Early Childhood Education Commons^™

I Grew Up Indoctrinated, Consuelo Ferschweiler

Whittier Scholars Program

My capstone project is looking at homeschooling as an educational path. I started with researching homeschooling and studies done to show the affects, outcomes, and comparisons of homeschooling with other methods commonly used such as Public or Private schools. I then read a few books and material that fall into the memoir and researched memoir genre, such as Educated, to understand how the voice and gain familiarity of memoir writing and the process of researching into your own life and history.

I have been looking back on my education of growing up homeschooled and writing scenes from those memories, …

Development Of A Sustainable Social Emotional Learning Workshop Series For Kindergarten To Second Grade Teachers, Claire Reyes

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

In this project, I propose a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) workshopseries for kindergarten through second-grade teachers. In the recent decade, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on mental health, SEL programs have gained attention, and many have recognized the need for these programs in the classroom (Katz,2020). Early integration of SEL (e.g., in early childhood and elementary school classrooms) is essential to lifelong social and emotional development and positive outcomes (Mondi et al., 2021). However, SEL may feel difficult for teachers to incorporate in the classroom; teachers may learn about SEL broadly and inconsistently; thus, they feel …

Examining Teachers' Referral And Placement Decisions Of Hispanic Children For Gifted And Talented Programs, Guillermo I. Mendoza

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative survey design study examined whether children’s ethnicity makes a difference in teachers’ referral and placement decisions in gifted and talented (G/T) programs. A total of 524 teachers from all over the United States who have taught or currently teach pre-kindergarten through 5th grade participated. The participants were randomly given one of six vignettes adapted from a previous similar study (Elhoweris et al., 2005). Participants answered whether the child described should be referred and placed into gifted and talented programs. All six vignettes described gifted and talented characteristics; the only differences were the children's ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Data …

Words In Context: A Mixed Methods Description Of An Early Elementary Comprehensive Vocabulary Building Program, Cherrynn Kast Black

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Strong academic vocabulary is necessary for students’ success in school. Recent research has recommended studying integrated approaches for developing vocabulary, which is predictive of the long-term school success of all students. This dialectical concurrent mixed methods case study was designed to define and describe the early elementary vocabulary program of a fifteen-year-old southern Idaho public charter school recognized for high academic achievement of its high school students. In the tradition originally proposed for laboratory schools, this program was developed by innovative teachers with an idea for improving education and takes a classical approach to teaching. This includes an intentional culture …

Engaging Drama: Does Drama Increase Student Engagement In A Second-Grade History Class?, Jasmine Villanueva

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This research investigated how drama integration benefitted students’ academic achievement and their engagement in history. This study integrated drama and history in a second-grade class, by allowing students to create tableaus to present and share information. The study used pre and post assessments, an attitudes survey to measure students’ attitudes towards history before and after integration, and the researcher also recorded student engagement at the beginning and end of drama integration. This study showed significant improvement in student content knowledge through the use of tableaus, and inconclusive results as far as engagement and student attitudes were concerned.

Stories In Motion: Integrating Creative Dance In A Language Arts Classroom, Amira Akam

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

As learning gaps have widened in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increased need for research-based strategies to improve student academic achievement and engagement. This study explored the integration of creative dance as a form of storytelling in a kindergarten language arts classroom. Students were introduced to an element of dance and used it to create short dance phrases in a unit on retelling. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected using pre/post tests and student interviews measuring students’ engagement and enjoyment. Students involved in this study showed significant growth in their ability to orally retell …

Perspectives On Movement In The Classroom And Strategies That Keep Students Engaged, Darley Desormo

Honors College Theses

Within this study, the question of “what are teachers’ rationale for incorporating kinesthetic learning in the elementary classroom '' will be addressed. The purpose of this study is to gain insight from elementary teachers’ perceptions and their rationale on the use of movement-based learning in the classroom. To examine further into this research, interviews were conducted. Participants of the study were elementary classroom teachers. During seven online meetings, the researcher interviewed using consistent guiding questions asking elementary teachers about their implementation and rationale of movement-based learning in their classroom experiences. The researcher also asked questions to gain an understanding of …

