Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education Commons^™

Developmental Bibliotherapy In Practice: A Study Of Bibliotherapy Effects On Kindergarten Behavior, Courtney Hawley

Graduate Theses

Bibliotherapy is the use of books and other print media for the purpose of instructing the audience about a certain topic. Developmental bibliotherapy is a form of bibliotherapy in which a teacher or other facilitator presents a book to a group in order to help instruct a desired behavior. This study was conducted to determine the effects of developmental bibliotherapy instruction over the course of a six weeks time period in the Kindergarten classroom. I wanted to determine the effectiveness of the bibliotherapy program as it related to teaching problem solving behaviors for a small group of students. The students …

Centering The Voices Of South Carolina's Early Care And Education Teachers: A Multi-Case Study Examining How They Select And Are Informed By Professional Development, Lenna Young

All Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to the existing literature focused on quality early care and education (ECE). Specifically, this study examines two main research questions: (1) How do teachers in South Carolina licensed, privately-funded ECE programs select professional development opportunities and (2) How does participating in professional development inform their practices? These questions are particularly significant in light of the minimal requirements for teachers to enter the ECE field in South Carolina. Due to the low entry requirements for ECE teachers, professional development can play a key role in transforming minimally qualified individuals into teachers who care …

Eight Simple Rules For Talking With Preschoolers, Rhea Paul

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

The article offers eight simple rules that teachers can use to help preschoolers build their vocabularies. It suggests teachers to talk with children to identify topics that interest them. It also recommends teachers to accompany all the routines and activities of the preschool day to enhance the language experience of children. Moreover, it proposes that open-ended questions invites preschoolers to offer lengthier and more detailed responses, thus stimulating their language growth.

Evaluating And Improving The Quality Of Teacher’S Language Modeling In Early Childhood Classrooms, Lillian White Englund

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The relationship between pre-school teachers and the children in their classrooms directly influences the degree of success the children experience in school and in life. The emphasis on quality pre-K education in the U.S. has resulted in an increased need for highly qualified teachers who are capable of engaging in meaningful interactions with young children. An important component of high-level teacher-child interactions is the teacher's ability to model language for children as they acquire vocabulary and language context.

This mixed-methods study was designed to examine the effectiveness of a professional development intervention designed to improve the quality of language modeling …

Utah Kindergarten Teachers' Challenges And Concerns About Teaching Kindergarten, Ruth Jane Liebschutz Moore

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This qualitative study was an exploration of 55 Utah kindergarten teachers' perceptions of challenges in teaching. It investigated written concerns teachers expressed in a statewide survey of kindergarten teachers. Study findings indicated that two main issues were communicated by teachers: a disparity between their developmentally appropriate beliefs and practices in the classroom, and concerns about children's kindergarten readiness and transition to school. About 56% of teachers felt a struggle in implementing their developmentally appropriate beliefs about education, for a variety of reasons: large class sizes, district and state mandates, and lack of resources, particularly time. Furthermore, 53% of educators conveyed …

Environmental And Developmental Indicators In Early Childhood: Relations To Second-Grade Reading Comprehension, Gina A. Cook

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Reading success has been linked to high school completion, future job success, and future generations of children who can read. Unfortunately, children who are unable to read on grade level by the end of first grade are at a great disadvantage and unlikely to catch up later. Without the ability to read and comprehend text, all aspects of schooling become progressively more difficult and the challenge of poor reading ability can be so difficult to overcome that many poor readers will not complete high school. For these reasons, it is important to identify early experiences in a child's family environment …

Mother-Child Attachment And Preschool Behavior Problems In Children With Developmental Delays, Mary S. Lamont

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Secure mother-child attachment has been found to be an important factor in the healthy emotional development of children and has been shown to have effects on child, adolescent, and adult behavior. Previous research has primarily focused on attachment in children who are typically developing. However, little research has been conducted in populations of children with developmental delays. The research thus far has suggested that medical situations, child disabilities and maternal emotions may affect interaction patterns between the mother and the child which may in turn influence the security of the mother-child attachment in children with developmental delays. This study contributes …

