Education Commons^™

The Importance Of Developmentally Appropriate Practice In Early Childhood Education, Jeneille Larsen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

It is important for educators, parents and families to know how children learn and what options of early education and curriculum are available. Three theorists and their theories on how children learn and obtain information, the NAEYC's statement on Developmentally Appropriate Practice and various preschool's throughout the world and their methods and curriculum is discussed. A "perfect" preschool method is then proposed using all the previous information to formulate the ideal preschool and curriculum.

A Study Of Stimulating Versus Non-Stimulating Visuals In A Preschool Classroom, Bolin R. Stephanie

Education Undergraduate Research

This was a qualitative research study with the purpose of examining characteristic and/or behavior changes in children ages two and a half to four based on stimulating and nonstimulating room décor. The data in this study was collected while observing twelve children at the Kiddie Kampus Daycare in Collegedale, Tennessee. Changes in mannerisms, behavior, character traits, and attention span were logged first in the typical, non-stimulating room, and then logged again using the same twelve children, in the same room, during another week of observation after the addition of visually stimulating decorations. Most children exhibited clear reactions to the visual …

The Significance Of National Association For The Education Of Young Children Accreditation In Elevating Quality Of Early Childhood Education: Administrators’, Teachers’, And Parents’ Beliefs About Accreditation And Its Process, Kristine Vardanyan

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

The following is a doctoral dissertation that studied administrators’, teachers’, and parents’ perceptions and attitudes related to an early childhood center/preschool accreditation experience. A qualitative case study of one preschool center focused on the influence that the decision to pursue accreditation and implement the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) self-study process had on administrators, teachers, and parents. Interviews with administrators, teachers, and parents explored (a) issues that motivated the pursuit of NAEYC accreditation; (b) the NAEYC guidelines and their experience of the self-study and quality-improvement process; and (c) their perception of outcomes following accreditation. Current NAEYC …

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. …

Explicit Teacher-Implemented Phoneme Awareness Instruction: Preschool Effects, Heather M. Osterhouse

Masters Theses

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the impact of explicit, concentrated, teacher-implemented phonological awareness instruction for ―at risk‖ 4- year-olds. Early childhood educators were trained to implement a 10-week program delivered for 20-minute sessions, four times a week, in their classrooms. The program focused on phonological awareness beginning at the level of letter-sound knowledge and advancing to blending and segmenting constituent phonemes in words. Pre- to post-treatment comparisons of phonological awareness and letter knowledge skills indicated that children in the experimental group made significant gains in comparison to the control group in phoneme blending and letter knowledge. …

Effects Of The Pre-K Program Of Kalamazoo County Ready 4s On Kindergarten Entry Test Scores: Estimates Based On Data From The Fall Of 2011 And The Fall Of 2012, Timothy J. Bartik

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper uses a regression discontinuity model to examine the effects on kindergarten entrance assessments of the Kalamazoo County Ready 4s (KC Ready 4s) program, a half-day pre-K program for four-year-olds in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. The results are based on test scores and other characteristics of up to 220 children participating in KC Ready 4s, with data coming from both 2011–2012 and 2012–2013 participants in the program. The estimates find consistently statistically significant effects of this pre-K program on improving entering kindergartners’ math test scores. Some estimates also suggest marginally statistically significant effects of KC Ready 4s on vocabulary test …

Literacy Coaching And Preschool Teacher's Implementation Of Literacy Instructional Practices, Teresa Byington

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Literacy coaching has gained prominence during the past decade as a professional development strategy for changing teacher practices. The purpose of this study was to identify whether a coaching intervention increased teacher's level of implementation of five targeted literacy instructional practices. Additionally, the researcher sought to determine if there was a relationship between teacher's stages of concern and their level of implementation of literacy instructional practices. Teachers participated in a six-week literacy coaching intervention. The study was a pre-post intervention group mixed methods design with both quantitative and qualitative measures. The participants of the study included eight preschool teachers and …

The Effect Of Joint Attention Intervention Techniques On Expressive Language Ability In Preschool Children With Autism, Beverly L. Locker