Powerful Partnerships: Examining Home-School Engagement In The Virtual Setting, Joshua Scott-Pineda

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

Over the years, establishing, maintaining, and expanding partnerships with families has proven to be a challenging task. Although there have been legislative efforts to improve the situation, they have been ineffective. Researchers have identified two possible causes: inadequate communication, or low parent self-efficacy. Then, a global pandemic upended everything, and schools had to completely shift to remote option, prompting a need to reevaluate engagement strategies altogether. This project aimed to investigate the views of experts, examine the communication strategies implemented by skilled teachers, and propose small modifications that could enhance the bidirectional relationship between schools and families.

Science Club, Danielle Gibson, Krista Andersen

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

Honors After School program for elementary age children to engage with scientific principles. Students performed hands-on experiments to explore various STEM fields. Each weekly lesson consisted of a different concept to be learned or explored by early elementary aged students.

Development Of The Emirati Child Adaptation Scale (Ecas) For Assessing The Behavioral Adaptation Skills Of Children With And Without Disabilities In The Uae., Ousha Almuhairy, Efthymia Efthymiou, Hala Elhoweris, Mahmoud Alshathly, Abdelaziz Sartawi

All Works

Behavioral problems cause limitations in the social skills of children without disabilities and affect the functionality of children with disabilities. The Emirati child adaptation scale (ECAS) was developed in the UAE to provide reliable and valid information on the behavioral adaptation skills in children with and without intellectual disability (ID). The scale’s item pool consists of 651 items that identify behavioral adaptation deficits across the 10 domain–skill areas of communication, pre-academic, listening, social, self-care, self-orientation, motor skills, operational society, life, and health and safety. The scale was administered to 1542 children with disabilities and 920 children without disabilities. The scale …

Subjective Well-Being Of Teachers In K-12 Christian Schools, Julianne Rettig

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

This non-experimental, quantitative study aimed to examine the factors that influence the self-perceived well-being of teachers in K-12 Christian schools. The sample for this study was convenient, non-probable, and purposive and comprised of 81 teachers from one Christian school system in Florida. The measurement tool used in this study is based on Seligman’s (2011) work on well-being. The Workplace PERMAH Profiler is a valid and reliable (α = .94) instrument that measures flourishing in terms of six domains: positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, accomplishment, and health. The internal reliability of study participant responses to survey items associated with the construct …

The Impact Of Supplemental Phonemic Awareness Lessons On Phonological Awareness And Spelling Development Among Kindergarten And First Graders, Crystal Olinger

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

Reading is a developmental process that builds on complex cognitive processes and starts long before children enter school. This present study investigated the impact of supplemental phonemic awareness lessons on phonological awareness and spelling development among kindergarten and first graders. The Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP-2) measured phonological awareness. The Kindergarten Inventory of Developmental Spelling (KIDS) measured spelling development in kindergarten students. The Developmental Spelling Analysis (DSA) measured spelling development in first grade. Participants in the treatment group received 16 weeks of weekly word study instruction and 10-15 minute daily phonemic awareness instruction. A mixed design full factorial ANOVA …

Difficulties Facing Teachers In Teaching Mathematics To Students With Learning Disabilities In Light Of Corona Pandemic And Proposed Solutions From The Teachers' Point Of View, Laial Mohammad Damrah

Journal of the Association of Arab Universities for Research in Higher Education مجلة اتحاد الجامعات العربية للبحوث في التعليم العالي

The study aimed to reveal the difficulties facing teaching students with learning disabilities in Mathematics in light of Corona pandemic and proposed solutions to them from the point of view of their teachers. To achieve this goal, the analytical descriptive approach was used, the study tool (questionnaire) was distributed randomly on a sample of 58 teachers was chosen out of 123 (47% of the study population) from all resource rooms in 5 directorates in Amman (26 male and 97 female teachers) for the academic year 2020/2021 to respond to a questionnaire items. The result showed that the most problems facing …

Elementary School Educators’ Perceptions Of Discipline Policies And The Overrepresentation Of Discipline Outcomes In Urban Settings, William Casey Cooper

