Early Childhood Education Commons^™

Correlation Between Instructional School Culture And Student Achievement In An Urban District, Wayman Graham

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The Teachers Talent Toolbox needed a tool that could compile usable information on any given learning institution through data collection and analysis and provide usable qualitative and quantitative data that could be used to identify the causes of low achievement and provide necessary interventions within the school to improve student outcomes. To answer this need, the Instructional Culture Index/Insight Survey was developed by the New Teacher Project in 2016 and has been widely used and implemented in many schools and districts. This survey instrument was validated and deemed reliable by the RAND Corporation also in 2016. The purpose of this …

Explanatory Case Study: Transitions Of Highly Mobile Students From Military Families To Public Non-Military Elementary Schools, Courtney Williams

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The purpose of this explanatory case study is to review the supports provided by public elementary schools for highly mobile students from military families. When military families are uprooted and move to new locations, the children are forced to form new social ties as well as adapt to a new curriculum and learning objectives. The research questions that were addressed in the research for this study included: (a) How are issues of military mobility addressed at the study school sites so students are academically and socially successful? (b) What problems are noted by school staff when working with highly mobile …

Applying Critical Thinking Skills For Successful Pilot Projects, Shawna Flaherty

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

Piloting is an approach that can be used when introducing a desired change. It allows for smaller scale trial and leaves room for modification prior to full implementation. When applicable, this approach can be a proactive way to avoiding any potential issues or conflicts relating to the change. As a graduate student in the Critical and Creative Thinking program at UMass Boston, I have explored the concept of pilot projects for three years, planning and implementing, and revising 3 pilot projects. These pilot projects include: Meeting of the Mind’s, a space in which members of the community are invited to …

An Action Research Investigation Into An Early Childhood Digital, Storytelling-Based Solution, Jessica Smith

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The development of literacy skills prior to the classroom has been established as essential for future school and life successes. However, the present achievement gap between lower-socioeconomic neighborhoods and their higher-income counterparts illustrate vast dissimilarities in early childhood provisions for quality reading materials and instructional aides. In an effort to bridge the educational breach, a collaborative, storytelling-based program entitled Kid Forward was introduced to five nationwide families as a means of assistance for early childhood literacy development. Through the use of demographic surveys, interviews completed before and after the program implementation, and exit surveys, the action research study examined early …

What Happens When The Seesaw App Is Used In A Kindergarten Classroom?, Alison Ryan

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

Parent-teacher relationships can make or break a student’s academic career. It is possible that taking advantage of parents’ media-connectedness to form positive relationships may be more effective than more traditional methods like hand-written notes, phone calls, or emails. In this study the researcher sought to understand what happens in a kindergarten classroom when one technology in particular was used facilitate communication: Seesaw (a digital portfolio app used to post pictures and videos of children as well as communicate with parents using its private messaging feature). Data was collected through parent surveys, observations, and interviews of parents, students, and teachers. Analysis …

Academic And Social Effects Of Waldorf Education On Elementary School Students, Christian Zepeda

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

As society becomes more critical of public education, alternative education systems are becoming more popular. The Waldorf education system, based on the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, has increased in popularity and commonality each decade. Currently, 23 Waldorf institutions exist in California. With this increase in popularity, it is important to analyze and examine the effectiveness of this education philosophy. An examination of Waldorf education, through research and interviews of Waldorf teachers and administration, will provide parents and teachers with an understanding of its strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately, Waldorf education provides a positive environment for students, yielding positive effects but this …

Children's Mental Health: Reimagining Teacher Preparation, Karolina Camacho

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Current research sheds light on the importance of the mental health of school-age children and researcher’s efforts continuously point out that there is need for more to be done to support children with mental health needs, in the context of the classroom, in the United States. Particularly focusing on children with internalizing behavior under Emotional Disturbance, this paper will provide reasoning as to why these children have a need for prevention and intervention services, the reality of the lack of general knowledge teachers have on children’s mental health, and the need for elementary school teachers to have children’s mental health …

Learning To Teach: Observing And Reflecting, Nancy Nager

All Faculty and Staff Papers and Presentations

This video series, “Learning to Teach,” provides a platform for professional development in early childhood education. It introduces viewers to compelling early childhood classroom footage accompanied by facilitated discussions about observations and teaching practices. You will get a hands-on look at how beginning teachers learn to closely observe children and engage in reflective conversations about children, materials, the classroom environment and themselves.

