Early Childhood Education Commons^™

The Benefits Of Sign Language Integration For The Hearing Classroom, Taylor Laporta

Undergraduate Honors College Theses 2016-

Sign language, unlike spoken languages, relies on the use of different parameters, such as handshapes, movements, and facial expressions, to communicate. American Sign language has a rich history and was developed to create an accessible language for individuals regardless of hearing status, as well as an effective education for d/Deaf individuals. Elements of Deaf education when implemented in hearing curriculums could provide benefits for hearing students. Deaf curriculums are created to adapt to the challenges that Deaf students face, who in many ways face greater challenges than hearing students. Deaf curriculums are designed to compensate for these challenges and are …

The Impact Of Unexpected Chaos On The Development Of A Child With Cognitive, Social, And Emotional Delays: A Case Study, Sarah Brown

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the impact of environmental, educational, and household chaos on the development of an atypically developing child. The study evaluates the contribution and change of parental stress during the COVID-19 pandemic and school closures. Following Case Study methodology, this is an in-depth evaluation of one mother and child's experience, including data analysis of the child's social, emotional, and cognitive development before and after chaos. The results of this case study identified the development of a child before and after chaotic events occurred. Parental stress was also identified as a contributing factor in the …

In-Service And Pre-Service Teachers' Implicit Attitudes And Self-Efficacy Beliefs Toward Teaching Racial Minority Students, Tiffany S. Tan

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The racial dynamic between teachers and students in the United States is increasing. The population of racial minority students continues to grow while the teacher population stays predominantly White. Equity and inclusion, often the foreground in an educational setting, are now being undervalued when needed the most. This study examined and compared pre-service and in-service teachers' implicit attitudes toward racial minority students while also looking at their self-efficacy beliefs in teaching diverse classrooms. Participants included nine pre-service teachers from a four-year university and nine PreK-3 in-service teachers. All participants were from the Southeastern part of the United States. To test …

Perfecting The Craft Of Teaching, Stephanie Nunez

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This ethnographic narrative follows my journey as a fifth grade teacher in the greater Los Angeles area. The purpose of this ethnography is to follow the development of my journey as a first-year teacher. In this ethnography, I explore my positionality and the levels of community, school, and classroom as ways to inform and improve my teaching practices as a social-justice educator. I begin this four part narrative by discussing my positionality and how it relates to my desires of becoming a teacher. Through this narrative, I was then able to conduct three case studies of students with different identities …

Improving Well-Being In Preschool: The Role Of Autonomy In Transitions, Catherine Weiss

Scripps Senior Theses

ABSTRACT

The following proposed study aims to examine self-determination theory (SDT) in preschool transitions. Transitions are defined as the collective movement from one physical space to another. SDT states that autonomy is one of three basic psychological needs for well-being. The impacts of autonomy on well-being will be assessed on 170 preschool children aged 2-6 (M=4yro) randomly sampled from two schools in the LA area. Research indicates that transitions are challenging due to improper teacher preparation and the common presence of behavioral challenges in preschool children. Additionally, integrating choice into education has been shown to improve well-being and …

Incorporating Environmental Arrangement Strategies Into Classroom Activities, Brandy M. Denton

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

Individuals with extensive support needs, including those who have autism spectrum disorder and are classified as level 3 in the area of social communication, are more likely than same-age peers to display delays in age-appropriate social communication and engagement in activities. To address these issues, special education teachers, in collaboration with related-service providers, should create social communication and engagement objectives. Once objectives are identified, teachers can plan for and implement environmental arrangement (EA) strategies to promote these behaviors in a natural context. EA strategies are a long-standing approach to creating a communication-rich environment and can be used alone or paired …

Alternative Thesis Project For Spring 2020 Semester, Elaine Murner

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

During the Spring 2020 semester, students within the special education program were conducting applied thesis projects within typical contexts as part of their fulfillment of the requirements of a master’s degree program. Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), public schools and related facilities closed with no plans to reopen within the time frame to allow for graduation for students in the last semester of their graduate program. Students were allowed to complete an alternative thesis assignment in the form of responding to writing prompts followed by an oral defense of the written products, along with questions related to their …

Reframing Professional Learning To Analyze Teacher Practice And Promote System-Wide Change, Jennifer Smerecky

