery. Students demonstrated a wide acquisition of literacy skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language during play exploration. Students acquired these skills socially among peers and through self-discovery while experimenting and exploring with play materials. Themes that emerged from play exploration sessions and interpretations of play episodes and student work are discussed. Implications for future research in the area of play in kindergarten are considered.

Improving Student Engagement In Preschool Classrooms With Developmentally Appropriate Read Aloud Opportunities, Kimberly Russomanno

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of various presentations of read aloud and engagement in a preschool classroom in order to improve emergent literacy and listening comprehension. Engagement was looked at as well in respect to teacher expectations and what the research unveiled. The research took place over four weeks in a half day preschool inclusion program. The research looked at traditional story book reading, interactive shared reading, e-books, repeated readings and story props for retelling of familiar stories. Read aloud sessions were recorded over the four week period to look for patterns in student and …

Full Time Attendance In An Early Childhood Education Center Improves Emergent Literacy Skills, Dana Samuelsen

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the predetermined amount of attendance of preschool per week had an effect on the present understanding of early literacy skills in preschool aged children. Archival data, of forty-nine participants, was used to identify amount of attendance in a private early childhood education program. Early literacy skills were assessed by the child care center's previous academic reviews reported by teachers from 2010 to 2014. The "PreK Academic Review" was used to collect data on early literacy skills and oral language abilities. The teachers recorded the students' abilities by marking each category as …

Using Echo Reading And Tracking Simultaneously During Small Group Read Alouds With Preschool Children, Erica Knoll

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to observe what skills, social and academic, are positively affected when echo reading and tracking print were incorporated simultaneously into small groups read alouds with preschool children. A group of four preschool students participated, each of varying levels and abilities. The students took turns echo reading a line of print while pointing to the words at the same time. The techniques were used one day per week over the course of four weeks. Each week, a different book was used and paired with two extension activities. Data collection included anecdotal note record sheets, behavioral …

Fostering Culturally Responsive Teaching In An Urban Preschool: A Qualitative Case Study, Denise Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Preschool years are significantly important for students in urban districts. Early childhood helps set the foundation for learning about school culture. Students who are able to connect their home environment to the school environment tend to do better in their academic setting. Fostering a pedagogy that is culturally sensitive to students is a teaching stance that enables success with curriculum and addresses the inequities that accompany low socioeconomic students. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore four urban teachers' formal understanding of culturally responsive pedagogy within an urban preschool. The teachers' espoused and enacted practice formulated the …

The Capacity To Lead: Building A Collaborative Organization Through A Shared Vision And Improved Staff Capacity In An Inclusive New Jersey Preschool, Kathleen Mccabe-Odri

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of my dissertation study was to examine my own leadership in the context of the community inclusive preschool that I own and operate along with my business partner. The focus was to build a collaborative organization through a shared vision and improved staff skill capacity. In order to implement the change process, I chose the specific learning environment of our instructional student centers (i.e., "zones") as the setting to conduct my action research project. The study describes both my personal leadership theory as well as an analysis of my leadership actions (i.e., theory in use) in order to …

The Effectiveness Of Embedded Picture Mnemonic Alphabet Cards On Letter Recognition And Letter Sound Knowledge, Gabrielle Mcnamara

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to compare the use of embedded letter and picture mnemonic cards and separated letter and picture mnemonic cards on students' letter recognition and letter sound knowledge. The study implemented a single subject, alternating treatment design. The participants were three preschool students. A pretest, posttest, and one week follow-up were utilized to collect data. The independent variables were the use of the embedded letter and picture mnemonic cards and separated letter and picture mnemonic cards. The dependent variable was the measure of the participants' letter recognition and letter sound knowledge. Overall, the results of the …

Video Modeling To Enhance The Conversation Skills Of Preschool Children Who Are At-Risk For School Failure, Lorie Mick

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of the video-modeling method on language comprehension skills of preschoolers who are at-risk for school failure. The setting for this research was a preschool classroom in a low socioeconomic school district in southern New Jersey. Baseline data on the amount of comprehension questions the participants answer correctly after a typical storytelling session were compared to the results of the amount of questions they answer correctly after exposure to the intervention. In addition, the students' use of language, including mean length of utterance and vocabulary, was compared prior to and following …