Descriptive Inquiry At Bank Street: Building Intellectual Community While Responding To Accreditation, Jessica Charles

All Faculty and Staff Papers and Presentations

Over the 2016-17 academic year, Bank Street Graduate School faculty and staff participated in a school-wide Descriptive Inquiry process to examine their programs and pedagogy. As part of the process, faculty met regularly to share their practices and to strengthen their well-established programs in teacher and leader preparation, museum education, and child life. Dean Cecelia Traugh initiated this process, drawing on her extensive experience implementing Descriptive Inquiry in higher education settings, in order to help faculty reflect on their practice, improve program quality, and build organizational coherence.

Pipeline To Failure: Social Inequality And The False Promises Of American Public Schooling, Adia Wilson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My experience as a New York City public school student was absolutely electrifying, though filled with many trials. While my mother would have preferred to put me in private school, having access to some of the world’s greatest institutions and resources offered unique opportunities and exposures. The performing arts provided me with an outlet to express myself and build skills and confidence. In particular, dance education kept me occupied and disciplined in a large city full of danger. Every so often, I witnessed hostile, or even violent exchanges between students, or students and staff. While some of my schoolmates became …

Empathy Institutionalized: Sociocultural Dialogue As A Strategic Peacebuilding Initiative, Emily Owens

Bridge/Work

A common adage used in psychological exploration tells us that “If you want to know the end, look at the beginning.” While typically employed to emphasize the importance of upbringing and environment on personal outcomes, this phrase can be equally applicable in examining the ways in which society has developed over time to produce our polarized sociopolitical culture of today. This work explores from an integrative psychosocial perspective the potential that exists in working to define a new “end” by shaping a new “beginning,” through going directly to the institutions that comprise our own beginnings— schools. Through a combined research …

The Purpose Of Education: What Should An American 21st Century Education Value?, Krista Shilvock

Empowering Research for Educators

A survey taken by 511 respondents dealt with such issues as past and current educational practice preparation, educational purposes in America, core class subjects, and soft skill teachings. Its results revealed a public opinion believing the primary goal of education as teaching students to adapt to any situation they find themselves in. Other results include a lack of preparation in current practices for life beyond education, although workforce preparation is adequate. Also, soft skills ought to see a curriculum of their own and taught explicitly to students in education instead of implicitly enforced, hoping parents alone taught these skills previously. …

Development Of One’S Teaching Philosophy: The Three “R’S” Of Relationships, Relevancy, And Rigor, Mary Bowne

Empowering Research for Educators

A common practice for educators is to develop a teaching philosophy which helps them become reflective practitioners on various teaching and learning strategies. This narrative will address how one faculty member identified common themes within her online and face-to-face classes that held students accountable, yet eager to come to class and learn the important content and develop the unique traits mentioned. Through the use of various data methods and current literature and research available, the author identified three common themes within her teaching and classroom environment. Those themes are identified as the 3 “R’s”: Relationships, Relevancy, and Rigor.

The Use Of Response To Intervention With English Learners, Anna Burnley

ECTESOL Review

RTIs assist teachers in adjusting instruction to support ELs in acquiring English and content-area knowledge and learning behaviors. The use of RTIs with ELs can supplement support for ELs as an integrated concept of the sheltered instruction (SI) commonly provided for this student population.

Connecting North And South: Engaging Latin American English Learners, Kenyan Intercultural Communications And American Undergraduate Students Through Reciprocal Service Learning, Laureen Fregeau, Ukaiko A. Bitrus-Ojiambo, Suhana Chikatla, William Cornejo

ECTESOL Review

Reciprocal Service Learning through videoconferencing is an efficient tool for connecting native English speakers of various world Englishes and ELs in other nations for the benefit of all. The authors of this study recognize the reciprocal nature of teaching and learning and the social justice of equalizing power structures through the inclusion of participants and researchers from both North and South as members of a project and research team. Through participant observation and document review the authors examine the experiences of educators and learners in the phenomenon of reciprocal service learning through videoconferencing focused on cultural competence and English language …

From The Editor, Laureen Fregeau

ECTESOL Review

No abstract provided.