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

The present study examined teachers’ perceptions of targeted professional learning experiences offered within their educational agency. This study focused on teachers' perceptions of the planning, delivery, and follow-up support from teacher professional learning sessions. The teacher participants shared their perceptions of professional learning, implementation of new strategies, barriers to implementation, and support needed from their administration in order to grow as educators. This focus of this study aims to reframe professional learning by forming cooperation between administrators and teachers within education organizations to reform professional learning opportunities. This study advocates for further development in the collaboration of a system-wide change …

Preventing Teen Relationship Abuse And Sexual Assault Through Bystander Training: Intervention Outcomes For School Personnel, Katie M. Edwards, Stephanie N. Sessarego, Kimberly J. Mitchell, Hong Chang, Emily A. Waterman, Victoria L. Banyard

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The purpose of the current study was to examine the impact of exposure to Bringing in the Bystander—High School Curriculum (BITB-HSC) on school personnel, which included a seven session classroom curriculum for ninth through twelfth graders (student curriculum), a bystander training workshop for school personnel (school personnel workshop), and reading materials (handout). We examined how exposure to these various BITB-HSC intervention components was associated with school personnel’s knowledge and bystander efficacy, intentions, and barriers specific to student relationship abuse (RA) and sexual assault (SA). Participants were 488 school personnel from 12 high schools in upper New England who completed the …

Growth Mindset And Agency In The Preschool Classroom, Isaac Rowan Coppock

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Mindsets, or how we as individuals characterize intelligence and our ability to attain it, are deeply connected to motivation. Those who employ a fixed mindset view intelligence as set and effort as fruitless. Conversely, those who utilize a growth mindset have healthy attitudes about challenges and view effort as a necessary part of learning. For educators working with children, finding ways to encourage growth over fixed mindsets is incredibly indicative of the future academic success individual children might experience. This study explores the foundations of mindset attainment through a teacher’s ability to affect individual preschool-aged (three to five years) children’s …

Teacher Perception Of Inquiry-Based Teaching In Mathematics In Early Childhood, Nadim Farooqi

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

Inquiry-based instruction has been pivotal in transforming classrooms into engaging student-centered learning environments. Utilizing inquiry-based instruction in mathematics in early childhood can help build a strong foundation in mathematics. This qualitative study examined the perceptions of teachers and administrators on inquiry-based instruction in early childhood mathematics. This study was guided by three research questions. This study took place at two public schools in NYC. Data was collected through a preinterview survey and interviews. The participants included nine teachers and three administrators. During the analysis process five themes were revealed: professional development, planning and preparation, student engagement, building foundational skills, and …

Correcting The Lack Of Representation And Support For Lgbtq Students In School, Colleen O'Neill

West Chester University Master’s Theses

While some progress has been made toward the inclusion of previously excluded historically marginalized communities from school curricula, there remains a notable absence of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual+ (LGBTQIA+) community. Specifically, the LGBTQIA+ community is considered controversial to address in schools because anything outside of the heterosexual, cisgender norm conflicts with some people’s religious and political beliefs. Though school administrators may insist that the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ content in schools is in violation of public schools’ duty to remain neutral, the purposeful omission of such is a political act in itself.

This program will emphasize the …

Lessons From The Prekindergarten Movement, Clare Huntington

Faculty Scholarship

I am deeply grateful for the ambition of Nancy Dowd’s book, Reimagining Equality. Professor Dowd offers a powerful and essential vision for addressing the entrenched inequalities that pervade our society. And she is unapologetic about the breadth and depth of change needed to achieve this vision. I do not want to distract from her inspiring call for a New Deal for Children by introducing questions about political feasibility, but thinking about what is possible in the here and now is a useful place to begin the conversation about systemic change.

So, what is possible in this era of Trump? …

Creating Dynamic Spaces: Exploring Student-Empowered Self-Expression Through Art, Meghan E. Charest

Honors Theses

Research suggests that students living in rural areas may be more likely to face adversity and stress due to intersecting challenges present in their communities including poverty, substance abuse, addiction, poor health, reduced economic opportunity, and geographic isolation. I conducted an engaged scholarship project in partnership with students and staff at JES to explore ways that open-ended art activities that provide students with self-directed creative spaces can cultivate a student-centered environment built around strong relationships. This type of environment can mitigate the negative impacts of adverse childhood experiences potentially affecting rural Maine students and improve a culture of emotional wellness …

School-Based Speech-Language Pathologist Collaborative Practice: A Literature Review, Kaija R. Elenko

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Background: School-based speech language pathologists (SLPs) are increasing collaborative engagement with educators and other professionals in school settings. Collaborative practice in the general education classroom increased student’s awareness of literacy concepts. The push-in model of service delivery reached students with varied levels of literacy understanding. There is insufficient empirical evidence regarding school-based interprofessional practice (IPP) available to clinicians. Systemic reviews provide a model for educators and SLPs to follow; many professionals hesitate to engage in IPP because there is a deficiency in evidence of success.