Differentiating Instruction: What Does It Look Like When Utilized In A Kindergarten Classroom?, Andrea L. Concordia

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not students are successful when differentiated instruction is used in the classroom. By breaking students up into smaller groups and utilizing guided reading this study seeks to determine whether or not students are successful when instruction is geared to each individual's instructional level. The students in this study were broken up into four small groups and taught guided reading three times a week for twelve to fifteen minutes each over a period of three weeks. Through observations and reflections and pre and post assessments the study showed that differentiating instruction …

How Can Learning Centers Be Used To Support Classroom Instruction And Promote Critical Thinking In A Kindergarten Classroom?, Amelia M. Pellegrino

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how learning centers can be used in the Kindergarten classroom to support regular classroom instruction and encourage students to think critically. This qualitative study used observations, interviews, surveys, student work samples, photographs, and discussions to collect information about the effectiveness of learning centers in the classroom. Sixteen Kindergarten students participated in learning center activities planned and implemented by the researcher to examine how the learning centers related the curriculum and whether the activities encouraged students to think critically about the content. The researcher found that the Kindergarten students showed improvement in their …

The Effects Of Critical Literacy According To Bloom's Taxonomy Cognition, Jennifer L. Virelli

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to accept the hypothesis that kindergarten students who were introduced to critical literacy lessons could learn and increase their higher level thinking skills according to Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognition than kindergarten students who were not instructed in critical literacy. The experimental group consisted of fifteen kindergarten students and the control group included eighteen kindergarten students. The demographics of the experimental classroom included seven Caucasian students, six African American students, and two Hispanic students. Five of the students received free lunch. The specific classroom in which the study was performed was a general education kindergarten …

A Study Of The Role Of Gender In The Classroom, Ryan Ann Malloy

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the role gender plays in the classroom, through considering both teacher and student perceptions of gender and how those perceptions impact student learning and socialization. Conducting my early research it became evident that the three underlying forces that allow gender to impact the classroom environment are socialization, individual perceptions, and instructional practices. In order to understand the true influence of gender in the classroom I incorporated a qualitative study on these three interrelated pieces to see how they came to life in an actual kindergarten classroom. Students took part in face-to-face interviews, …

An Investigation Of The Increase In Phonemic Awareness In Kindergarten Students Who Were Exposed To Word Sort Activities, Karen S. Münch

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if word sort activities would help improve the phonemic awareness of kindergarten students. The experimental and control groups consisted of students ranging in a variety of reading abilities. The experimental group received phonics instruction through the use of word sorting activities. The control group had no guidelines for phonics instruction. Any phonics lesson taught in the classroom were done according to the classroom instructors own plans and ideas. Pre-test and post-test scores showed that students that were exposed to word sort activities scored significantly higher on sound recognition tests then other students. …

Nutrition And Student Achievement In Kindergarten Students: An Experimental Study, Stephanie Lynn Terista

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the effects of nutrition on student achievement. The subjects were a transitional kindergarten class, ages 5-6, who took part in a 3-week experimental study.

Each week the subjects were instructed to perform a cognitive task directly following a treatment. Week 1, the cognitive task was performed following a nutritional snack; week 2, the cognitive task was performed following a non-nutritional snack; and week 3, a cognitive task was performed without any snack at all.

The results indicated that the findings for each week were not statistically significant: F (1,13)=213.86, …

Effects Of Choice Restriction On The Intrinsic Motivation To Produce Creative Products, Karen M. Suloff

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess whether choice restriction decreased intrinsic motivation for a task resulting in a less creative product. The study focused on two kindergarten classes in a half day school setting. The students were to make collages. The students were either given choice or no choice of materials when making their collage. The morning class was given choice of materials. They were allowed to freely choose what they wanted from the boxes of materials. The afternoon class was given no choice of materials. They were given materials chosen by the experimenter. Two weeks later the …