Employing Word Study With Spanish-Speaking Els, Timothy Rodriquez

ECTESOL Review

Phonics Instruction has had a controversial history. How to teach phonics to Spanish-speaking ELs is also controversial. Understanding the differences between Spanish and English and how phonics instruction occurs in each language would be insightful. Also, knowing how the nature of the two languages affects instruction would be beneficial. Furthermore, exploiting similarities between English and Spanish and examining differences will bolster instruction. This paper will discuss the reasons for word study and how it may be utilized to teach spelling and decoding to Spanish-speaking ELLs.

Context-Focused Grammar Teaching: A Comparison Between English Present Perfect And Past Tenses And Affects On Korean English Learning, Seungheui (Ellie) Lee

ECTESOL Review

Despite massive amounts of time Korean English Learners (KLL) study English grammar, they continue to have problems becoming proficient in verb tenses, especially the present perfect. This study examines this problem through a linguistic comparative analysis of Korean and English present perfect and past tenses. Two possible reasons for KLL difficulty with verb tenses could be mode of instruction and L1 interference.

Not “One China,” Not “One Culture”: Multicultural Exploration Of Differences And Similarities Between Mainland China And Taiwan, Philip J. Ward, Michelle Loo

ECTESOL Review

This study focuses on the outwardly similar cultures of Taiwan and mainland China and the subtle differences within them. The study was conducted as part of the requirements of doctoral program in Instructional Design and Development at a public university in the southeastern United States. Using a qualitative case study approach, the study demonstrates that there are cultural similarities between mainland China and Taiwan, however instructors should also be aware of the differences when developing relationships with students and developing course content. A mini-workshop was developed for the study to help teach instructors about the two cultures. However, the mini-workshop …

The Restaurant Study, Jessica Charles

All Faculty and Staff Papers and Presentations

Bank Street faculty and staff regularly work in partnership with public schools to support teachers and leaders sustain and strengthen their progressive educational practice. At Midtown West, a public elementary school founded in 1992 as a collaboration between parents in New York City’s District 2 and Bank Street faculty, Peggy McNamara has worked as a coach and thought partner with teachers across every grade.

Over the course of developing and teaching one signature Midtown West curriculum unit called The Restaurant, we followed Peggy and the teachers as they made teaching decisions to engage and educate students through a study of …

Scoring Reliability By Early Childhood Educators On A Curriculum Based Assessment, Brigid S. Taylor

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

The purpose of this study was to investigate if early childhood educators could reliably score items using a new scoring system for the Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming System for Infants and Children (AEPS; Bricker, 2002). The participants were university students completing their certification in Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education (IECE) at the University of Kentucky (UK). The six participants completed training on implementing the AEPS and administered the AEPS to measure child outcomes. The results of this study validated the new scoring system for the AEPS by illustrating that the participants could reliably score a curriculum based assessment.

Kids Make Sense... And They Vote: The Importance Of Child Study In Learning To Teach Responsively, Frederick Erickson

Occasional Paper Series

A lecture that discusses the "developmental-interaction" perspective and practice that has become the hallmark of Bank Street. Erickson builds upon the relations of mutual influence among students, teachers, and learning environments, and taking account of the relations between local practice within the small-scale "here and now" interactional ecosystems of immediate learning environments and the workings of culture, language, and society across more distal connections in social space and time.

The Developmental-Interaction Approach To Education: Retrospect And Prospect, Nancy Nager, Edna K. Shapiro

Occasional Paper Series

This paper analyzes the past, present, and future of the developmental-interaction approach to education: human development and the interaction between thought and emotion as well as the interaction between learners and their environment. Shapiro and Nager review the history of the developmental-interaction approach, outlining its essential features and tracing Bank Street College's distinctive role in its evolution. They then reassess key assumptions, address criticisms of developmental theory and its place in education, and suggest possible new directions.