Aims: Investigation of the necessary components for successful IPP and the impacts of collaboration on …

The Great Turning: A Call For Systems-Thinkers, Gabriella M. Demarce

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

David Orr, in an article on ecological intelligence reminds us that the modern world was shaped by people who did not understand that our social and economic systems could not coexist with the rest of the biological or natural systems on Earth (Orr, 1994). My research is rooted in Orr’s argument and discovering ways to shift this degrading paradigm. With my belief in the power of education in empowering youth and my background in environmental and climate change studies, I see a future in great need of people who holistically understand the functions of all types of systems and can …

Examination Of Aig Teachers’ Cogat Test Preparation Practices In One North Carolina School District, Charlton Kurt Hiatt

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This mixed methods study focused on gifted education screening practices in North Carolina. Specific focus was on the practice of universal screenings using the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) and test preparation measures conducted by one school district. The study collected and analyzed data from regular elementary education and elementary AIG teachers regarding test preparation lessons and materials. The study then narrowed to interview participants to further examine the lessons. This study found that both sets of teachers agreed that test preparation for students was necessary to increase equity and address the persistence of underrepresented subgroups identified as AIG in LEA-1. …

My Life Long Dream: My Teaching And Educational Journey, Karla Torres Hernandez

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This ethnography follows my journey teaching kindergarten in the Ontario/Montclair neighborhood in San Bernardino. Its purpose is to understand the macro and micro levels of the community to inform my teaching practices and support my students and families. On a micro-level, I conducted case studies on three specific students. Data analysis of in-home interviews, personal interactions, and assessments allowed me to create action plans to best support these students’ academic, social, and emotional needs. On a macro level, I studied my students’ environments: community, school, and classroom. By analyzing whole class and individual student data and reflecting on my own …

ผลการจัดการเรียนการสอนภาษาไทยโดยใช้กลยุทธ์การเขียนเชิงโต้ตอบและแนวสมดุลภาษาที่มีต่อความสามารถในการเขียนของนักเรียนชั้นประถมศึกษาปีที่ 1, สิโรดมภ์ จุ้ยเปี่ยม

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

การวิจัยกึ่งทดลองครั้งนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อ 1) ศึกษาผลการจัดการเรียนการสอนภาษาไทยโดยใช้กลยุทธ์การเขียนเชิงโต้ตอบและแนวสมดุลภาษาที่มีต่อความสามารถในการเขียนของนักเรียนชั้นประถมศึกษาปีที่ 1 และ 2) เปรียบเทียบค่าเฉลี่ยคะแนนความสามารถในการเขียนของกลุ่มทดลองที่ได้รับการจัดการเรียนการสอนภาษาไทยโดยใช้กลยุทธ์การเขียนเชิงโต้ตอบและแนวสมดุลภาษากับค่าเฉลี่ยคะแนนของกลุ่มควบคุมที่ได้รับการจัดการเรียนการสอนภาษาไทยแบบปกติ ตัวอย่างคือ นักเรียนชั้นประถมศึกษาปีที่ 1 ในภาคการศึกษาที่ 2 ปีการศึกษา 2563 โรงเรียนวัดธาตุทอง สังกัดสำนักการศึกษากรุงเทพมหานคร จำนวน 50 คน โดยห้อง 1/1 จำนวน 25 คน เป็นกลุ่มทดลอง ที่จัดการเรียนการสอนภาษาไทยโดยใช้กลยุทธ์การเขียนเชิงโต้ตอบและแนวสมดุลภาษา และห้อง 1/2 จำนวน 25 คน เป็นกลุ่มควบคุม ที่จัดการเรียนการสอนภาษาไทยแบบปกติ ระยะเวลาทดลอง 10 สัปดาห์ เครื่องมือที่ใช้ในการวิจัยคือ แบบทดสอบความสามารถในการเขียน วิเคราะห์ข้อมูลโดยค่าเฉลี่ย ส่วนเบี่ยงเบนมาตรฐาน และค่าที ผลการวิจัยพบว่า 1) หลังการทดลอง ค่าเฉลี่ยคะแนนความสามารถในการเขียนของกลุ่มทดลองสูงขึ้นอย่างมีนัยสําคัญทางสถิติที่ระดับ .05 และ 2) หลังการทดลอง ค่าเฉลี่ยคะแนนความสามารถในการเขียนของกลุ่มทดลองสูงกว่าค่าเฉลี่ยคะแนนความสามารถในการเขียนของกลุ่มควบคุมอย่างมีนัยสําคัญทางสถิติที่ระดับ .05

