Early Childhood Education Commons^™

Teachers' Experience Of A Flood In Their School Community: Their Beliefs, Perceptions, And Thoughts About Practice, Caroline Tolentino

LSU Master's Theses

The increasing number of flooding incidences in Louisiana exposes a significant number of children to the possible traumatic effects of this natural disaster. Flooding takes a toll not only on families and children, but on teachers as well. While the effects of other types of disasters on children have been considered in previous studies, research has not thoroughly addressed the effects of flooding on children and on early childhood teachers. Teachers can be very instrumental in helping young children cope and making sure their needs are met after the experience of a traumatic event (Perry & Szalavitz, 2008; Le Brocque, …

Structures & Supports: Building A Throughline Approach To District Partnerships, Jessica Charles

All Faculty and Staff Papers and Presentations

Bank Street College is committed to collaborative, systematic district reform that supports every layer of the school system so that districts are able to thoughtfully plan and implement large-scale instructional improvement initiatives to achieve maximum impact on student learning. The Bank Street Education Center “Education Center,” has developed a “Throughline” approach to district reform, designed to support districts across the system to foster conditions that enable schools to act as units of change and embed strong instructional practices through teacher leaders and teams.

Conversations With Children About Death, Molly Sexton-Reade

Occasional Paper Series

This paper emphasizes the need for conversations around death in the classroom. Today's children are exposed to information about death through a wide variety of media. Teachers have a responsibility to provide opportunities for children to process this information in ways that are developmentally appropriate - acknowledging children's "magical thinking" as well as experiences children may have surrounding death.

Performing Gender In The Elementary Classroom, Gail Masuchika Boldt

Occasional Paper Series

This paper raises questions about teachers’ interventions into children’s exchanges around gender in elementary classrooms. Masuchika Boldt argues that gender is ever-present in the classroom and children are constantly making assertions about the meaning of gender and the authenticity of their own and others’ gender performances. She speaks to the question, “If a teacher does interpret this exchange as being at least in part about gender, what, if any, response is called for?”

A Qualitative Case Study Of Teachers’ Perceptions And Practices In Social Justice Education And The Perceived Implications For K‒2nd Grade Children, Tina M. Lageson

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

This qualitative case study explored the perceptions and practices of three teachers who teach social justice concepts in kindergarten and 2nd-grade classrooms in an urban school district in the Northwest region of the United States. The research sought to answer the following central questions: (a) What do teachers perceive about how instruction on social justice concepts impact early grade learners in classroom settings? (b) What do teachers perceive about how this instruction influences learner perceptions regarding their role in society? Through a three-phase data collection approach that included teacher and parent interviews, teacher observations with observation debrief, and student artifact …

Teaching My Child To Resist In Kindergarten, Christine Ferris

Occasional Paper Series

Ferris describes how she taught her son to resist in his kindergarten classroom while drawing on her own experiences as an educator. Their experience draws attention to common teaching methods that do not promote socialization or free thinking. This also highlights the issues that can arise when the value system of a school does not align with a family's own beliefs - especially when alternative schools are not a viable option.

The Power Of More Than One, Jane King

Occasional Paper Series

Jane King reflects on her experiences as a preschool teacher eager to use methods outside of the norm. She resists activities that encourage homogeneity and strives to promote autonomy and free thinking in her students. After transitioning from teacher to parent, she still uses this philosophy to make small changes in her daughter's classroom and encourage her children to engage in acts of resistance and critical thinking both in and out of school.

Everyday Tactics And The Carnavalesque: New Lenses For Viewing Resistance In Preschool, Joseph Tobin

Occasional Paper Series

Tobin builds upon Steve Schultz's argument that young children’s resisting authority in preschool is a rehearsal or training ground for resisting authority later in life. Using this perspective, this article turns to theories of power and resistance to help us understand everyday events in preschools, and to suggest implications for the choices we make as adults who work with young children.

Building Higher Than We Are Tall: The Power Of Narrative Inquiry In The Life Of A Teacher, Stephanie Bevacqua

Occasional Paper Series

Bevacqua offers two anecdotes from her teaching career that illustrate young children testing the limits of classroom rules and exploring their autonomy and agency. She reflects on her career as a progressive teacher who works to redefine traditional power relations in the classroom by supporting the children’s investigation of community rules and codes of appropriate behavior.

Introduction: Rethinking Resistance In Schools, Jonathan G. Silin

Occasional Paper Series

This issue of Occasional Papers began as a Graduate School seminar honoring Steven Schultz, a much beloved and respected faculty member whose untimely death greatly impacted the Bank Street community. In 1989, Steve’s work was on the cutting edge of attempts to see acts of individual and collective resistance in preschool classrooms as potential precursors of political resistance among adults. The essays in Rethinking Resistance reflect a broad range of experiences and perspectives that prompt us to rethink the meaning and importance of resistance.