Promoting Student Success: Bilingual Education Best Practices And Research Flaws, Lillian Fassero

Senior Honors Theses

This paper first determines the benefits which bilingual education offers and then compares transitional, dual-language, and heritage language maintenance programs. After exploring the outcomes, contexts, and practical implications of the various bilingual programs, this paper explores the oversight in most bilingual studies, which assess students’ syntax and semantics while neglecting their understanding of pragmatics and discourse structures (Maxwell-Reid, 2011). Incorporating information from recent studies which question traditional understandings of bilingualism and argue that biliteracy requires more than grammatical and vocabulary instruction, this paper proposes modifications in current research strategies and suggests best practices for transitional, dual-language, and heritage maintenance programs.

Adolescent Reading Improvement: A Phenomenology Of High School Students’ Perspectives, Anne Poplin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experience of improvement in reading comprehension of adolescent readers who have made gains greater than what might be predicted based on previous growth in reading comprehension measures. These research questions guided this study: What influences have impacted the lived experiences of these improving readers? What barriers to reading improvement existed for these students? In addition, what school-related reading experiences, if any, hold meaning for these readers? What characteristics are shared among adolescent readers who have experienced better-than-expected growth? Interviews, story chart artifacts created by participants, and observations of students’ process …

The Effectiveness Of High Frequency Word List Instruction On Star Reading Test Scores, Michael Foster

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental study was to test the theory of using high frequency word list (HFWL)-based instruction when teaching beginning reading instruction. This study compared the reading fluency changes of eight classes across three different grades containing 115 students over 5 months as measured by the Standardized Test for the Assessment in Reading (STAR) when intervention students are given identical instruction using different popular HFWLs. One control group received no such intervention. The Fry HFWL was used. The resulting scores were analyzed using an independent-samples t test. The comparisons determined the effectiveness of teaching beginning reading using …

Ensuring Student Success In Full-Day Kindergarten: Purposeful Professional Development And Professional Learning Communities, Amy Houlihan

Dissertations

The change leadership model, developed by Wagner et al. (2008), was utilized to assess the context, culture, conditions and competencies of a large suburban school district during the early stages of districtwide implementation of full-day kindergarten. With overwhelming support from families, teachers and administrators, the change plan revolves around ongoing and purposeful professional development for staff building upon systematic work of Professional Learning Communities in order to provide a high quality full-day kindergarten program across twenty-three kindergarten program sites. When districts and schools focus on purposeful professional development and enhanced practice of Professional Learning Communities programs can work to provide …

Improving Reading Through Fine Motor Skill Development In First Grade, Tyler West-Higgins

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Children who struggle with learning to read in first grade, fall behind, and have difficulty catching up with their peers. Research has shown students who struggle to read in first grade, also struggle to read in later years. The purpose of this study was to determine if an intervention to enhance fine motor skills to a select group of students in one class room increased their reading abilities. This was a mixed methods research study which assessed the quantitative data from the running record assessments, and the qualitative data taken by teacher-aide during assessment process post fine motor intervention. This …

An Evaluation Of Full-Day Kindergarten Programming, Amy Houlihan

Dissertations

The purpose of this program evaluation document is to provide a rationale and structure for implementing full-day kindergarten. The persistence of the achievement gap in the United States requires considerable and deliberate action to narrow and eliminate the gap over time. With the evolving educational landscape and the adoption of the Common Core State Standards, early education, including systematically designed and implemented full-day kindergarten are one way to afford children the opportunity to begin their education on pace to succeed. This program evaluation examines the differences between half-day kindergarten and full-day kindergarten programs including data analysis from the first year …

Kindergarten For Equity: A Policy Advocacy Statement, Amy Houlihan

Dissertations

The urgency to close the achievement gap means it is our moral imperative to provide all children with the opportunities necessary to succeed as early as possible. Knowing the critical timing of a child’s brain development from birth to age five, we cannot afford to wait until a child is six or seven years old to begin developing their academic and social emotional capacity. This policy advocacy document supports a statewide mandate for children to attend kindergarten at age five throughout the state of Illinois. With little need for increased resources to accommodate the mandate, the social, moral and ethical …