Early Childhood Education Commons^™

Recast The Class, Keira O. Grant

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

ABSTRACT OF PROJECT

Recast the Class

This project outlines how to incorporate education into the classroom. Through the personal reflection of the author’s formal academic and professional experiences, it is determined that creativity is an integral part of education. In this inward reflection, the need to incorporate creativity into the classroom is presented. The project also highlights the significance of speaking with students, parents, and educators to gain insight into their perspectives regarding the classroom. Also highlighted in this project are classroom design, curriculum design, and ways to teach in differentiated classrooms. The classroom is a microcosm of the school …

K-12 Economically Disadvantaged Students, Poverty, And Education: Ecological Narratives Of Successful Raised-In-Poverty, Texas Educators, Rebecca N. Morris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research study aimed to understand how successful Texas educators who grew up in poverty understood and improved the educational experience of economically disadvantaged students. This study utilized a structural ecological theory and three theories of social relationships (Social Identity, Standpoint, and Cultural Capital). This phenomenological and qualitative study used a cross-sectional, descriptive, online case study design rooted in narrative nonfiction. Virtual interviews with six successful Texas educators that grew up in poverty were conducted. A narrative method of analysis was utilized to generate codes then organize them into themes, and to construct and compare the narrative findings. The results …

An Investigation Of The Effects Of Self-Efficacy On Stem Implementation, Caroline Buechel

Curriculum and Instruction Undergraduate Honors Theses

In order to equip students with the 21^st Century skills necessary for today’s society, STEM education must be properly implemented in school curricula (Lamb, Akmal, & Petrie, 2015). To do so, it is important for teachers to possess both proficient knowledge of the subject matter and confidence towards the implementation of STEM. A person’s beliefs about their ability is known as their self-efficacy (Bandura 1997). Related to education, Bandura notes that this self-efficacy affects a teacher’s views on their ability to handle tasks, obligations, and challenges related to a challenge (1997). Additionally, numerous studies indicate that this self-efficacy in …

Let Them Be Little: Teacher Perspectives On Developmental Play In Kindergarten Classrooms, Amy Michelle Towne

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Kindergarten is a German term meaning children's garden. In 1837, Fredrich Froebel founded kindergarten and stated, "Children are like tiny flowers; they are varied and need care, but each is beautiful alone and glorious when seen in the community of peers." Froebel believed that children needed to be nurtured and tended to like flowers in a garden. Kindergarten classes, at this time, encouraged children to develop and blossom freely through play under the guidance, not direct instruction, of the teacher. Through the years, kindergarten has changed drastically. Recent legislation has transformed the kindergarten curriculum even more.

Currently, many kindergarten teachers …

The Influence Of An Early Childhood Endorsement Program On Early Childhood Leadership Competencies, Kanyon Chism

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The call to improve high-quality educational opportunities for children ages birth – eight has received increased attention and federal and local funding opportunities have expanded to provide additional early childhood classrooms and to implement family engagement practices. Unfortunately, systems of support for principals aimed at increasing knowledge and skills necessary to lead an aligned Preschool – third-grade system within an elementary school remain relatively sparse. The purpose of this study is to examine the alignment between an early childhood endorsement program and early childhood leadership competencies.

This study will examine the perceptions of school leaders participating in an early childhood …

Army Child And Youth Services Early Childhood Educators: A Mixed-Methods Assessment Of The Association Between Workplace Wellbeing And Turnover, Tamara Nuttall

Doctorate in Education

The Department of Defense operates the largest employer-sponsored childcare system in the United States. Army Child and Youth Services is the largest component of the military childcare system, employing over 5,400 early childhood educators who care for and teach soldier and Department of Defense Civilian children aged six weeks to five years old in child development center settings. Early childhood educators’ workplace wellbeing and turnover has long been the focus of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers alike. Despite extensive research examining these issues in the civilian childcare context, military-provided early education has heretofore been absent from the research literature. This globally …

Compassion Fatigue Among Help Me Grow Care Coordinators: A Case Study, Alexandra Goldberg

All Theses And Dissertations

The purpose of this exploratory sequential mixed methods case study was to explore the perceptions of the prevalence and impact of compassion fatigue among Help Me Grow (HMG) care coordinators throughout the United States. Guided by the compassion fatigue and professional quality of life theories as the conceptual framework, the prevalence of compassion fatigue was explored quantitatively through the Professional Quality of Life questionnaire (ProQOL) and the impact of compassion fatigue was explored qualitatively through semi-structured, open-ended interviews. The ProQOL questionnaire results indicated that no participants were experiencing compassion fatigue. Seven key themes emerged from the qualitative interviews, including (a) …

Kindergarten Entry Assessment Practices In Pennsylvania, Anne Katona Linn Ed.D.