Ed.D. Dissertations

Since the formation of schools, schools have developed ways of understanding discipline and ensuring a safe and orderly environment. Governmental personnel began to influence local school policies beginning in 1989, with United States President Ronald Reagan’s War on Drugs campaign. This led to the creation and development of zero-tolerance policies. School districts implemented zero-tolerance policies, which helped lead to the overrepresentation of discipline outcomes (i.e., punishment) among certain demographics. Following the Critical Race Theory theoretical framework, I interviewed 12 participants to determine their perceptions of discipline policies and the overrepresentation of discipline outcomes in urban settings. My participants included elementary …

Great Lakes Great Books: Encourage The Joy Of Reading, Lynette Marten Suckow

Michigan Reading Journal

A sampling of books from the Great Lakes Great Books list for 2022 that includes grade levels from K-12 and addresses the importance of engaging text, as well as artwork that enhances the story.

Why Not Sign? Classrooms As Sites Of D/Deaf And Multilingual Literacy Development, Dawnavyn James, Brianne R. Pitts

Michigan Reading Journal

While often, “bilingual” literacy instruction has overlooked the potential of incorporating ASL in classrooms (U.S.DPE, 2021), this article engages discussions of practice from a Missouri Kindergarten classroom to argue that teachers can improve student literacy outcomes by leveraging d/Deaf and hard of hearing multilingual learning (DML) strategies as a way of (re)imagining students’ multimodal literacy development. By engaging with a variety of strategies learned from DML students, readers may conceptualize DML inclusive classroom practices. Following a review of the literature and discussion, games, instructional strategies, and text recommendations for educators seeking DML inclusive literacy environments are provided.

Mindfulness In Education: Why Every School Should Be Teaching It, Ashley L. Baer

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Were you ever asked to pay attention in school? As an educator have you asked students to pay attention? Compare that to how many times you were taught or taught a student to pay attention. Most likely the answer is never. Mindfulness is explicit attention building and emotional regulation. Learn how and why you should create a mindful breathing culture through short experiential practices, activities, and games including breathing activites, and movement.

Problems Are A Gift- How To Turn Challenging Behaviors In The Classroom Into Opportunities For Growth And Connection, Lindsey Kealey

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Lindsey Kealey discusses practical ways apply a trauma-responsive approach to helping children and adults solve problems in the classroom. When you unwrap problems with students in productive, rather than punitive ways, you will find that problems are not just fires to put out or issues that weight us down. Rather, problems can be a gift to ourselves and the students we teach.

A Call For Digital Citizenship Curriculum In Early Childhood Education, Jenna K. Ladd, Joel J. Traver

Essays in Education

Accessibility of information (factual or fabricated), social interconnectedness, and more of our daily lives being lived in the digital world has created challenges and opportunities for children and families around the world. As a result, there exists an emerging need for families with children aged birth-to-five to receive education and support through standards-based digital citizenship curriculum to navigate living online. Several models of digital citizenship curriculum have been created for the K-12 education to provide education and guidance for teachers, administrators, and parents of older children. Thus, we call for the development and implementation of standards-based digital citizenship curriculum in …

El Mejor Método De Lectoescritura Para Ayuda Adicional En Las Aulas, Yanileth C. Vauclin

World Languages and Cultures

Literacy is important for the student to develop the skills that allow them to see beyond the pronunciation of words and their meaning. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate a better method of teaching literacy to teachers. That way students can improve, learn to speak, read, and write the Spanish language effectively in a simple way.

Additionally, the text explores through the diagnostic evaluation called Basic Phonetic Service in Spanish - Registration, offered by the Santa Maria School District. I evaluated two classrooms with a total of 20 students and determined which groups have been effective in deciding …

Making Meaningful Connections With Steam For Elementary Aged Students In China, Francis Stonier

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

This program included a summer STEAM experience for over 130 Chinese elementary aged children. During the week they constructed and tested an egg drop package, explored the local natural history museum, learned about animal footprints and the habitats they live in, dug up dinosaur fossils, and launched rockets. For many, this was their one of their first formal experiences with STEAM activities. The experiences provided a positive introduction or continued support for STEAM at the primary level.

