Education Commons^™

Comparison Of Video Modeling And In-Vivo Language Instruction In Preschool, Jessah Marlee Hughes

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

Early communication and language development in young children is critically important and those identified as having a language delay, would benefit from intervention. There is a rise in screen time exposure in young children, with some watching variations of popular evidence-based practices (time delay, video modeling, etc.) Most notably, Ms. Rachel is an early childhood learning YouTube sensation. This study seeks to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of video modeling and time delay in the differential use of early sentences during play-based activities.

The Importance Of Teaching Social-Emotional Skills To Young Children, Stephanie Valdez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

My capstone project enhances the social-emotional skills of preschool children, which are fundamental for relationships, emotional management, and empathy. Children lacking these skills may struggle in learning, behavior, and socializing when they progress to elementary school. Studies have shown that social-emotional competence and cognitive competence are critical predictors of academic accomplishment (Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and Student Benefits: Implications for the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Core Elements, n.d.). Children in preschool who lack these skills may experience difficulties in learning, behavior, and socializing as they progress to elementary school (Amy Morin, 2019). A significant issue arises when children encounter obstacles …

The Mind Matters: Yoga And Mindfulness In Preschool And K-12 Schools, Anna E. Hall

Honors Theses

This study uses a systematic literature review to examine the efficacy of preschool and K-12 school based yoga and mindfulness programs. A collection of 47 sources were examined to compare and contrast results and determine best practices. The results of the literature review are divided into three primary categories: implementation methods, student outcomes, and teacher and student opinion. The results suggest that individual and whole school implementation methods are the most effective. The results also suggest that there are positive student outcomes in regards to classroom behavior, child executive functioning, and anxiety. Teacher and student opinion on these programs are …

Growth Mindset And Agency In The Preschool Classroom, Isaac Rowan Coppock

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Mindsets, or how we as individuals characterize intelligence and our ability to attain it, are deeply connected to motivation. Those who employ a fixed mindset view intelligence as set and effort as fruitless. Conversely, those who utilize a growth mindset have healthy attitudes about challenges and view effort as a necessary part of learning. For educators working with children, finding ways to encourage growth over fixed mindsets is incredibly indicative of the future academic success individual children might experience. This study explores the foundations of mindset attainment through a teacher’s ability to affect individual preschool-aged (three to five years) children’s …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Implementation Of Developmentally Appropriate Practices Of Highly-Skilled Teachers In School-Based, Early Education Settings, Julie R. Ritter

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

High-quality instruction, especially for at-risk children, is what matters in early education (Brown, 2010; Chien et al., 2010; Goldstein et al, 2013; Howes et al., 2008; Reynolds et al., 2014). Developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) is identified in research as a feature of high-quality instruction and best practice in early education (Squires, Pribble, Chen, & Pomés, 2013). Using transcendental phenomenology, this study identified the beliefs and practices of early education teachers in Minnesota school-based PreK-4 programs and their alignment to DAP principles, guidelines, and teaching strategies as defined by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (2009). By investigating …

Teaching Academic Concepts In A Play-Based Preschool Environment: A Case Study Of Guided Play Across Three Classrooms, Lisa M. Hansen

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study examined interactions between preschool children and teachers during guided-play activities. These interactions were studied through observations and interviews in a case-study format. Classrooms were observed for 1 hour per week over the course of 4 weeks. Teachers were interviewed following each observation. All three preschool classrooms were located in northern California and belonged to the same chain of schools. A total of six teachers and 75 students participated in the study.

Three main research questions drove the course of the study. The first research question examined the types of interactions between experienced preschool teachers and students during …

Pathways To Kindergarten Readiness., Ashley T. Forrest, Stephanie Nutter, Deborah Rivera

College of Education & Human Development Capstone Projects

The purpose of this capstone was to explore pathways for increased kindergarten readiness by examining the relationship between kindergarten readiness as measured by the Brigance Kindergarten Screener (BKS) domains of cognitive/general knowledge and language/communication and each of the following variables: school funding, school location, school classification, teacher credentials, teacher years of experiences, music inclusion, and time allotted to music instruction. Participants included 174 preschool students from 17 classrooms in an urban school district. This capstone used preexisting data from the school district including demographic variables of race, socioeconomic status (SES), prior setting, attendance, and the school-level variable of climate. A …

Training Early Childhood Educators To Identify Behavior Function And Select Function-Matched Interventions, Laura V. Cox

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Problem behavior in the classroom can have a negative impact not only on the student’s learning but on his or her social interactions and the child may risk rejection by teachers and peers. This study evaluated the effects of a training package delivered to preschool teachers on their ability to identify what may be causing the problem behavior and identify strategies that may reduce problem behavior.

Previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of this training package in older age groups or grade levels as well as to other professionals who work with children with problem behavior. Results from this study …

Preschool Writing Instruction: Modeling The Writing Stages, Shelby Swant

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Writing is an essential component of language development and early literacy. With the growing focus on national and state education standards, the early foundation of writing and literacy skills proves to be an area of importance and concern; however, limited research has been conducted in the area of preschool writing instruction. This study investigated writing and other foundational literacy skills in preschoolers following three different instructional conditions. Preschoolers (n=85), who attended a preschool educational setting serving low-income families, were randomly assigned to classrooms in three research groups: control, comparison, and treatment. The control group participated in implicit writing …

Learning Together: A Case Study Of A Cooperative School’S Approach To Education, Ariana M. Ali

Master's Theses

This thesis is based on an in-depth case study of one cooperative pre-preschool and preschool in San Francisco. Qualitative research methods, such as observation and one-on-one interviews, were used to study the structure, culture, and community at the school. Cooperative schools have not been well researched or documented in academic literature and this study hoped to shed some light on this model of school organization. The parent-initiated and community-oriented nature of cooperative schools make them stand out as unique among the large, bureaucratically-run schools and daycares typically found in the United States. The results of this study highlighted four themes …

The Effect Of Preschool On Reaching Achievement Among Kindergarten Students, Reisha Monique Mckinney

Dissertations

As early childhood education continues to move to the forefront of public policy debate, more attention is being paid to early literacy. Strickland and Riley-Ayers (2006) indicated that early literacy and early learning opportunities play a vital role in academic achievement. This study invested whether there were statistically significant relationships between preschool attendance based on the reading and language arts scores from the Georgia Kindergarten Inventory Developing Skills test.

The study also determined if there were differences in the reading and language arts for those who attended preschool and those who did not based on free/reduced and full paid lunch. …

An Examination Of Socially Constructed Whole Group Storybook Reading In Three Pre Primary Classrooms, Anne Drabble

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study examines the socially constructed context of whole group storybook reading in pre primary classrooms. The study is centred in the shared communications that occur between pre primary teachers and students before, during and after the storybook reading. In particular, insights are sought on the nature and extent of the pre primary teachers' and the pre primary students' communicative contributions and the opportunity provided for the inclusion of personal knowledge and personal experience in the communication. Whether there is a change in the nature of the contributions over time is also examined. The study seeks to extend current understanding …

Barbadian Teachers' Personal Practical Knowledge About Advocated Pedagogic Practices Used In The Education Of The Under-Fives, Sonja M. Anderson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study investigated the personal practical knowledge of twenty-one Barbadian teachers in relation to a range of pedagogic practices advocated for use in the education of children under five years of age. The investigation of this knowledge was based on an interpretative perspective. The conceptual underpinning was framed by Personal Construct Psychology (Kelly, 1995), and its methodology, the repertory grid technique. The grid was formulated and used in a sample of schools with under-fives. Findings were clarified, confirmed and elaborated by the use of in-depth interviews conducted with teachers in their classroom settings. The findings revealed that teachers construed pedagogic …

The Continuity Of Literacy Development: Kindergarten To Year 1, Lennie Barblett

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this study was to investigate the continuity of strategies and provisions that teachers use to develop children's literacy in kindergarten and Year 1. In two metropolitan Ministry of Education districts, 27 kindergarten and 25 Year 1 teachers completed a questionnaire concerning issues relating to literacy development in these two educational settings. From this population four teachers were interviewed to investigate areas of interest that arose from the questionnaire. The results showed that kindergarten and Year 1 teachers differed in the selection of strategies and provisions to promote literacy in young children. There was a clear delineation between …

A Project Designed To Identify And Assist Potential Slow Learners At The Pre-Kindergarten Level, Anita Louise Rakoz

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this paper is to research students who have continuous academic problems in school. Data is collected to identify the needs and problems of these children. Solutions are presented to meet identified needs. Behavior testing and an adult training program, which involves the services and funds of various existing social services agencies, are introduced as methods for meeting the student problems.

The Relative Effectiveness Of An Eight-Week Summer Training Program For Culturally Deprived Preschool Children, Jim L. Weems

All Master's Theses

It was the purpose of this investigation to measure and interpret the effects of preschool experiential training on a sample of culturally deprived pre-first grade children in Yakima, Washington, in the areas of intellectual ability, visual perceptual development, and social maturity. It was felt that organized data regarding the effects of this training would be helpful in making a determination as to the value of the training itself, and in providing information which would be of use in developing similar programs in the future.