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, there is significant variation in kindergarten programs and the entry assessment systems used in school districts. There are no reliable data on the kindergarten entry assessment (KEA) systems used in public kindergarten programs across the Commonwealth. It is well-established that comprehensive KEAs should be part of a broader preschool through third grade (P-3) continuum of early childhood education to assess whole-child skills, include families and community partners, be culturally and linguistically responsive, and developmentally appropriate. This study aimed to understand the KEA practices of kindergarten teachers in Pennsylvania. An online survey was distributed to kindergarten …

A Relationship Built To Impact Instruction: Developing And Sustaining Productive Partnerships Between Mathematics Specialists And Principals, Nathan D. Potter, Hannah Adera Rooney, Melody Locher, Debra Kinsey

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

How does the mathematics specialist provide a profound and lasting impact on instruction? We believe that a productive partnership between the principal and specialist, which we will call the principal-specialist relationship, is at the crux of the matter. When the principal-specialist relationship is built upon a foundation of a shared vision, clear roles, communication, and trust, both the teachers and students in the school benefit. We will explore the impact of the principal-specialist relationship on teacher success during the era of distance learning as necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to explore how these ideas come alive in the …

Parent Perceptions Of Quality Early Childhood Education Programs, Lichelle Jones-Wilkins

Doctor of Education Dissertations

Early childhood education (ECE) programs play an important role in a child’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. ECE programs strive to prepare the students for kindergarten. The importance and value of ECE programs have increasingly become more important to state and federal officials. As a result, these officials have made significant efforts to make ECE programs more accessible. When it comes to selecting educational programs for their children, parents are frequently the primary decision makers. Rather than parental choice, studies usually focus on stakeholder perspectives on quality care. The goal of this 3-phase study was to better understand the factors …

Raw And Pure Education In The Society, Iwasan D. Kejawa

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

What does education mean to individuals in the world today? Education is a way one can attain or improve his or her ability to lead and survive in the society of ours. Without educational training of the mind, it may be impossible to realize the importance of adaptability of living in the environment. Without education, It may also be difficult to embellish the use of both the mental and physical attributes possessed by individual beings.

What really is education? Education is the training of the mind to perform desire functions or to perpetuate the modality of obtaining an end or …

The Lived Experience Of Psychological Occupational Stress In Early Childhood Teacher Leaders, Brooke Fletcher, Debora Basler Wisneski

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

The existence of occupational and specifically psychological occupational stress of early childhood education (ECE) professionals is well established. However, little qualitative research has been published describing the lived experience of psychological occupational stress in this setting. The aim of this study was to provide a deeper understanding of ECE professionals’ stress to better support their occupational health. This was accomplished through a secondary phenomenological analysis of interviews with ECE teachers (n=4) collected by the primary author for a larger study of professional development in ECE leadership. The researchers found that the essential description of psychological occupational stress for these ECE …

A Framework For All: Building Capacity For Service Delivery In Catholic Schools, Michael Faggella-Luby, Christie Bonfiglio

Journal of Catholic Education

The challenge to include students with disabilities in Catholic schools requires a comprehensive system of service delivery to meet student need and avoid pathologizing individuals as problems. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), a framework for organizing resources, delivering services, and measuring success that directly addresses the mission of Catholic Schools to truly serve all students. MTSS is a research-based and systematic service delivery model that provides tiered supports based on individual learner need. MTSS is defined and contextualized to address both academic and behavioral supports for all students. A …

Family Engagement During Covid-19, Mark Nagasawa

Straus Institute for Thriving Children & Families

This is an infographic summarizing findings from a survey conducted in May 2020 (n=3355) about how the COVID-19 was affecting early childhood educators in New York. Unsurprisingly, the survey responses reflected respondents' multimodal creativity and professional commitment to connecting with children's families. Responses also suggested some underlying tensions, such as school-centric notions of family engagement (i.e., more academically focused) vs. family-centric perspectives (i.e., offering emotional and material support to families). Ultimately the survey's contribution lies in shedding some light on important, difficult-to-resolve issues that must be debated as the world moves towards "post" pandemic life (e.g., services, supports, and accessibility …

School Choice And Hope Interrupted: Covid-19 And The Case Of Pre-K Programs Housed In Catholic Schools, Stephen Kotok, Catherine Dimartino, Ceceilia Parnther, Mary Ellen Freeley

