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Childhood Development: How The Fine And Performing Arts Enhance Neurological, Social, And Academic Traits, Katherine Rowe

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract

Childhood development has always been a major topic when studying psychology and biology. This makes sense because the brain develops from the time a child is conceived to the time that child has reached around the age of twenty-seven. Doctors, psychologists, and sociologists look at numerous things when studying childhood development. However, how common is it for researchers to study how the fine and performing arts affect childhood development? Sociologists tend to be extremely open and mindful of all aspects of things such as culture, sexuality, religion, and even age. By taking a sociological standpoint when studying the arts …

The Effects Of An Observation And Interpretation Intervention (Coi/Pals) On Teachers’ Productive And Nonproductive Conversations With Preschool Children, Gina Joe Wohlford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This multiple baseline single-case design study explored the influence that training in observation and interpretation had on teachers’ meaningful conversations with children. Three preschool teachers (1 from public school and 2 from Head Start) were trained using the Cycle of Inquiry System (Broderick & Hong, 2011) that informs of ways to observe and interpret children’s thinking to facilitate developmentally appropriate conversations.

Teachers documented and interpreted observations of children engaged in small group play. Teachers were surveyed pre-training and post-training about observation, interpretation, curriculum, the teacher’s role, and the purpose of teacher interactions with children. Teachers were interviewed to clarify researcher …

Preschool Teachers' Perceptions Of Children Prenatally Exposed To Drugs, Brandie D. Maness

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the incidence of prenatal drug exposure increasing, it is important that preschool teachers are prepared and confident in serving the needs of children affected by this exposure. Teachers need more training and education to prepare them for working with children with prenatal drug exposure.

The purpose of this sequential mixed-methods study was to explore the perceptions, training, and shared experiences of preschool teachers when working with 4- and 5-year-old preschool children who have experienced prenatal drug exposure. The researcher invited 77 preschool teachers in northeast Tennessee working in either Head Start or Tennessee Voluntary Pre-K Initiative programs to complete …

Teachers And Their Perceptions About Adaptive Skill Training Within An Early Childhood Comprehensive Development Classroom For Students With Intellectual Disabilities, Jennifer R. Lynberg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigated teacher perceptions about adaptive skill training within an early childhood comprehensive development classroom for students with intellectual disabilities. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding about adaptive skills from a teacher's perspective. The aims of the study were to help educators understand the role of comfort level, importance of adaptive skills, planning for adaptive skills, and connecting adaptive skills to an academic outcome. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was used, and an online survey was completed by 254 special education teachers. The participants that completed the survey were 93% female and on average had …

Teachers’ Response To Infants’ Nonverbal Communication And Use Of Response To Facilitate A Dialogue, Stephanie Stephens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Beginning with birth, typically developing children use strategies to communicate, and the functions of their language change with maturation and interaction. Since communication cannot exist if both parties do not participate, it is important to not only study the ability of the child, but also the behavior of the adult. Numerous studies have examined the behavior of the parent or other domestic adult, but few have included the study of teacher behaviors.

This study investigated teachers’ response to four types of nonverbal communication attempts made by infants. The gestures included: deictic, affect signaling, object-related, and conventional. The type of response …

Parent And Teacher Perceptions Of Elementary School Homework, Jimmy Marcum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perceptions of parents and teachers of elementary school students regarding homework. Specifically, the researcher examined parent and teacher perceptions, perceptions of teachers in kindergarten through fifth grades, and parents of elementary students in kindergarten through fifth grades. In this qualitative study, the researcher analyzed feedback obtained from two focus groups: a group of three parents and a group of three teachers. One-on-one in-depth interviews of seven parents or guardians and seven elementary school teachers were utilized. These interviews were conducted in settings chosen by the participants. All participants worked in, …

Levels Of Feedback Observed In Kindergarten Classrooms: Perceptions And Reality, Jacqueline Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The most powerful influence on student achievement is the classroom teacher and the most effective instructional strategy teachers can use to increase student learning and achievement is effective feedback (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). The research on teacher feedback in kindergarten classrooms is scarce therefore this study helps reduce the void in the literature on the importance of teacher feedback in kindergarten classrooms.

