Early Childhood Education Commons^™

The Science Of Reading, Writing, And Dual And English Language Learners, Vickie Johnston, Nika Verna

Journal of English Learner Education

This paper presents an evidence-based approach to meeting the needs of dual language and English Language Learners (ELL) that includes leveraging the skills and knowledge of the home language, oral language instruction, and the utilization of both effective writing instruction and multicultural children’s literature. This evidence-based approach includes insights gleaned from the science of reading (SOR) and research on writing development with ELLs and instruction needed to help their written communication skills. Practical classroom applications for using multicultural children’s literature include integrating the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework to ensure the literature chosen is necessary for some and beneficial …

Ai‐Assisted Integration Of Computational Thinking: Pre‐Service Teachers’ Experiences In Early Childhood Mathematics Education, Hae Min Yu, Seung Kim, Hyeseong Lee

Education Department Faculty Articles

This study examined how pre-service teachers utilize artificial intelligence (AI) tools to integrate computational thinking (CT) in early childhood mathematics education. Through a qualitative case study guided by the TPACK framework, we examined 24 early childhood pre-service teachers enrolled in a mathematics methods course as they developed CT-integrated math lesson plans using AI assistance. Data sources included pre- and post-course open-ended questionnaires, CT exploration assignments, AI interaction documentation, lesson plans, and reflection papers. The findings revealed three patterns in how pre-service teachers leveraged AI as a scaffold: generating initial ideas for CT integration, refining these ideas for specific teaching contexts, …

Why Rural Matters 2025: A Preview And A Forward Look, Jerry Johnson

DU Rural Summit Conference Proceedings

This presentation will provide a preview of the Why Rural Matters 2025 report that is currently in progress, including an overview of statistical gauges and indicators, topical essays, and key findings. Additionally, and looking forward beyond the report, presentation and discussion will engage the topic of cuts to federal programs that provide extant data essential for projects like Why Rural Matters and consider the implications for scholars, practitioners, and the general public.

Mentor Teachers As Leaders In Rural Schools: A Case Study In Retention And Renewal, Mandi Leigh

DU Rural Summit Conference Proceedings

Teacher recruitment and retention remain critical issues for rural schools in Colorado. This study explores the role that leadership development for mentor teachers may play in addressing the retention of veteran teachers and new/novice teachers alike. Rural veteran teachers are resilient leaders who introduce new teachers to the unique challenges of rural schools and their community contexts. By identifying and training mentor teachers, districts can simultaneously elevate veteran teacher expertise, celebrate their community contributions, and create capacity for leading induction programs. Ultimately, these can increase teacher retention in rural settings where teachers are most needed.

Exploring Culturally Informed Approaches To Book Read-Aloud With Young Children, Raquel Plotka

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Early childhood is a critical period for language and literacy development. One-way adults introduce children to the world of books is through picture books read-aloud. Adults from different cultural background engage in this activity differently, and to date, the early childhood field has emphasized a constructivist approach to book reading typical in individualistic cultures. Other approaches to reading books that are common in collectivist cultures have not been explored. The present study investigated the reading styles teachers (n = 40) use in naturalistic settings and compared the advantages of using individualistic versus collectivist styles related to children participation and …

Centering Black Girl Love: Unearthing Black Girls’ Truths In A Predominantly White, Loveless Elementary School, Tyana R. Velazquez-Smith

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

This study examines the transformative power of literacy as a tool for healing, resistance, and revolutionary love in the lives of BLACK girls navigating predominantly white elementary school spaces. Revolutionary love is conceptualized as practices of care, affirmation, and joy that challenge systemic oppression while fostering belonging and possibility. Conducted in an elementary school in upstate New York, this research follows eleven participants from kindergarten through fourth grade, exploring their lived experiences and literacy practices during English Language Arts (ELA) instruction.