Concepts To Go!: Early Literacy Supporting Intentional Learning Experiences In Early Childhood Settings, Melanie Prince

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Early Childhood Educators And Students Lived Experience With Conscious Discipline: Taming The Wild Things, Sierra Rosa Dinges

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to discover the essence of student and teacher perceptions of relationships through the implementation and exposure to the program and curriculum Conscious Discipline. The methods used were student interviews, teacher interviews, and a focus group. Participants were video and audio recorded and interviewed, and the focus groups were transcribed. The researcher looked to find themes between the interviews. The study found that teachers’ perspectives of relationships included understanding that behavior is a form of communication of an unmet need. Student perspectives showcased that their perspective of their teacher was positive. Three themes were …

Comparing, Contrasting, And Evaluating Single Case Research Designs And Describing How To Apply Coaching Techniques In An Applied Setting, Kasey Jo Waddell

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

During the Spring 2020 semester, students within the applied behavior analysis/special education/interdisciplinary early childhood education program were conducting applied thesis projects within typical contexts as part of their fulfillment of the requirements of a master’s degree program. Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), public schools and related facilities closed with no plans to reopen within the time frame to allow for graduation for students in the last semester of their graduate program. Students were allowed to complete an alternative thesis assignment in the form of responding to writing prompts followed by an oral defense of the written products, along …

Virtual Coaching Chinese Parents To Use Naturalistic Communication Intervention With Children With Special Needs, Lin Zhu

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

Effective early communication intervention is essential for preventing long-term, language-related problems for children with special needs. Particular for young dual language learner, supports provided family members in their home language can effectively promote development of communication skills in both home language and English. To help Chinese parents better support their children’s communication needs at home, this study applied a multi-component coaching intervention to teach parents to use a naturalistic communication intervention.

Using multi-probe single subject design, this study experimentally evaluated the effects of coaching intervention on parents’ acquisition of naturalistic intervention. The coaching intervention included a video-based training session, pre-practice …

A Comparison Of Multiple Baseline Family Of Designs, An Analysis Of A Multiple Probe Study, And Coaching For Practitioners, Katherine Jordan

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

Overview of Alternative Thesis Project

During the Spring 2020 semester, students within the applied behavior analysis program were conducting applied thesis projects within typical contexts as part of their fulfillment of the requirements of a master’s degree program. Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), public schools and related facilities closed with no plans to reopen within the time frame to allow for graduation for students in the last semester of their graduate program. Students were allowed to complete an alternative thesis assignment in the form of responding to writing prompts followed by an oral defense of the written products, …

An Educational Pilot Intervention To Increase Environmental Health Literacy Among Rural Kentucky Youth Attending Summer Camp, Ashley Rose Mattingly

Theses and Dissertations--Nutrition and Food Systems

Risk factors, including exposure to environmental pollutants, poor dietary and overall health outcomes, and low environmental health literacy (EHL), place the rural Appalachian youth population at increased risk for chronic diseases. Implementation of nutrition and pollution curriculum into two week-long summer day camps for youth ages 5-12 years that focus around healthy lifestyles and environmental stewardship has the potential to increase health protective action in this community. This research utilized qualitative interviews of 30 Kids on the Creek Camp attendees to determine the efficacy of the implementation of an active learning lesson to increase EHL by explaining the link between …

Alannah, Bree And Cassie: The Abc Of Girls On The Autism Spectrum In Early Years Classrooms, Jillian Stansfield

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The prevalence of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in classrooms is an increasingly common phenomenon in schools in Australia and in many other countries. While there is increasingly growing literature on how autistic boys manage and are managed in schools, little is known about the learning needs of girls on the autism spectrum. One reason offered for this imbalance of literature is that fewer girls are diagnosed than boys, as their presentations may differ. As girls on the autism spectrum are an underdiagnosed phenotype, it is little wonder that teachers do not have adequate knowledge or strategies to support …