The purpose of this study was to examine effective teachers’ perceptions of the amount and kind of feedback they provide to their students and to determine if their perceptions match the feedback they actually provide. The participants in …

Parental Perceptions Of Preschool-Age Children’S Literacy Development In A Rural Appalachian Community, Kimberly Austin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Early Childhood educators agree on the significant influence of a parent on a child’s literacy development. The environment a parent provides, in addition to the opportunities a child has in the early years, have a major influence on a child’s literacy development. This study sought to determine how parents in a low-income socioeconomic group perceived literacy development and how their preschool-age children performed on an emergent literacy assessment. The 64 study participants were recruited from a Head Start program in the central Appalachian Mountains. An overwhelming majority of participants were mother/child dyads, every participant spoke English as a primary language, …

Design And Validation Of A Scale For Preschoolers: Measuring Nutrition Knowledge, Beliefs, And Behaviors, Michelle E. Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The literature indicates a lack of validated scales to measure nutrition knowledge, attitudes and behaviors in preschool-aged children. Reliable and valid assessment tools are critical in the development of nutritional interventions for young children; careful design, including psychometric evaluation of reliability and validity, is the best approach to scale development. Best practice points to an efficient, yet comprehensive look at the constructs of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. This multi-phase study included 298 preschool children ages 2-6 years (151 girls, 147 boys; mean age 3.936). A 45-item scale was created, with 4 subscales to measure the nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors …

Preschool Enrollment And Elementary School Achievement In An East Tennessee School District, Derek Voiles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if a significant difference in achievement scores exists among students based on whether or not they attended preschool as measured by standardized achievement reading-language arts and math scores on the Tennessee Comprehensive Achievement Program assessment for fourth grade students in a single East Tennessee school district. The variables of grade level and preschool attendance were considered. The population consisted of fourth grade students during the 2014-2015 school year. Data were gathered from the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program achievement test scores obtained from the 2014-2015 school year and from the school district’s preschool …

Putnam County, Tennessee’S Prekindergarten Program As Measured By Test Scores, Gpa, Attendance, And Discipline Reports In 3rd, 7th, And 9th Grade, Christopher J. Winningham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there is a significant difference in the academic and behavioral performance of students who had attended Putnam County’s prekindergarten program and students who qualified for, but had not attended Putnam County’s prekindergarten program. The researcher examined individual student data of specific students in three grade bands (elementary, middle, and high school). The grade levels included 3rd grade, 7th grade, and 9th grade. The data analyzed were students’ individual GPA, ACT Explore scores, MAP Universal Screener scores, number of days absent, and number of discipline referrals of students who had attended …

Prevalence Of Communication Disorders In Children With Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome On School Speech-Language Pathology Caseloads: A National Survey, Brittany V. Ratliff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is concern about the recently increasing number of infants born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), yet little is known about its long-term neurodevelopmental effects. School-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are in a unique position to comment on potential long-term consequences of NAS because their caseloads include children with a variety of communication disorders and comorbidities. School-based SLPs across the United States (N = 258) responded to a survey about the presence of children with NAS on their caseloads and their perceptions of the children’s communication disorders and comorbidities. Results revealed that children with NAS currently are being treated by …

Kindergarten Teachers' Perceptions Of Student Readiness For School, James A. Wernke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The design method for this study was non-experimental quantitative. The survey was distributed via email to Kindergarten teachers in two Northeastern Tennessee school districts. There were 69 Kindergarten teachers who responded to the survey. The study revealed that Kindergarten teachers perceive that gender, socioeconomic status, and preschool experience have a significant impact on student readiness for school. Chronological age was not perceived to have an impact on student readiness for school to a significant extent. Kindergarten teachers perceived that preschool experience has the greatest impact on student readiness for school when asked to rank the order of impact from greatest …