Drawing on Brian Street’s (1984) assertion that literacy is a social practice shaped by cultural and power dynamics, this …

A “Teaching As Emergent Learning” Approach To Teaching Deep Creativity, Steven Greenstein, Iain Kerr, Emily Olson

LASER Journal

Creativity is the process by which a change that is new and different emerges. We call it deep when it yields novel forms of both quantitative and qualitative change. If we are to take on the most pressing and persistent challenges to our social, global, and planetary well-being, we need novel approaches of a qualitatively different kind than those that have failed to bring about radical change in the past. In other words, we need deep creativity. The paradox at the heart of ``ideation-first" approaches to creative practice (e.g., brainstorming or ideating) is that if creativity aims to produce outcomes …

Science Communication Through Cool Critters: An Informal Learning Experience For Youth, Jamila L. Bajelan, Mary J. Harner

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

There are numerous ways to communicate science and assess the effectiveness of that communication. One approach focuses on increasing awareness, enjoyment, interest, opinion, and/or understanding of science. For this study, we created an informal learning experience for youth to communicate the science of animals in Nebraska. We developed Cool Critters, a weeklong summer camp for elementary school-aged students, to increase participants' enjoyment, interest, and opinion of Nebraska animals. In 2023, Cool Critters was led in three educational settings in central Nebraska and reached sixty-six participants. Surveys were used to determine the camp's success in effective science communication and whether …

Preschool Teachers’ Perspectives Regarding Children’S Lack Of Social Skills Needed For Success In Preschool And Kindergarten, Janet S. Grigg

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed through this study was many preschool students in the United States lack the social skills needed to be successful in kindergarten. The study’s purpose was to explore preschool teachers’ perspective regarding some children’s lack of social skills needed for success in kindergarten and the efforts teachers made to promote development of these skills. Using Flavell’s theoretical framework of metacognition and cognitive monitoring, 2 research questions were developed to address teachers’ perspectives and efforts to improve children’s social skills. Twelve preschool teachers from Louisiana with one to twenty years of experience in early childhood were interviewed via Zoom, …

It's Time To Bring Block Play Back To Kindergarten Classrooms, Davia Brown-Franklyn

Bank Street Education Center

Originally published on Medium, this Op-Ed describes the necessity of block play in kindergarten classrooms for the development of essential skills, such as spacial awareness and abstract thinking, language and literacy skills, mathematical reasoning, and critical thinking and problem solving skills.

First Opinions, Second Reactions: A Collection Of Innovative Online Reviews Of Literature For Children And Young Adults, Janet Alsup, Christy Wessel-Powell

Purdue University Press Books

First Opinions, Second Reactions: A Collection of Innovative Online Reviews of Literature for Children and Young Adults features selected pieces from the journal First Opinions, Second Reactions, which reviews children’s and young adult books. The journal, and this book, consist of reviews of books written by scholars of children’s and YA literature, followed up with responses from those who share the books with their intended audiences—children and teens. The editors have selected twelve issues classified under four thematic categories (social and political issues; diversity and inclusion; identification and empathy; and genre study) to represent the depth and breadth of …

Early Childhood Teachers’ Perspectives On The Challenges Of Teaching Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Karen Denise Buchanan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Early Childhood Teachers’ Perspectives on the Challenges of Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder by Karen D. Buchanan Ed.S. Mercer University 2017 MA, Mercer University, 2016 BA, Mercer University, 2012 AS Georgia Perimeter College, 2009 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Education Walden University August 2025

Can Social And Emotional Lessons Improve Student Behavior In A First Grade Classroom? A Program Evaluation, Tara Freeman Mozee

Theses and Dissertations

This program evaluation discusses how using a social and emotional (SEL) curriculum taught first-grade students how to manage and regulate their behavior in a first-grade classroom. The purpose of this program evaluation was to evaluate if the SEL curriculum helped first-grade students manage and regulate their behavior in the classroom so the teacher would create fewer behavior management plans and spend more time on classroom instruction. The methodology used in this program evaluation was a logic model. This model presented the inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes of the program evaluation. The implications of this program evaluation are based on the …

An Interdisciplinary Early Intervention Learning Community For Undergraduate Students, Ciera M. Lorio, Hannah Rudkin, Christina Rauwolf, Luminita Hartle