Early Care And Education For At-Risk Children In Rural And Urban Slums In Kenya, Giselle Emilia Navarro Casillas

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

With the rise of changing family structures as well as an increase in the demands of an early preparation for children to enter primary school, Early Care and Education (ECE) has become extremely important in Kenya. In particular an increase of ECE centers for at risk children is important because research has shown that at risk children benefit more from a high quality early care and education program (Calman, L.J., & Tarr-Whelan, L., 2005). Observations were conducted in fifteen ECE centers located in urban slums and rural villages throughout Kenya where poverty is high and sanitation conditions are poor. This …

The Relationship Of Personality Traits To Satisfaction With The Team: A Study Of Interdisciplinary Teacher Teams In Rhode Island Middle Schools, Michele D. Humbyrd, Robert K. Gable

Teacher Education

Shared practice in schools has emerged; teachers are moving from isolation to team collaboration where personality traits could be related to quality interactions. Team personality traits and team satisfaction were examined. A survey and interview approach was used for N = 244 full-time teachers from N = 49 interdisciplinary teams at N = 7 middle schools. Descriptive, correlational, multiple regression analyses and coded themes about team members’ personalities and interactions were employed. No significant relationships were found between the BFI traits and Satisfaction with the Team. Team-level analysis indicated a significant negative correlation between Satisfaction with theTeam and Extraversion and …

Educating Children About Global Issues, Ali Nawab

Professional Development Centre, Chitral

No abstract provided.

Attitudes And Beliefs Of Marriage And Family Therapists Regarding Psychotropic Drugs And Therapy, Paul R. Springer, Steven M. Harris

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Clinical members of AAMFT were solicited by means of a randomized multi-staged clustering technique to identify their attitudes and beliefs regarding psychotropic drugs. All participants were blind to the overall purpose of the study (n = 322) and were directed to read a clinical vignette and then identify what course of action they would take with the client. They were then asked to complete a small questionnaire regarding their attitudes and beliefs regarding psychotropic drugs. Results of the study showed that 35.7% of the clinicians identified medication and a medication referral as a viable treatment option they might pursue with …

Young Children’S Decisions To Include Peers With Physical Disabilities In Play, Karen E. Diamond, Soo-Young Hong

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The authors examined factors related to preschool children’s reasoning about including a hypothetical peer with a physical disability in different play activities. They hypothesized that children’s inclusion decisions would be influenced by features of the physical environment, attention to issues of fairness and equity, and individual child characteristics. Participants comprised 72 children enrolled in inclusive preschool classrooms. Children’s ideas about inclusion and their inclusion decisions were gathered in response to vignettes reflecting experiences that children are likely to encounter in preschool. The authors found that children were significantly more likely to say that they would include a child with a …

Spanish Science Resources For A Kindergarten Dual Language Classroom, Carmen Lorena Yanez

All Graduate Projects

The high population of English Language Learners (ELL) in the United States has impacted the educational system. Accountability for meeting high stakes tests and state standards has been a constant pressure for many schools that have a high concentration of ELL. School districts have adopted different programs to meet the needs of ELL. These programs focus on making academic content more relevant and comprehensible so students can meet state standards. One of the programs that has proven to be successful in meeting ELL needs is dual language. However, a challenge for many dual language programs that target English and Spanish …

A Kindergarten For The 21st Century, Nebraska Department Of Education, Westside Community Schools, Umo N Ho N Nation Public Schools, Lexington Public Schools, Omaha Public Schools, Head Start-State Collaboration Office, Marjorie Kostelnik, M. Susan Mcwilliams, Lincoln Public Schools, Gordon-Rushville Public Schools, Red Cloud, Northeast Professional Development Partnership, Nebraska State Board Of Education, District 5, Beatrice Public Schools, Platte Valley Professional Development Partnership