Iii International Colloquium Proceedings, International Colloquium

Proceedings of the International Colloquium on Languages, Cultures, Identity in School and Society

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Video Self-Reflection On Teacher Practice, Michelle Grantham-Caston

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this research study was to analyze the teacher’s ability to utilize video self-reflection as a structured learning tool to enhance their teaching practice and CLASS scores. Research has demonstrated that teachers are better able to be self-reflective when provided with a framework (Calandra, Gurvitch, & Lund, 2008). Literature has documented video self-reflection and CLASS as links for growth in children and professional development support for teachers (Pianta, Mashburn, Downer, Hammer, & Justice, 2008). Results from the present study indicated that the teachers became increasingly aware of the CLASS Toddler tool criteria through scoring their own behaviors, which …

Stem Storytelling: Using Picture Books To Integrate Mathematics - "Who Lives Here?", Lindsey Herlehy, Karen Togliatti

Publications & Research

This series of activities invites students to explore animals and their habitats, classify “animal” figures by habitat, sort, represent, and analyze data. In the first activity, the picture book Listen to Our World by Bill Martin, Jr. and Michael Sampson will be used to discuss eleven different animals and their habitats. Questioning strategies will focus on student comprehension and inferential reasoning skills related to why each animal lives in a particular type of habitat. This book is utilized at all grade levels to introduce the subsequent activity.

The grade-level activities that follow integrate students’ knowledge of animals and their habitats …

Musicalization: Early Childhood Music Access, Discourse, And Praxis In Nyc Charter Schools, 2014-2015, Andrew Aprile

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Over the past two decades, charter schools have become a hallmark of education reform in the United States. Concurrent with this movement is the increasing prominence of high stakes testing. While much research has sought to compare the effectiveness of charter schools and traditional public schools in terms of standardized assessments, scant attention has been paid to the role of arts and music in charter schools, and little has been done to distinguish the distinct strands of the charter school movement. Given what we know about the importance of music education and the growth of charter schools, it was the …

11.001 Lesley College Schools For Children, 1909-2002, Alyssa Pacy

Finding Aids

The Lesley College Schools for Children collection contains catalogs produced annually and other records from the schools (the Carroll-Hall School, the Lesley-Dearborn School, and the Lesley-Ellis School) that the former Lesley College acquired. Each catalog contains a history of the school, information about faculty, admission, buildings, course descriptions, academic calendars, school policy, and tuition and expenses. The collection also contains a book of published poems from students in Lesley-Ellis Schools' creative writing class from 1958 - 1964.

Investing In Residencies, Improving Schools: How Principals Can Fund Better Teaching And Learning, Brigid Fallon, Prepared To Teach, Bank Street College

All Faculty and Staff Papers and Presentations

Investing in Residencies, Improving Schools: How Principals Can Fund Better Teaching and Learning, examines the feasibility for school-level funding for resident stipends including a description of a financial model that enables schools to fund co-teaching positions for novice teachers.

A Study Of The Effects Of Metacognitive Instruction On Reading Comprehension In The Primary Classroom, Sara Wing

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine if a relationship existed between metacognitive instruction and students’ growth rate for fluency, accuracy, self-correction rates, and comprehension in reading. The research question that guided this study was: To what extent is there a relationship between metacognitive instruction using Reciprocal Teaching method and increasing student success for first-grade emergent readers as evidenced by Curriculum-based Measurements and STAR Accelerated Reader tests. Constructivism theory was used to develop an understanding of learning that asserts student learning happens when students make meaning for themselves. The sample for this study was a convenient of 16 first-grade …

The Plight Of The Gifted Student: A Call To Action, Krista M. Shilvock

Empowering Research for Educators

With so many needs in today’s public education classroom, we cannot forget the needs of those who excel in the classroom, too. Gifted students face severe neglect in class due to the appearance of their competence and maturity. However, we quickly face losing the contributions of a major group of students as this neglect causes them to lose interest in their own education. As teachers, we must challenge ourselves to help gifted students reach their potential just as we attempt to do for all subgroups of students. A poll of 22 gifted students confirms these frustrations and needs of students. …

Immigrant Parental Involvement In Student Academics, Charles Tebben

Empowering Research for Educators

Abstract

This study is meant to focus discussions about the importance of the involvement of immigrant parents in respect to student academics. In this study I intend to make evident a relationship between parental involvement and student academics, after which I will draw in a conclusion of the resources utilized by my community at the elementary and middle schools. I’m conducting my research study starting at elementary school and running through middle school. I’m eliminating the high school period because of their unique parental involvement complexities which share little constraints and outcomes with the lower levels. To build my study, …

Growth Mindset In The Classroom, Luther L. Kiger

Empowering Research for Educators

This article discusses how Mindset can effect a students educational and social life.

The Language Of Learning In Family And Consumer Sciences: English Language Learners In Career Technical Education, Kali S. Lenhoff

Empowering Research for Educators

Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) content and English as a Second Language (ESL) strategies can be organically incorporated to create a successful education for an English Language Learner (ELL). The first objective of this research project is to discover how prepared Family and Consumer Sciences teachers feel to work with English Language Learners in the classroom. The second objective is to identify practical and effective methods and strategies that are useful for Family and Consumer Sciences teachers instructing English Language Learners. The rationale for this project is that by identifying the challenges faced by English Language Learners in education, teachers …

Emphasis On Test Scores In Education, Lindsay Olson

Empowering Research for Educators

This article discusses how too much emphasis on standardized testing can affect student learning as well as teaching in the classroom. It includes a personal interview with a high school teacher as well as an article from the Washington Post regarding a study that was completed involving testing students.

