Early Childhood Education Commons^™

Changing Course

DePaul Magazine

The Chicago Teacher Residency program, a partnership between DePaul University's College of Education and the Academy of Urban School Leadership, prepares career changers to teach in high-need Chicago Public Schools.

What Is The Value Of The Child And Dependent Care Credit?, Gabrielle Pepin

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

The Child and Dependent Care Credit (CDCC) subsidizes child care costs for working families. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 increased the CDCC’s generosity during 2021 only. I find that while the CDCC is of relatively little value in its current form, increases in eligibility rates and conditional benefits under the pandemic expansion increased the credit’s value dramatically. Conditional on CDCC eligibility, higher-income households experienced the largest increases in benefit levels under the expanded CDCC, but lower-income households benefited disproportionately when measuring benefits as a share of income or child care spending.

25asfc 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grant, Deborah Ivie

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Exploring K-3 Teachers’ Perspectives Of Effective Resources And Strategies Used To Close Student Learning Gaps In Reading, Samantha Lott-Velez

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This qualitative study explores the perspectives of effective K-3 teachers on the resources and strategies they use to close student learning gaps in reading. Despite decades of federal and state initiatives, including Response to Intervention (RTI), differentiation, and the Science of Reading, a significant number of students, especially those in economically disadvantaged communities, continue to struggle with reading proficiency. Through a narrative qualitative design, this study examines the experiences of highly effective elementary teachers working in an urban Title I school district to identify the most impactful instructional approaches for accelerating student reading achievement.

Data was collected through one-on-one interviews …

Teaching Ettingerian Matrixial Theory, R. Michael Fisher

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

Utilizing an adapted scoping review of the literature on Bracha L. Ettinger and Education (2008-2024), the author reveals the specific ways that Ettingerian Matrixial Theory (EMT) and its pedagogies are taught and can be taught in the future. EMT is argued to be a new branch of Critical Theory. The current literature shows there is mostly engagement with EMT in academic settings. As well, the literature reviewed shows EMT is used readily in arts and with artists as teachers and teachings for adults. However, the author unveils diverse other possibilities of teaching EMT. A few major themes from the literature …

A Matrixial Museum: Education In Almost-Impossible Spaces, Valerie Oved Giovanini

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

This paper is meant to scaffold an imaginary space for what is currently an almost impossible museum. It would reside on a border between Gaza and Israel. Artists and participants would be able to enter from both sides of the border into a circular and cavernous space to make, share and experience art together. In artwork that values its relational capacity to affect another, the move from aesthetics to ethics recalls our mutual place of origin understood in Bracha L. Ettinger’s Matrixial Theory (EMT) as “the matrixial womb.” Griselda Pollock’s Virtual Feminist Museum, Gur-Ze’ev’s counter-education, feminist pedagogy, and Art-care activism …

She-Hero: A Memoir Of The Divine Feminine Within A Creation-Centred Paradigm, Darlene St.Georges

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

She-Hero: A Memoir of the Divine Feminine within a Creation-Centred Paradigm explores Ettinger’s matrixial borderspaces through an inter-woven theoretical | artistic | poetic métissage. An example of creation-centred research, this memoir is likened to Ettinger’s concept of metramorphosis—an active restoration of matrixial knowledge(s) and knowing. Embodying a creation-centred curriculum and pedagogy, She-Hero privileges non-dominant epistemologies to attend to the disruption of historical patterns of the hero—inviting readers to submerge and emerge in co-poesis within an intimate and aesthetic kaleidoscopic space of feminine affect and agency.