Faculty Books and Monographs

Called to action by parents, teachers, administrators, and other early childhood professionals in Nebraska, the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE), Office of Early Childhood began the process of revising the Kindergarten Position Statement in 2007. NDE’s previous Kindergarten Position Statement was written in 1984 and was a landmark document in the world of kindergarten, not only in Nebraska, but nationwide. The revision of this statement reinforces the expectation of providing high quality experiences for all children to help them reach their full potential, regardless of individual circumstances. The intent of this document is to provide a summary of information about …

Parents As Partners In Kindergarten And Second Grade Literacy Instruction: A Qualitative Inquiry Into Student-Authored Traveling Books, Dorothy C. Little

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to study a sociocognitive “student/parent/peer authoring community” called Traveling Books (TBks) in kindergarten and second grade in a public elementary school setting. TBks are teacher-made vehicles for involving parents in peer-based literacy environments. The study was based on Epstein's theory that increasing overlap of students' spheres of influence, home, school, and community, creates a greater likelihood that children will learn what the parents want them to learn. The aim was to locate essential elements that triggered learning processes to occur and to discover research-based fundamentals still missing from TBks.

This qualitative inquiry incorporated the …

Kindergarten Teachers' Developmentally Appropriate Beliefs And Practices And Their Perceptions Of Children's Kindergarten Readiness: Comparing The Beginning And The End Of The School Year, Rachelle Ernest Wright

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study examined 180 matched pretest/posttest surveys of kindergarten teachers' perceptions of the transition children experienced upon kindergarten entry. Investigations of changes in the percentages of children perceived as not being ready for kindergarten and percentages of children who were rated as having had a very successful, moderately successful, or difficult transition from the pretest to the posttest were conducted. Additionally, changes in teachers' developmentally appropriate beliefs and practices from the beginning of the school year (pretest) to the end of the school year (posttest) were explored. Further analyses were conducted to find differences and associations between teacher and classroom …

The Relationships Among Caregiver Training, Mentoring, And Turn-Taking Between Caregiver And Child In Family Child Care, Carrie L. Ota

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Basic communication skills are foundational for children's success in school and are dependent largely on their language experiences early in life. The purpose of this study was to examine two professional development models and family child care providers' use of turn-taking strategies that promote language in young children. The first professional development model consisted of a 10-hour nonformal training focused on supporting early language development. The second included the nonformal training and on-site mentoring. The 48 family child care programs were randomly assigned to one of the professional development models or a control group. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to …

Factors Affecting Reading Outcomes Across Time In Bureau Of Indian Education Reading First Schools, Heather J. Chapman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Regardless of age, background, or socioeconomic status, children must learn to read in order to be successful in school and in their future careers. Reading is an essential skill necessary to be successful in all other academic content areas. Despite the importance of this skill, American Indian children consistently score below the national average on tests of reading ability and reading comprehension. During recent years, many schools in the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) system requested funding through the Reading First initiative. Schools used the funding and support provided by the BIE Reading First grant to attempt system-wide change at …

The Relationship Between The Use Of Written Symbols In Preschoolers And Exposure And Use Of Art Media, Helen Prince

All Theses

The Visual Arts are an important part of the daily life of an early childhood classroom. Through drawing, painting, and other expressive media, young children develop early representational skills. These skills are an important component of early literacy development. This paper documents an action research project that took place in a 4K classroom. The aim of the project was to understand why the children in this classroom did not voluntarily spend time writing and drawing in the arts center while also working on strategies for promoting the children's use of the arts center and representational experiences. This research provides support …

Natural Caregiving Practices And Mothers' Decisions, Shannon L. Searle

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mothers care for their infants in various ways, many similar and others more unique, and are influenced by a variety of factors. Influences such as doctors' advice, attending prenatal and child development classes, reading books and magazines, and learning from personal experience contribute to the caregiving decisions mothers make. A type of parenting that focuses on the responsiveness and sensitivity of the mother to the infant's needs is known as natural parenting. Natural parenting involves caregiving practices that are expected to co-occur, such as breastfeeding and frequently maintaining close physical contact with the infant. Two other practices that some mothers …