Honors Theses

This study sought to investigate the effect of an intervention program for joint attention on joint attention and expressive language skill. The participants were five males with autism spectrum disorders who were attending a reverse inclusion preschool in the southeastern United States. The investigator observed the participants in their classrooms over a five-week period. The most significant finding was variation in the participants’ joint attention and language behaviors. Only one participant showed improvement across the period of the study. One important clinical implication from this study is the idea that therapy for joint attention might be more effective in a …

Preschoolers With Speech And Language Impairment: Case Studies From A Teacher-Delivered Phonological Awareness Program, Katherine J. Wickham

Masters Theses

Past and present research demonstrates early reading success related to phonological awareness (PA) instruction conducted individually or in small groups outside of the preschool classroom. This study investigated the effects of an explicit, intensive and teacher-delivered PA instruction for children with speech sound disorder and language impairment as part of the preschool curriculum. The investigator examined the performance of individual cases in both groups, those who received instruction and the control. Two participants in each of the experimental (E1 and E2) and control (C1 and C2) groups had standardized scores indicating deficits in speech and/or language. These children who received …

Early Childhood Special Education In A Refugee Resettlement Community: Challenges And Innovative Practices, Jennifer J. Hurley, Rachel A. Warren, Rebecca D. Habalow, Lauren E. Weber, Sarah R. Tousignant

College of Education and Social Services Faculty Publications

There has been a significant increase in the number of children who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) who qualify for early childhood special education (ECSE) services (Banerjee & Guiberson, 2012). The current study investigates the challenges and innovative practices in the evaluation and (ECSE) services for preschool aged children who are refugees. Twenty-eight early childhood educators who work in a small refugee resettlement community participated in a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews resulting in themes regarding challenges and innovative practices. Challenges include: lack of validated assessments, wait time for evaluations, different cultural perspectives and family advocacy. Innovative practices include: …

The Child Snapshot: A Tool For The Transfer Of Information On Children From Preschool To Primary School, Mary O'Kane, Noirin Hayes

Articles

The research outlined in this paper is part of a larger research study undertaken in Ireland by the Centre for Social and Educational Research, at Technological University Dubin, funded by the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (O'Kane & Hayes, 2010). The project involved a cluster of two designated disadvantaged primary schools and twelvefeeder preschools, with a specific focus on developing processes for communication and collaboration between the two educational settings. The Bioecological Systems Model (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998) was the primary theoretical basis underpinning the project, given it's acknowledgement of the shared systems of all the …

A Study Of Stimulating Versus Non-Stimulating Visuals In A Preschool Classroom, Monic Lindsey

Education Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this research was to determine if there was a correlation between a child’s behavior and visual stimulation in the classroom. This was a qualitative observational study that involved young children ages two and half to four. The study’s purpose was designed to draw a quasi-conclusion that determines whether visual stimuli affect this age range’s behavior and attention span. This study will help teachers and parents recognize how visual stimulation in the classroom modifies a child’s activity. Based on previous investigations, visual stimulation can either have a negative or positive affect on children’s learning and behavior in the …

A Case Study Of Jamaican Children's Lived Play Experiences, Carol Ann Long

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although research on children's play is abundant and considerable advances have been made in young children's play, the majority of these studies have been based in western developed countries and written from adults' perspectives rather than with children. Additionally, very little research has been done on children's play with active participants from smaller developing countries. The voices of society's youngest members have been lost or are only marginally represented.

The purpose of this qualitative research is to explore, understand, and describe young Jamaican children's lived play experiences as related through their eyes. The theoretical frameworks used to guide this study …

Oral Language Development In Title I Preschools In Central Alabama: A Multi-Case Study, Suzanne O'Rear Snow

All ETDs from UAB

Among risk factors associated with reading difficulties, underdeveloped oral language skills can be detrimental to students' reading success. Many educators are teaching early reading skills without prior knowledge of scaffolding methods and developmentally appropriate developmentally appropriate factors from research (Kirkland & Patterson, 2005). This multi-case study examined aspects of how five preschool personnel developed oral language development in two Titles I preschool by answering the following questions: How do preschool teachers and paraprofessionals describe the ways in which oral language development is developed in a preschool setting? The research sub-questions included were: Two Title I schools were purposefully chosen for …