COVID-19 and Catholic Schools

Our essay examines the challenges and opportunities for the New York City Universal Pre-K program in Catholic Schools. We review the impact of the program before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. These Pre-K programs have brought much needed revenue for Catholic Schools and provide a pipeline for prospective Catholic K-12 school students. Specifically, we discuss the school choice context in New York City with attention to the Catholic school sector and how Universal Pre-K fits into it. We then make recommendations on how the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn can utilize their resources, maintain enrollment, and …

School Choice And Hope Interrupted: Covid-19 And The Case Of Pre-K Programs Housed In Catholic Schools, Stephen Kotok, Catherine Dimartino, Ceceilia Parnther, Mary Ellen Freeley

Journal of Catholic Education

Our essay examines the challenges and opportunities for the New York City Universal Pre-K program in Catholic Schools. We review the impact of the program before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. These Pre-K programs have brought much needed revenue for Catholic Schools and provide a pipeline for prospective Catholic K-12 school students. Specifically, we discuss the school choice context in New York City with attention to the Catholic school sector and how Universal Pre-K fits into it. We then make recommendations on how the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn can utilize their resources, maintain enrollment, and …

The Relationship Among Children Born With A Congenital Heart Defect, Effects Of General Anesthesia, And Special Academic Needs, Lorilynn Bowie

Dissertations

Abstract

I initiated this study due to experience in the public education system in one state in the United States. I noted a lack of understanding among educators on how to meet the educational needs of children born with a congenital heart defect (CHD) who had undergone general anesthesia related to their CHD. A lack of communication between the medical sector and the educational world led to extensive delays in children receiving the educational support they needed to be successful academically. There were two primary exploratory questions that drove my study: 1.) Is there a relationship between children born with …

Who Will Care For The Early Care And Education Workforce? Covid-19 And The Need To Support Early Childhood Educators’ Emotional Well-Being, Mark Nagasawa, Kate Tarrant

Straus Institute for Thriving Children & Families

This brief report describes issues and opportunities related to early childhood educators' emotional well-being that emerged from a survey exploring how the COVID-19 was affecting early educators across New York City and New York State (n=3355). Among our key findings were: (1) that mental health support was the most frequently identified need (n=910); (2) professional mental health was the least reported approach to coping (n=216); and (3) how those teaching and caring remotely were approximately one-and-a- half times more likely to rate their emotional well-being as lower than those whose sites were closed (CI 95% 1.157, 1.896). We argue, given …

Appropriate Risk With Two And Three Year Olds, Heather Bruno

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The focus of this school improvement plan was to explore existing research and data on the benefits and concerns present when allowing young children to play with toys and natural items in the outdoor environment that expose them to more risk. Based on that information, a plan was made to thoughtfully add some appropriate risky play elements to the outdoor playground at the Iowa State Child Development Laboratory School over the duration of one school year. By adding these elements, opportunities for growth of large motor skills and overall learning and development may occur. To assess growth, two assessment tools …

Investigating Leadership Styles Of Childcare Directors, Michelle P. Grantham-Caston

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The aim of this study was to contribute to the literature on childcare director’s leadership styles and director’s self-perception. For leaders in childcare to be effective they must possess skills, characteristics, and traits of effective leadership which have been identified in the seminal literature of Bass (1995) and Burns (1979). This quantitative study examined early childhood leaders self-identification with the leadership styles in The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) (Bass & Avolio, 1995) as well as other demographic variables which could contribute to early childhood leaders’ self-perception of leadership styles. This study was to break apart the three overarching leadership styles …

New York Early Care And Education Survey: Understanding The Impact Of Covid-19 On New York Early Childhood System, Kate Tarrant, Mark Nagasawa

Straus Institute for Thriving Children & Families

This is the first in a series of reports based upon a survey conducted with 3355 early childhood educators across New York City and New York State, which sought to understand how they were faring during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic (May 2020). Among the key findings were: (1) at that time the emotional stress of the pandemic was affecting respondents more than health and financial stressors; (2) Educators’ need for mental health supports exceed other areas of support requested; (3) approximately 70% were engaged in remote instruction in New York City and half were providing remote instruction …

The Primary Dilemma: Determining And Overcoming Barriers To A Focus On Prekindergarten Through Grade 3, Sarah Turner Lukas, Sarah Turner Lukas

Dissertations

In 2017, reporters of national data in regard to reading ability among American, fourth grade students indicated low proficiency and achievement gaps. These results were also consistent within the state and district under study. There is a need to increase the focus on prekindergarten and primary grade education taking place prior to the grades in which federally mandated, accountability assessments for student learning take place. The purpose of this study is to determine the potential barriers to a paradigm shift at the state and district levels from a focus on state-assessed grade levels to prekindergarten and primary grade levels. The …

The Effectiveness Of The Implementation Of Social And Emotional Learning Programs Program Evaluation, Cynthia Treadwell

