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Full-Text Articles in Education
A Qualitative Study Examining And Comparing Families’ And Teachers’ Perceptions Of School Readiness, Shalonya Cerika Knotts
A Qualitative Study Examining And Comparing Families’ And Teachers’ Perceptions Of School Readiness, Shalonya Cerika Knotts
Theses and Dissertations
A child’s readiness for school can impact their trajectory in subsequent grades and later in life. Therefore, children must be prepared when transitioning to kindergarten. As a kindergarten teacher at a Title I elementary school, I noticed a lack of readiness and conducted this qualitative action research study to create a readiness plan for my school by examining and comparing families’ and teachers’ perceptions of school readiness. The participants included my students’ parents and caretakers and my fellow kindergarten teachers. The findings indicate similar perceptions of school readiness. The family and teacher samples both associated readiness with academics and peer …
Designing Vocabulary Instruction For English Language Learners In A Kindergarten Classroom, Loretta C. Ayers
Designing Vocabulary Instruction For English Language Learners In A Kindergarten Classroom, Loretta C. Ayers
Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this action research study was to evaluate the effectiveness of instructional practices used to teach vocabulary to English Language Learners in a kindergarten classroom. The central question of the study was: what instructional practices in a classroom support vocabulary acquisition of ELLs? The purpose was to determine the impact of an intervention on vocabulary acquisition with a focus on directional prepositions and rhyming word vocabulary. Students were given whole group direct instruction, small group targeted instruction, and integrated peer play opportunities over the course of the study as vocabulary interventions. Data for this study included pre- and …
Coaching By Scaffolding: Increasing Teacher Questioning Through Structured Modeling And Feedback, Sarah J. Little
Coaching By Scaffolding: Increasing Teacher Questioning Through Structured Modeling And Feedback, Sarah J. Little
Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the effects of the Gradual Increase of Responsibility Model (Collet, 2008) when used by coaches to mentor teachers in best questioning practices in kindergarten through second grade classrooms. The researcher focused on questioning practices after observing missed opportunities to extend student thinking in primary school classrooms during teacher-student conferences in both reading and writing. Vicki Collet’s Gradual Increase of Responsibility Model (2008) was chosen as a coaching model based on the wide range of teacher experiences in the researcher’s educational setting. This coaching model allowed the researcher to scaffold teachers based on …
Shake, Rattle, And Read: An Analysis Of An Adaptation Of A Multisensory Phonics Program’S Impact On The Reading Achievement Of Kindergarten Students, Heather Mascuch Holmes
Shake, Rattle, And Read: An Analysis Of An Adaptation Of A Multisensory Phonics Program’S Impact On The Reading Achievement Of Kindergarten Students, Heather Mascuch Holmes
Theses and Dissertations
This paper describes a problem of practice stemming from the disparity in reading achievement that exists among kindergarten students due to varying life and academic experiences. This action research study investigated the impact of a multisensory instructional program that attempts to improve students’ decoding skills, and therefore, overall reading ability by answering the following question: How does an adaptation of the Project Read Primary Phonics program affect the reading level of kindergarten students as measured by the DRA2+? This study employed an action research methodology, specifically Mertler’s (2014) action research cycle: planning, acting, developing, and reflecting. The planning stage was …
The Impact Of Structured Play On Early Literacy Skills In A Kindergarten Classroom, Lauren B. Adams
The Impact Of Structured Play On Early Literacy Skills In A Kindergarten Classroom, Lauren B. Adams
Theses and Dissertations
The present action research study of kindergarten students, in a suburban public school classroom located in the midlands region of South Carolina, describes the ways in which a teacher-researcher developed a Structured Play Unit in her classroom that was designed to answer the following research question: How does the implementation of a Structured Play Unit impact early literacy skills (rhyming) on kindergarten students? Implemented in the Fall of 2017, data was collected over a four-week period. A verbal pre-test was given to the teacher-researcher’s kindergarten class which required students to identify pictures of rhyming words and point to their response, …
The Role Of Oral Language In Kindergarten Students Comprehension, Rebecca Kathleen Thompson
The Role Of Oral Language In Kindergarten Students Comprehension, Rebecca Kathleen Thompson
Theses and Dissertations
The present quantitative action research study examined two classes of Southern kindergarten students in a Title I school and their oral language and comprehension abilities as measured by standardized tests. The identified problem of practice involved incoming kindergarteners’ lack of preparedness for reading. The research question that guided this quantitative study was: How does a kindergarten student’s oral language ability relate to his or her ability to comprehend a wordless picture book and a text read to them? Assessments of overall oral language, wordless picture book comprehension, and listening comprehension comprise the data set. Data were collected at the beginning …
Straight Outta K-1: An Authoethnographic Analysis Of A Black Male Teacher's Experience Employing Hip Hop In A Kindergarten-First Grade Classroom, Anthony Broughton
Straight Outta K-1: An Authoethnographic Analysis Of A Black Male Teacher's Experience Employing Hip Hop In A Kindergarten-First Grade Classroom, Anthony Broughton
Theses and Dissertations
This study analyzed the learning outcomes of a Black male kindergarten-first grade teacher’s usage of Hip Hop as an instructional approach using autoethnography as a method. The primary research question that guided this work was, “What can I learn from an examination of the experiences of Black male kindergarten/first grade teacher and students from a retroactive examination of the use of Hip Hop Pedagogy in a kindergarten/first grade classroom of African American children? Data sources for this study included of artifacts (electronic classroom portfolios, videos of classroom instruction, archived teaching evaluations, parents’ e-mails, student assessments, correspondence from administrators, lesson plans …
Preservice Teachers' Beliefs About Play In Kindergarten, Michelle Taylor Clevenger
Preservice Teachers' Beliefs About Play In Kindergarten, Michelle Taylor Clevenger
Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this research was to gain insight into preservice teachers’ beliefs about play in kindergarten, and explore differences in beliefs about play between teachers just beginning their education program and those who are completing their degree. The study examined the beliefs of two groups of preservice teachers: one at the beginning of their early childhood education program (beginning students) and one at the end (teacher candidates). This study used a mixed methods approach including a survey with both Likert scale and open-ended questions as well as individual interviews. Data were collected at the beginning of the fall semester …
I Hope It Rains So My Corn And Your Okra Grows: A Case Study Of A Kindergarten Teacher's Language Use In Expanding Children's Language Repetoires, Linda D. Mook
Theses and Dissertations
The continuing disparity of academic success, commonly referred to as the achievement gap, the gap between economically disadvantaged subgroups and their more economically advantaged peers, is the greatest problem we face in the United States today (Slavin & Madden, 2006). In this dissertation, I studied in-depth the complexity of a quality teacher and her program at the kindergarten level, I focused my study on three areas, realizing that each of these areas is very complex. Although they overlap, they also have their own unique subtopics within the larger topic. The three areas of study are: oral language development, teacher/child interactions, …