Do Spellings Of Words And Phonemic Awareness Training Facilitate Vocabulary Learning In Preschoolers?, Robin O'Leary

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the contribution of phoneme awareness training and orthography to the learning of new vocabulary words by partial alphabetic phase readers. We hypothesized that four and five year old children taught to segment words with letters would outperform those trained with shape markers and those that received no segmentation training on an invented spelling task. We also hypothesized that students seeing the spellings of new vocabulary words (names) would learn the words in fewer trials, remember the names and features better and would be able to better recognize letter labels when presented alone. …

Literacy Tutoring Strategies Of America Reads University-Level Tutors, Mauricio Cadavid

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore, study, outline and describe tutoring strategies applied by American Reads (AR) tutors and non-America Reads (nAR) tutors helping young tutees develop early literacy skills. There is limited research on the implementation of effective tutoring strategies during one-on-one tutoring with elementary school children in terms of early literacy development. Most of the literature is split between peer tutoring and program tutoring. This lack of research presents a particular challenge when it comes to identifying an effective tutor and effective tutoring methodologies. Using a qualitative approach, this study utilizes survey data, session recordings, and …

Teachers' Perceptions Of Formal Testing Of Students In Grades K-2, Adriana Battista Coppola

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

School leaders and teachers are confronted with federal, state, and local mandates that must be followed to ensure all students reach their fullest academic potential. To this end, the challenge has been raised to teachers and administrators to have younger students in the lower elementary grades prepared for standardized student testing.

Assessment comes with varied expectations and beliefs among parents, teachers, administrators, school board members, and the community that may cause difficulty acknowledging developmentally appropriate assessment methods.

This qualitative study focuses on the perceptions of 16 elementary teachers towards testing students in kindergarten, first, and second grade in one New …

The Sky's The Limit: An Interdisciplinary Curriculum On Sustainable Architecture Within Urban Communities, Sierra Van Ryck Degroot

Graduate Student Independent Studies

As trees continue to fall and buildings rise in our expanding internationally-linked cities, the future of technology, design and the health of the environment rests on instilling the importance of sustainable practices in future generations. In this interdisciplinary curriculum unit designed for grades 3-5 in the New York City metropolitan area, students are studying and then developing their own models of multi-purpose skyscrapers, utilizing sustainable technologies to reduce environmental impact.

Writing In Journals As A Tool For Expressing Ourselves: A 6-8 Week Long Writing Curriculum For A 3rd/4th Grade, Self-Contained, Special Education Classroom., Christine Carosotto

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The following writing curriculum is intended for students aged 8-12 years old in a 12:1, self-contained special education classroom setting. Through journal writing instruction, this curriculum aims to provide support to students struggling with foundational writing skills. These skills include: topic selection, stamina, organization, awareness of audience and sentence clarity. This unit’s theoretical foundation is grounded by the core components of a Writers Workshop model, the belief in developing social and oral language skills as a pre-writing tool and the importance of providing writing opportunities that incorporate choice in both topic and response format in order to increase motivation and …

"See, Two Yellows Make A Rectangle!": Constructing Meaningful, Emergent Learning Moments In A Structured Special Education Program, Lucy Bayer

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This paper explores the relationship between emergent, child-driven learning and the structured curricula of a special education program. Relying on current research and theory as driving forces, the author designed and implemented a series of math lessons with a small group of kindergarten students in a self-contained, special-education setting. The paper begins in narrative form, detailing the author’s journey to her current line of inquiry. Empirical research and educational theory about both emergent, child-driven learning and math instruction are then summarized. The following two chapters chronicle the author’s work with her students. These chapters are presented as both narrative documentation …

21st Century Education: The Importance Of The Humanities In Primary Education In The Age Of Stem, Christine M. Reiter

Senior Theses

Taking into consideration the global shift towards innovation and technological development, the rapid changes in the global economy, and the United States Department of Education’s attempts to find a one-size-fits-all solution for America's education woes, our national focus has shifted towards the STEM subjects—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This shift to STEM-focused education has challenged the role of the Humanities in American education, introducing concerns that the overwhelming emphasis on STEM disciplines has pushed the arts, Humanities and human sciences off to the side or even completely out of the picture in American classrooms. In our everchanging technology-focused world, …

A Retro Development In Education: Evaluating The Feasibility Of Integrating Place-Based Education Into Mississippi Curriculum Standards, Colby K. Mcclain

Honors Theses

This thesis evaluates the feasibility of integrating place-based environmental education activities from Think Green, Take Action: Books and Activities for Kids into the Mississippi Department of Education’s (MDE) Frameworks for Science and Social Studies for K-5. As children develop and experience the world, their ability to understand and interpret the surrounding environments expand; however, Mississippi schools are not focused on experiential environmental education, even though experiencing and understanding the surrounding environment is vital in fostering eagerness to learn. Due to a growing disconnect between humans and the natural world, this thesis examined 37 place- and environment-based activities for children, sixteen …