Dissertations

Students today are faced with more challenges due to the nature of the society in which they are growing up. Children are experiencing more depression, anxiety, fear, and hopelessness—which impacts their ability to be successful academically. Social and emotional learning programs have proven to positively provide students with the necessary social and emotional skills. This study found that implementation of programming can have a direct impact on students’ social and emotional skills, as well as their academic success, when it is effectively implemented and adults have a strong awareness of their own social and emotional competency level. This must be …

Beginning Reading: A Comparative Study Of Beginning Reading Phonics Programs, Michelle Lee Beishline

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

There is a gap in our understanding of effective early reading instructional approaches, particularly regarding identifying which specific core systematic phonics reading programs provide longer-lasting impact on literacy achievement. The purpose of this causal comparative study was to examine the effects of two distinct pre-kindergarten phonics programs, a linguistic phonics program and a basal phonics program, on short and long-term literacy outcomes. The overarching question addressed in this study was whether the type of literacy instruction in pre-kindergarten predicts outcomes in kindergarten and grade 3 and to what extent, if any, these relationships are moderated by demographic variables. More specifically, …

Pelaksanaan Kurikulum Standard Prasekolah Kebangsaan Di Terengganu, Abd. Ghani Rosmah

Student Works (2020-2029)

Kajian ini bertujuan meneroka pelaksanaan Kurikulum Standard Prasekolah Kebangsaan (KSPK) oleh guru prasekolah di Terengganu. Fokus kajian adalah untuk mengkaji proses sebenar yang berlaku dalam amalan pengajaran dalam pembelajaran di kelas prasekolah melibatkan fasa-fasa perancangan, penyampaian dan pentaksiran. Kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif untuk memahami fenomena yang dikaji secara mendalam melibatkan empat orang peserta kajian terdiri daripada guru prasekolah yang mengajar di negeri Terengganu. Mereka dipilih secara bertujuan berdasarkan latar belakang pendidikan, latihan dan pengalaman mengajar. Data dikumpul dan di analisis melalui kaedah pemerhatian, temu bual dan analisis dokumen berkaitan terhadap pengajaran dalam pembelajaran guru tersebut selama enam bulan, kaedah …

Empowering Teacher Teams To Expand Student Ownership, Paul Martuccio, Paul J. Bloomberg Dr.

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

The notion of empowerment is at the core of The Public School 13 learning culture. Empowerment is about creating conditions for strengthening efficacy school wide – for students, for teachers, for teams – for the COLLECTIVE! Learn how The Public School 13 cultivates teacher leadership through collaborative inquiry with a laser-like focus on expanding student ownership and agency.

Rising Up: Kids Who Own Their Learning And Behaviors, And The Supports Which Made It Happen, Brian Keefer

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

A success story connecting Head and Home will be explored focusing on Hampton Elementary School’s strategic integration of STEAM Focused Project Based Learning, Authentic Learning, Student Goal Setting and Reflection, Social and Emotional Learning, and Increased Parental Engagement. Participants will leave with applicable ideas and strategies to grow student and parental engagement promoting increased academic outcomes in their own setting.

Origins Of Self-Compassion: The Impact Of The Early Caregiving Environment, Nicoleta Dragan

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of early attachment on self-compassion in early adulthood utilizing a causal model to assess the mediating effects of emotional regulation and shame (Figure 1). Participants were 133 undergraduate students (143 females and 90 males) between 18 and 28 years old (M = 22.7 yrs.) from a Southern California university. Structural equation modeling (SEM) using EQS (version 6.1) was used to analyze the data. Results showed an indirect effect of early attachment on self-compassion through emotional regulation and shame; a direct, moderate effect of early attachment on emotional regulation and …

Assessment Of Inclusive Practices In Head Start Preschool Classrooms: Access, Participation, And Supports, Ifthika "Shine" Nissar

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to assess inclusive practices in Head Start preschool classrooms. In 1972, Public Law PL 94-242 mandated Head Start enrollment to include 10% of students with disabilities (Allen & Cowdery, 2009). Research on assessment of inclusive practices within Head Start preschool classrooms is limited (Gallagher & Lambert, 2006; Muccio, 2012).

This study implemented a quantitative, descriptive design approach. Correlational analysis was conducted to explore answers to the research questions according to access, participation, and supports constructs (DEC/NAEYC, 2009). An Inclusion Crosswalk model was introduced. Data revealed that the underlying factor structure of the …

Identity Development Within Adolescents And How Educators And Parents Can Positively Affect This Development, Charlotte Heim, Ryan Brudelie, Paige Block

Empowering Research for Educators

No abstract provided.