Education Commons^™

Training Teachers In Inclusive Preschool Classrooms To Monitor Child Progress And Make Data-Based Decisions Through Direct Behavioral Observation, Collin Niles Shepley

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

Progress monitoring and data analysis are essential skills needed by classroom teachers within the implementation of multi-tiered systems of support for making data-based decisions about student progress and instruction. Within the early childhood MTSS research, consideration of teacher-collected progress monitoring data followed by data-based decision-making is rare. To provide teachers with a robust progress monitoring strategy, I trained preschool teachers of inclusive classrooms to use direct behavioral observations to collect data and inform their instruction.

The project experimentally evaluated teachers’ generalization of acquired behaviors within the context of a single-case research design. The project’s independent variable, teacher training, consisted of …

Examining School Readiness, Whitney A. Stevenson

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

This research study was conducted to provide information on school readiness. While there is no national definition for school readiness, states and organizations have developed various definitions to highlight readiness skills that have been deemed important for kindergarteners. The early childhood developmental domains that are often cited in these individual definitions are physical (fine/gross motor), social-emotional, cognition (academics), and communication skills. By considering a holistic approach of school readiness, a child’s development is not isolated to mastering one domain to be “ready” for school.

While most states do not have a statutory school readiness definition, many have been measuring school …

The Field Trip Project: Using Environmental Education To Bridge Science Learning Across Formal And Informal Kindergarten Settings, Meg Gravil

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

The Field Trip Study was conducted in direct response to the emergence of scientific thinking as it relates to children’s cognitive abilities. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of nature-based, experiential activities on children’s acquisition of science knowledge. A multiple treatments and controls with pretest research design was utilized to compare science knowledge acquisition between kindergarten children in four instructional conditions: 1) nature-based field trip plus extension activities from an environmental education curriculum, and corresponding book reading and activities, 2) nature-based field trips plus extension activities from an environmental education curriculum, 3) nature-based field trips plus …

Effects Of Naturalistic Time Delay On Promoting Functional Requests Using Aac In Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Brianna Rinaldi

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

The purpose of this study was to teach preschool children with autism spectrum disorders to make requests with a speech generating device using a naturalistic time delay prompting procedure. The participants in this study were two males, enrolled in a public preschool program, between four and five years old. Both participants showed significant delays in expressive communication requiring alternative and augmented communication. The study utilized a multiple probe design across behaviors. Results showed utilizing naturalistic time delay increases independent requests using a speech generating device.

Perception Of Rural General Educators On The Inclusion And Participation Of Students With Significant Disabilities, Rachel L. Crouch

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

The purpose of the study was to question rural general education teachers’ perceptions and attitudes on the inclusion of students with significant disabilities. The investigator surveyed rural general education teachers on their perceptions of what should be occurring in terms of inclusion and on what they saw as occurring in terms of inclusion of students with significant disabilities. The results yielded mixed perceptions and were generally positive in terms of the inclusion occurring within that school district.