Traces Of Communal Touch: Matrixial Encounters With Pre-Service Art Educators Across Two States, Kate L. Wurtzel, Laura L. Mccartney

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

The matrixial sphere, as put forth by artist and psychoanalyst Bracha L. Ettinger, is a shared and transsubjective space that is beneath the conscious, under the touchable and perceptible; it is a space where we encounter ourselves and one another in shared trauma, healing, art making, and the lived experience overall. This co-authored essay explores how a shared matrixial space and the matrixial gaze, which is not always visual, have been experienced through the square boxes of ZOOM as part of a collaborative, long-distance art exchange project. The project, focused on Spontaneous Creation-Making (SCM) sessions, as outlined in Barbara Bickel …

Benefits Of Multisensory Rooms In Schools To Control Behaviors In Children With Disabilities, Kye Smith, Cassandra Nelson

Fall 2024 OTD Capstone Symposium

This project explores the benefits of implementing multisensory rooms in schools to manage challenging behaviors in children with disabilities. Conducted at the Barack and Michelle Obama Ninth Grade Center in Lancaster, TX, the program involved participants aged 13-15 diagnosed with disabilities. A comprehensive needs assessment identified gaps in behavior management and overstimulation challenges. The program was designed using evidence-based strategies, including the Person-Environment-Occupation-Performance (PEOP) model, and incorporated techniques such as the Take Five Breathing Strategy, deep pressure input, chair yoga, and meditation.

Through pre- and post-surveys with students, parents, and teachers, the study evaluated the program's impact on functional independence …

Social Emotional Learning Unit Plan For Kindergarten Students, Aubrey Groenhof

Masters Projects

Younger grades are beginning to look different as time goes by. With new laws in place, like No Child Left Behind, there is a higher demand for rigorous academics. Teachers have assessments and district provided curriculum to make sure to achieve within their school days. This push for academic rigor has led to less free-play in the younger grades resulting in more disruptive behaviors. Research has revealed the importance of Social-Emotional Learning within the classroom setting to reduce the disruptive behaviors and emotions. This project focuses on the impact of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) on disruptive behaviors. The author investigated different …

Early Childhood Faculty Perspectives On Inclusion Of Antibias Curriculum Or Components In Preprimary Teacher Training Curriculum In The United States, Carlotta Conley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this study was that there was the likelihood of a mismatch between preprimary teachers’ racial, ethnic, and cultural make-up and the children and families they educate and care for in the preprimary classroom from birth to 5 years. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to examine early childhood education (ECE) community college faculty perspectives on the importance of and challenges with implementing antibias curriculum or components into preprimary education training. The conceptual framework was Smyth’s model of reflection and the Learning for Justice organization’s antibias framework. For this basic qualitative design, data were collected …

Integrating The Elementary Literacies Through The Practice Of Physical Education: A Strategy Resource, Bryan Matera, Dillon Martinez

Essays in Education

Integrating literacy and physical education (PE) supports interdisciplinary learning that engages both the mind and body. This article explores innovative approaches to combining literacy skills with physical activity, highlighting the cognitive and physical benefits for elementary students. Recognizing students’ natural attraction to movement, the article demonstrates how embedding literacy into PE lessons can enhance reading comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and memory retention through action-oriented activities. These strategies also promote physical literacy, encouraging confidence and lifelong participation in physical activities.

Key instructional examples include the "Movement-Enhanced Word Wall," where students connect vocabulary to movement, and "Animal Action Reading Relays," which integrate reading …

Evaluation Of An Instructional Sequence To Promote The Emergence Of Convergent Intraverbals In Children With Autism, Jesika Woodard

Theses

Skinner (1957) defined intraverbal as a type of verbal behavior in which the

response form has no point-to-point correspondence with its verbal stimulus and is

followed by generalized conditioned reinforcement. Verbal behavior can be influenced

by multiple controlling variables, with convergent and divergent control being two

distinct types of this influence. In convergent intraverbals, multiple components of

antecedent verbal stimuli control a specific verbal response of the speaker. An example of

an intraverbal response under convergent control may be "banana" when asked, "What is

a fruit that is yellow?" De Souza et al. (2019) evaluated the effects of teaching …

Unpacking East And Southeast Asian Immigrants Portrayed In Children’S Picturebooks: Centering On Immigration In Contemporary Times, Su Jeong Wee, Jinhee Kim, Vivian Yang

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This article describes a study that examined the portrayal of East and Southeast Asian immigrant children and their families in children’s picturebooks, focusing on their racialized and minoritized experiences. The authors’ analysis included a sample of 39 picturebooks written in English and published in the United States between 1993 and 2022. The findings reveal that these immigrant children and families are depicted as facing racism, stereotypes, financial difficulties, cultural differences, and language barriers. The Asian protagonists respond to their challenges in various ways, often employing multiple coping strategies. Additionally, they frequently find support through their social relationships when dealing with …

