Education Commons^™

A Study Of Prekindergarten Literacy Experiences In A Northeast Tennessee School System., Barbara Jean Gamble

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To meet the guidelines generated by the No Child Left Behind law (NCLB) pressures to raise student achievement have filtered down to and emerged in prekindergarten classrooms. The leadership of state, federal, and local policymakers is critical to the movement for high quality prek for all. The purpose of this study was to examine the scores of prekindergarten students when presented 3 different methods of literacy instruction and to compare the scores according to gender and among 3 age groups.

This study found a significant difference in the scores of students when analyzed according to age. The youngest students scored …

Emerging Paths To Literacy: Modeling Individual And Environmental Contributions To Growth In Children's Emergent Literacy Skills, Deanne W. Swan

Educational Policy Studies Dissertations

What is the developmental trajectory of the skills that underlie emergent literacy during the preschool years? Are there individual characteristics which predict whether a child will be at-risk for difficulties in acquiring literacy skills? Does a child’s experience in a high-quality early care and education environment enhance the development of his or her emergent literacy? The present study is an investigation of the individual and environmental factors relevant to children’s emergent literacy skills as they unfold in time. Using a combination of principal components analysis, growth modeling with a multi-level approach, and propensity score analysis, the trajectories of growth in …