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Full-Text Articles in Education

Parent Involvement In Kindergarten, Martine A. Reinhardt Dec 2016

Parent Involvement In Kindergarten, Martine A. Reinhardt

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This action research investigated the effects of parent engagement strategies on the level of parent involvement in kindergarten. Parents may have barriers preventing them from becoming more involved in their child’s schooling. Many parents have younger children they take care of, work full time jobs, and are unaware of how they can get more involved at home. In this study, various strategies were implemented to help increase levels of engagement. Parents were asked to track the amount of time they spent working with their child at home on school related activities. Activities and ideas were sent home to generate discussions …


What Effect Does Full Day Kindergarten Have On Student Achievement In Literacy?, Philip Lee Munkvold Nov 2016

What Effect Does Full Day Kindergarten Have On Student Achievement In Literacy?, Philip Lee Munkvold

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Kindergarten has undergone continuous change since its inception in 1837. Minnesota’s kindergarten program experienced a substantial transformation during the 2014-2015 academic year by offering full-day kindergarten at no cost. Students attending full-day kindergarten will receive twice the amount of instruction as years past, prompting a study on what effect this may have on student achievement. This capstone uses a combination of surveys, assessments, and interviews with to help answer the research question, What effect does full day kindergarten have on student achievement in literacy? Research concludes that full-day kindergarten has a positive impact on student achievement in literacy in kindergarten, …


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 Jun 2016

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 …


Filling The Gap: Phonological Awareness Activities For A Montessori Kindergarten, Shauna A. Aranas May 2016

Filling The Gap: Phonological Awareness Activities For A Montessori Kindergarten, Shauna A. Aranas

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

Phonological Awareness in Kindergarten 2 Abstract This action research was conducted to determine if small group explicit phonological awareness (PA) instruction using materials from Early Reading Mastery (Klein, 2015) and Words Their Way (Bear et al., 2006) would increase students’ ability to segment phonemes (i.e., break words into sounds) and build three letter consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words. The research was completed in a full-day public suburban Montessori kindergarten. Data was collected using phonological awareness tests, a teacher adapted spelling test, tally sheet, and researcher’s log. Pre-test data was used to create homogenous small groups for the four-week intervention. Explicitly worded lessons …


A Phenomenological Study Of Teachers' Perceptions Of Kindergarten Retention: Are Standards To Be Blamed?, Ginger Delaigle Jan 2016

A Phenomenological Study Of Teachers' Perceptions Of Kindergarten Retention: Are Standards To Be Blamed?, Ginger Delaigle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Currently there are a number of Kindergarten students who are being retained for not mastering Common Core State Standards. One of the methods that teachers can use to support Kindergarten students in achieving these standards are Developmentally Appropriate Practices. The exploration of the perceptions of teachers who have experienced the phenomenon of retaining Kindergarten students served as the goal for this qualitative, phenomenological study. The results provided data for examination of the perceptions the teachers had with retaining Kindergarten students and their perceptions of the developmental appropriateness of the Common Core State Standards. Four Kindergarten teachers participated in three interviews …


Preservice Teachers' Beliefs About Play In Kindergarten, Michelle Taylor Clevenger Jan 2016

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 …