Preschool Teachers’ Self-Efficacy In Teaching Mathematics: A Multiple Holistic Case Study Approach, Farhana Afroz

All Dissertations

Teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching mathematics plays a significant role in students’ success in mathematics (Levine et al., 2010; MacDonald, 2020). Introducing high-quality mathematics instruction in preschool is crucial, as this practice impacts children’s future mathematics achievement (Claessens & Engel, 2013; Braak et al., 2021). Despite having this benefit, children at the preschool level get inadequate mathematics lessons due to the preschool teachers’ uneasiness or discomfort with teaching mathematics (Gerde et al., 2018; Bates et al., 2013). However, this discomfort or uneasiness may arise from teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching mathematics (Copley, 2004). This study investigated the perceived self-efficacy of preschool teachers …

The Creation Of Intergenerational Playspaces, Avery Lake

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

The benefits of play are tenfold for both children and older adults, from improved cognitive function to enhanced social connections. However, traditional playgrounds often cater exclusively to one age group, limiting opportunities for intergenerational interaction. This study explores the design of intergenerational playspaces, focusing on those designed for intergenerational learning centers, institutions that operate as combined assisted living facilities and preschools. The research aims to answer the question: What does an intergenerational playspace look like, and how can it maximize the benefits of play for both age groups? The evolution of playgrounds for children and the older adults is examined, …

Teaching Methods To Build The Numeracy Skills Of Preschoolers With Disabilities And Complex Communication Needs, Avery Briggs

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This project explored the use of a curriculum that incorporates naturalistic and explicit instructional approaches through literature and direct teaching moments on the numeracy skills of three students with disabilities and complex communication needs. The numeracy skills targeted included patterning and sorting, shape discrimination, and quantity discrimination. This project took place during Extended School Year (ESY), a program that extends the traditional school year to provide services to students with disabilities. Student present levels and progress were assessed through a pretest and posttest given on the first and last days of ESY, in addition to progress monitoring data taken during …

Technical Documentation Of The Umass Boston Early Education Cost And Usage Simulator, Alan Clayton-Matthews, Randy Albelda, Anne Douglass, Christa M. Kelleher, Songtian Zeng, Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

The UMass Boston Early Education CUSP is led by a multidisciplinary team that designed a simulator to produce current, relevant, accurate, and responsive estimates about the key impacts of proposed legislation to expand access to affordable, quality child care and early education. One of the simulator’s valuable features is that it can generate estimates for a range of policy parameters and provisions. The team’s publications aim to provide essential information to guide policymaking on child care and early education affordability, quality, and access in Massachusetts.

Frequency Distribution Of Graphemic-Phonemic Correspondences Of Vowels In English Children's Literature, Steven Michael Paquin

Graduate Masters Theses

Phonics instruction is widely regarded as the most efficacious method for teaching children to read English. In order to acquire reading, young-learners must connect orthography to phonology. An obstacle to English reading acquisition is the language’s opaque orthography. Its grapheme to phoneme correspondence is not 1:1. Instead, a range of multi-letter strings, or graphotactics, correspond to various phonemic sequences. This network of graphophonemic correspondences renders English reading acquisition an arduous undertaking for young-learners. Phonics curricula like Letters and Sounds (Department for Education and Skills, 2007) in the U.K. and UFLI Foundations (Lane et. al., 2022) in the U.S. aid young-learners …

Benefits Of Afterschool Programs On The Academic Achievement And Social Development For Upper Grade Elementary School Students, Jorge Fernandez-Mora

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Afterschool programs provide beneficial support for students by offering tutoring, homework help, and enrichment/teach programs that reinforce classroom learning. These programs help young students build essential math, reading, and critical thinking skills. My capstone project explores the positive impact of afterschool programs on upper elementary school student's academic achievement and social development. Through the use of literature review and interviews with administrators, expanded learning coordinators, and teachers, the result findings revealed that afterschool programs are crucial in helping students meet their academic and social needs. It is also important to note that school-based academic support programs are safe in supervised …