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

There is currently a nationwide shortage of early intervention (EI) providers in the United States, and the number of families in need of EI services is much greater than the available service providers (CEC, 2019; Barton et al., 2012). One way to increase the number of qualified service providers is to offer better and earlier preservice training in EI at the university level. To meet this need, we designed and implemented the Early Intervention Learning Community (EILC), an extracurricular experience that focused on introducing students to EI and interprofessional practice. The primary components of the EILC included self-guided learning modules, …

Alternatively Certified Early Childhood Special Education Teachers' Perspectives On Remaining In The Classroom, Sena Victoria Ann Belgard Dever

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Alternative teacher certification programs are used nationwide to address the critical teacher shortage in special education. There is a gap in knowledge regarding the challenges that early childhood special education teachers experience, which make them leave the profession at twice the rate of general education teachers. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore alternatively certified early childhood special education teachers’ perspectives on remaining in their teaching positions and the support they need to continue teaching. The study framework was comprised of Day and Gu’s teacher resilience theory. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with 10 prekindergarten to …

Bridging Literacy And Esol For Teachers Of Early Learners: Modifications Needed In Professional Development, Emily Howell, Hazel Vega, Lindsey W. Rowe, C. C. Bates, Katie M. Crook, Kavita Mittapalli, Amlan Banerjee

Publications

Although early education teachers may be highly trained in literacy practices, they need additional support reaching multilingual learners (MLs), for example, by supporting oral language or understanding connections between services identified for students, especially in states such as SC where growth for this student group has been recent and rapid. This study answers the question of professional development (PD) needed for highly trained literacy teachers, focusing on two areas. First, a needs assessment describes the demands of literacy specialists to address the literacy of MLs and connects these need areas to best practice recommendations. Secondly, we address modifications designed based …

Nebline, June/July 2025

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

4-H embryology will crack 50 years of chicks hatching in local classrooms, Vicki Jedlicka

Simple ways to eat more fruits and veggies every day, Alyssa Havlovic

Recipe of the month: Crunchy veggie wraps

Annual flowers for sunny locations, Mary Jane Frogge

Garden guide: Things to do this month, Mary Jane Frogge

2025 Gro Big Red

It’s time for private well maintenance, Becky Schuerman

Monitoring pastures for improving management and productivity, John Nelson

Why play is your child's most important work, Hayley Jackson Perez

Keep an eye out for some common caterpillars, Kait Chapman

Lancaster County Super Fair

Upcoming babysitting trainings …

Exploring Early Childhood Development Programming In Kenya’S Arid And Semi-Arid Lands, Phyllis Magoma, Amina Abubakar, Martha Kaniala, Barack Aoko, Moses Wesala, Joyce Marangu, Susan Nyamanya, Margaret Kabue, Anil Khamis, Esther Chongwo

Institute for Human Development, East Africa

Background: Promoting high-quality early childhood development (ECD) is vital for individuals’ physical and social well-being and yields significant societal returns. However, children in marginalised regions like Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) face significant barriers to accessing quality ECD services.

Aim: This study aimed to document existing ECD services in Kenya’s ASAL areas, including their availability, types and key characteristics; identify gaps in their provision and propose solutions to enhance access and quality. Setting: This qualitative study was conducted in 10 ASAL counties in Kenya.

Methods: Using purposive and snowball sampling techniques, 103 key informants, including pre-primary …

Integrating Social Emotional Learning, Mindfulness, And Nutrition Education Into Curricula To Promote Self-Regulation And Healthy Eating Behaviors Among Preschoolers, Rachel A. Razza, Lynn Brann

The Lender Center for Social Justice

This article outlines a combined SEL, mindfulness, and nutrition curriculum for preschoolers, improving self-regulation and healthy eating habits.

Historical, Philosophical, And Social Foundations Of Education, Ashraf A. Shady

Open Educational Resources

This course is designed to examine the historical, philosophical, and sociological foundations of American education. Attention will be paid to comparative analysis of past and contemporary historical, philosophical, and sociological factors that continue to influence and shape education decision-making. Theoretical analysis of major educational ideas and practices in the United States will be explored. 3hr.; 3cr.; 25 hr. field experience.

SEYS 201W is aligned with the core values of the education unit, which promote equity, excellence, and ethics in urban schools and communities. More specifically, the Education Unit is committed to preparing teachers and other school professionals who:

• Build …