Challenge-Based Learning & Steam Curriculum, Diana Lockwood

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

STEAM education is being integrated into elementary schools as a way to engage more students in creativity, hands-on learning, and problem-based learning also referred to as Challenge-Based-Learning (CBL). This article focuses on elementary educators’ curriculum design for STEAM and presenting students with open-ended questions phrased as a challenge as a way to raise student interest and achievement (DeJarnette, 2018; Hunter-Doniger, 2018). When students received challenges to solve, they felt more open to sharing their ideas since there was more than one potential right answer (DeJarnette, 2018; Drake, 2012). When implementing CBL, teachers act as facilitators using a constructivist approach as …

知源育利用のガイド, Yoshihiko Ariizumi

Learning, Teaching, & Researching Optimization

知源育を応用するための様々な角度からのヒントを学ぶことができるガイドです。実勢んをしながら、時々このガイドを参照することで、より高いレベルでの実践が可能になるでしょう。

Introduction To A Universal Performance Improvement Method (Chigen-Iku), Yoshihiko Ariizumi

Learning, Teaching, & Researching Optimization

This brief article introduces a universal performance improvement method called Chigen-iku, which has been developed carefully and extensively over more than 25 years through more than 100 individual and group projects based on the principles that were selected through my doctorial study in the field of Instructional Psychology and Technology.

Unit #7: Steam Resources, Lindsey Herlehy, Cassandra Armstrong

Little STEAMers: Early Learning Program

No abstract provided.

Exploring Professional Dispositions With Preservice Teachers Assignment Description, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

The dispositions needed to be an educator is vast. Some dispositions come naturally to teacher candidates and others are nurtured by teacher education programs. According to the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (2008), professional dispositions expected of teacher candidates include “the ideal of fairness and the belief that all students can learn (p. 22). This assignment provides teacher candidates an opportunity to explore, analyze, and discuss various professional dispositions needed by educators using six examples of children’s literature, all of which by the author, Patricia Polacco.

The Journey Box: Promoting Language Development While Exploring One’S Identity, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

A Journey Box allows students to explore and share their family’s historical narrative using primary sources like interviews and artifacts. Students explore different facets of their own family’s history and journey to America while engaging in a larger shared experience among classmates to understand different perspectives. The Journey Box develops oral and written language skills while supporting individual’s exploration of their culture and identity.

Building A Mathematics Intervention Program: One District’S Journey, Karise Mace, Karen Austin, Jodi Kirstein

Education Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

Preservice Elementary Teachers Conceptions And Self-Efficacy For Integrated Stem, Deepika Menon, Deef A. A. Shorman, Derek Cox, Amanda Thomas

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Educational reform efforts have emphasized preparing highly competent and confident preservice teachers to deliver effective K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) instruction. Self-efficacy is a key variable that influences motivation and performance, and therefore it is necessary to support the development of preservice teachers’ integrated STEM teaching self-efficacy. This mixed-methods study investigates how preservice elementary teachers’ integrated STEM teaching self-efficacy is shaped during their participation in a newly redesigned STEM semester consisting of three concurrent methods courses (science and engineering, mathematics, and technology methods courses). The quantitative data sources included the Self-efficacy for Teaching Integrated STEM instrument administered as …

Elementary Teachers’ Experiences And Responses To Student Engagement While Teaching Eureka Math Virtually During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jamika D. Hill

Theses and Dissertations

The Covid-19 Pandemic shifted the structure of public education by forcing public schools in Georgia and across the world to shift from a traditional, face-to-face model to a virtual model. This study was conducted to explore elementary teachers’ experiences and responses to issues with student engagement in their virtual Eureka Math classrooms during the Covid-19 Pandemic. A qualitative research design was used to conduct a hermeneutic, phenomenological study that included a document analysis, classroom observations, and semi-structured interviews using six elementary school teachers as participants. The resulting data was coded and triangulated using the thematic analysis of overarching themes, which …