Early Childhood Education Commons^™

Outdoor Learning In Early Childhood, Holly Hooven

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

Play is a skill that comes naturally to every child. Children love to explore and investigate. They do this to find answers to the questions they have and obtain through other experiences such as talking with parents, other children, as well as reading through books. Play is important for many developmental skills such as building on fine motor, cognitive development, and more. While many parents and teachers observe their children, or students, play within the indoors, many children are not getting a lot of outdoor time. Outdoor play is as important as indoor play. Outdoor play allows a child to …

Home Literacy Environment As A Predictor For Letter Identification Skills For Preschool-Aged Children, Jillian Kennen

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Research clearly states that quality home literacy environments and overall literacy development are related; however, there is limited research exploring the effect on home literacy environments as a predictor for letter identification scores for preschool-aged children. Understanding this relationship will help care givers and early educators create quality literacy environments for young children. The purpose of this study was to examine if the home literacy environment for preschool-aged children is a predictor for letter identification scores. The current research examined parent/care giver responses to the Get Ready to Read Home Literacy Environment checklist and students’ scores on the curriculum-based measure …

Neighbors Link's Parent-Child Together Program: Supporting Immigrant Parents' Integration To Promote School Readiness Among Their Emergent Bilingual Children, Carola Otero Bracco, Judith Eisenberg

Publications and Research

The authors of this article describe Neighbors Link, a multi-service community and worker center in suburban Westchester County, NY. This organization created Parent-Child Together in the belief that supporting immigrant parents' integration and social inclusion, in activities that also engage long-term community residents, would improve school readiness outcomes for preschool children. A key assumption in the program design is that immigrant parents are best supported when teaching respects their home language and incorporates their home culture and customs. Among the program's positive results has been greater acceptance of the assets and strengths that immigrants bring to the community. The community, …

Parent-Teacher Relationships And Communication In Early Childhood: A Comparative, Mixed Methods Study Of White And Ethnic-Racial Minority Parents, Kimberly A. Blitch

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This explanatory sequential mixed methods study compared parents’ and teachers’ perceptions and experiences regarding (a) parent-teacher relationships and (b) parent-teacher communication according to parents’ ethnicities and races. Non-matched, quantitative data about parent-teacher relationships were collected from parents (White and ethnic-racial minority) and teachers (those reporting on their relationships with either White or ethnic-racial minority parents) at two early childhood programs (N = 72). Twenty-four participants were observed during morning and afternoon transitions (child drop-off and pick-up). Thirteen participants were then interviewed, as well as each early childhood program director. Analyses of co/variance were used to analyze the quantitative data. …

Powers' "Parent Engagement In Early Learning" (Book Review), Jennifer A. Rich

The Christian Librarian

A review of Powers, J. (2106). Parent engagement in early learning. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press. 173 pp. $29.95. ISBN 9781605544380

York's "Roots And Wings" (Book Review), W. Terry Martin

The Christian Librarian

A review of York, S. (2016). Roots and wings. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press. 334 pp. $44.95. ISBN 9781605544557

'You Become A Rock': Conceptions Of Motherhood And Lessons Of Race As Told And Photographed By Four Mothers From Cape Town, South Africa, Kaitlin Abrams

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study will discuss conceptions of motherhood and lessons of racial identity through the lens of four women from Cape Town, South Africa. Utilizing both semi-structured interviews and photovoice, stories of motherhood are told as a journey from childhood to adulthood, in which one’s experience of being mothered influences decisions in current motherhood. In interviews, mothers pinpoint conceptions of good motherhood that encompass both financial support for one’s children and attentiveness, informed mostly by one’s race and class background. Additionally, experiences surrounding discrimination and silencing in childhood differ between races, later informing the way that mothers chose to share lessons …

Abc Or Aei: A Comparison Of Approaches To Early Childhood Education In Samoa, Sofia Valbuena

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Due to discussion about the importance of early childhood education (ECE), the scene in Samoa has shifted. The present study compares and analyzes approaches to ECE in Samoa from three schools: Brilliant Star Montessori Preschool, Divine Mercy Preschool, and Saoluafata Preschool. Data was collected through participatory observation over the course of two and three days at each school. Results showed both similarities and differences within the preschools in themes such as play, academic curriculum, and classroom management. Analysis found ECE in Samoa is developing and potential tools to further improve the schools were presented. This study will provide a report …

El Comienzo De Un Cuento: Los Desafíos De Promover La Lectura Infantil En Cochabamba / The Beginning Of A Story: The Challenges Of Promoting Children's Reading In Cochabamba, Cecilia Caro

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

La promoción de la alfabetización en los niños y los adultos, se observa alrededor de todo el mundo. Organizaciones a niveles locales, nacionales e internacionales han surgido para combatir el problema del analfabetismo. Parece que aquí en Bolivia, también se han visto desafíos en crear una cultura de lectura en los niños, tanto dentro como fuera de la escuela. A través de entrevistas y mi propia experiencia como voluntaria en dos bibliotecas, este corto estudio explora el tema de la lectura y los niños en la ciudad boliviana de Cochabamba. Aunque no se ha visto mucha acción a nivel nacional …