Carousel: Performance And Ritual Of A Child's Play, Erik Maniscalco

Theses and Dissertations

Carousel is a series of oil paintings inspired by my seven year old

daughter, as well as my work towards becoming a childhood educator. My

aim with this project is to explore the performative and ritualistic nature of

children’s play: focusing on the creative ways children stretch and reshape

their reality through imagined play narratives. Upon the carousel’s stage,

children select a character and take part in a performed ritual. I’ve long felt

connected to the visual vocabulary found within baroque and renaissance

styles, and I am fascinated by the mixture of amusement, tradition,

religion, and distortion imbued within the …

Using Preschool To Close The Socioeconomic Math Achievement Gap, Sydney King

Senior Honors Theses

Socioeconomic status (SES) heavily influences students’ academic performance, creating an achievement gap in core subjects like reading and mathematics. This thesis will describe the socioeconomic achievement gap as it relates to mathematics specifically, discuss the problem’s causes, and propose how preschool programs should be implemented more prevalently as a solution to close the gap. Children with low socioeconomic statuses enter school with lower math proficiency due to their limited math exposure in their early years and the quality of their home learning environments. This thesis will propose an expansion of preschool programs as a solution to this problem to help …

บทบาทผู้ปกครองในการส่งเสริมการเล่นแก่เด็กวัยอนุบาลในกรุงเทพมหานคร, แพร นากชื่น

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

การวิจัยครั้งนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อ 1) ศึกษาลักษณะการเล่นของเด็กวัยอนุบาล และ 2) วิเคราะห์บทบาทผู้ปกครองในการส่งเสริมการเล่นแก่เด็กวัยอนุบาลในกรุงเทพมหานคร ใน 2 ด้าน ได้แก่ การจัดสภาพแวดล้อม และการสนับสนุนการเล่น ตัวอย่าง คือ ผู้ปกครองของเด็กอนุบาลอายุ 3 - 6 ปี จำนวน 432 คน จากโรงเรียน 4 สังกัด ได้แก่ สำนักการศึกษากรุงเทพมหานคร สำนักงานคณะกรรมการการศึกษาขั้นพื้นฐาน สำนักงานคณะกรรมการส่งเสริมการศึกษาเอกชน และสำนักงานคณะกรรมการการอุดมศึกษา เครื่องมือที่ใช้ในการวิจัย ได้แก่ แบบสอบถามและแบบสัมภาษณ์ สถิติที่ใช้ในการวิเคราะห์ข้อมูล ได้แก่ ความถี่ ร้อยละ ค่าเฉลี่ย ส่วนเบี่ยงเบนมาตรฐาน และวิเคราะห์เนื้อหา ผลการวิจัยเป็น ดังนี้ 1) เด็กวัยอนุบาลเล่นใน 3 ลักษณะ ได้แก่ (1) การเล่นในมิติเชิงสติปัญญา พบการเล่นสร้างสูงที่สุด คิดเป็นร้อยละ 98.5 (2) การเล่นในมิติเชิงร่างกาย พบการเล่นโดยใช้กล้ามเนื้อมัดเล็กสูงที่สุด คิดเป็นร้อยละ 97 และ (3) การเล่นในมิติเชิงสังคม พบการเล่นร่วมกันมากที่สุด คิดเป็นร้อยละ 83.9 2) ผู้ปกครองมีบทบาทในการส่งเสริมการเล่นแก่เด็กวัยอนุบาลในภาพรวม อยู่ในระดับมาก มีค่าเฉลี่ยเท่ากับ 4.10 โดยการสนับสนุนการเล่นมีค่าเฉลี่ยคะแนนการปฏิบัติสูงที่สุด เท่ากับ 4.32 รองลงมาคือ การจัดสภาพแวดล้อม มีค่าเฉลี่ยเท่ากับ 3.88

An Exploratory Case Study: Using Web-Based Micro Videos As A Parent Involvement Tool To Support Families With Preschool Age Children In Early Numeracy Development, Jamie Thompson

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

The United States Federal Government recognized the importance of parent involvement in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. Parent involvement has been associated with lower grade retention rates (student repeating a grade level), higher graduation rates, and higher student achievement rates. Reported obstacles to parent involvement include lack of child development knowledge and time constraints. In early childhood, a major focus has been placed on early literacy skills. However, studies that involve early numeracy skills especially in the home environment are lacking. Therefore, this study attempted to fill that void. An instrumental exploratory case study research design …