The Difference In Job Satisfaction Between Full-Time And Part-Time Early Childhood Educators Working In Public And Private Schools In South Carolina, Allison Hepfner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to determine if there was a difference in perceptions of job satisfaction among full-time and part-time teachers who work in both private and public early childhood centers in South Carolina. This study adds to the literature by investigating the impact of work employment classification and type of school on job satisfaction of Early Childhood educators. It is important to investigate the job satisfaction of early childhood educators because job dissatisfaction and high turnover in centers can negatively impact young children. This study allowed 200 participants throughout multiple early childhood centers in South …

A Benefit-Cost Analysis Of The Tulsa Universal Pre-K Program, Timothy J. Bartik, Jonathan A. Belford, William T. Gormley, Sara Anderson

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

In this paper, benefits and costs are estimated for a universal pre-K program, provided by Tulsa Public Schools. Benefits are derived from estimated effects of Tulsa pre-K on retention by grade 9. Retention effects are projected to dollar benefits from future earnings increases and crime reductions. Based on these estimates, Tulsa pre-K has benefits exceeding costs by about 2-to-1. This benefit cost ratio is far less than the benefit-cost ratios (ranging from 8-to-1 to 16-to-1) for more targeted and intensive pre-K programs from the 1970s and 80s, such as Perry Preschool and the Chicago Child-Parent Center (CPC) program. Comparing benefit-cost …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Oral Language And Sight Word Acquisition In First-Grade Students, Becky L. Goetzinger

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

This study examines the relationship between socioeconomic status, oral language, graphophonemic knowledge, and sight word acquisition in first-grade students. Previous research has shown that a relationship exists between socioeconomic status and oral language as well as between oral language and reading. The present study built on the research by extending these relationships to include high-frequency sight words, the words frequently targeted in early reading instruction. Across their first-grade year, 46 students were assessed on measures of receptive oral language, graphophonemic knowledge, and sight word knowledge. Students made significant progress on all measures indicating that first grade was a time of …

The Empathy Project: The Importance Of Transitional Bilingual Education Programs, Angela Raimo

Community of Scholars Day—Posters

The audience will learn about the benefit of transitional bilingual education programs as well as the curriculum taught to my first and second grade students. They will also learn the strategies I have implemented to instill empathy and hold expectations for students who are struggling academically and socioeconomically. There will be a large amount of research on transitional bilingual education programs, multicultural teaching practices, multicultural students, and teaching empathy in an elementary school classroom.

Returns To Large-Scale Public School Pre-K Programs: Evidence From Within All States, Timothy J. Bartik, Brad J. Hershbein

Presentations

No abstract provided.

California Middle School Agriculture Program Enhancement, Claire L. Schauer

Agricultural Education and Communication

California is known for its progressive movements and highly regarded education system. California education is faced every day with how to improve and innovate its system even more. Hence, the importance of proposed middle school agricultural programs. In this piece, the author provides research to show why California not only needs to adopt middle school agricultural programs, but also develop standardized curriculum to encourage the success of the program, students, and teachers. Using past and current studies, the author explores different emphases on curriculum topics and needs. The author discusses methods, results, and conclusions from the studies analyzed.

Positive Behavioral Interventions And Supports: A Preschool Approach, Tacy L. Vogel

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

In this action research study, the author examined the effect of using Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) language and rewards to positively motivate preschool students towards appropriate behavior choices. The study was conducted in the author’s preschool special education classroom, in a rural Iowa public school district. The study was completed between the months of September 2016 through March 2017. This study had 18 participates, including 12 females, six males and two three-year-old special education students. At the beginning of the study, PBIS language was not being used. There was an average of 14 negative or unwanted behaviors happening …

Nebline, March 2017

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: Extension’s Agricultural Apps Put Management Tools in Producers’ Hands

Food & Health

Farm & Acreage

Pests & Wildlife

Horticulture

Early Childhood

4-H & Youth

and other extension news and events

How History As Mystery Reveals Historical Thinking: A Look At Two Accounts Of Finding Typhoid Mary, Myra Zarnowski, Susan Turkel

Publications and Research

While the words clue, evidence, and detective might not be the first words you associate with history, the idea of history as a mystery to be solved by historian-detectives has a substantial and lively past. That is because the analogy of a historian to a detective solving a mystery is a strong one. Both historians and detectives try to answer the same question: What happened? Both work with evidence from the past to create a plausible narrative using only fragments left behind. Both engage in inferencing as a means of learning from evidence. Both are problem solvers.

In this article, …

Phonics Preparation In Teacher Education Programs, Rosalyn Mccoy

The Kabod

Phonics is the basis upon which the English-speaking world learns to read. Students learn phonics in early elementary school to learn to read; therefore, teachers need to have a working knowledge of phonics with which to instruct their students. However, a report by the United States Department of Education found that few preservice teachers were competent in phonics. Liberty University, which teaches phonics as part of its teacher education program, has conducted a study on the level of knowledge demonstrated by the preservice teachers upon completion of the phonics course. The Liberty University students’ scores compared favorably with the national …

A Circle With Edges: How Story Time Privileges The Abled Learner, Melissa Tsuei

Occasional Paper Series

Takes a critical look at one of the commonplace features of early childhood classrooms—story time. In her essay, Melissa considers the ways in which story time reinforces unequal power dynamics for diverse learners by privileging the able-bodied learner. In response, Melissa creates and presents the SPHERE model, which promotes active engagement and shared dialogue through collaborative storytelling and nurtures an inclusive literacy-learning environment.