Early Childhood Education Commons^™

The Effects Of Social-Emotional Learning Strategies On Promoting Positive Behavior In Elementary School Students, Lea Adams

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The focus of this action research was to appropriately implement social emotional learning into a small classroom environment. The lessons were aimed to assist students and foster positive behaviors both inside and outside the classroom environment. Participants participated in a four-week study. The research participants consisted of 17 girls and boys within a classroom. This classroom environment had a total of 11 boys and 6 girls, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The study also included four specialist teachers (Hawaiian, Japanese, Computer Science, and Physical Education), the homeroom teacher, and the school counselor. During the intervention, each class engaged in daily morning meetings, …

Explicit Instruction In A Second Grade Picturebook Author Study, Ted Kesler

Publications and Research

sing the Learning by Design multiliteracies framework, writing workshop was transformed into composing workshop. The researcher worked with a team of four second grade teachers in an urban public elementary school to redesign their Kevin Henkes author study to equally value art and design, guiding their students in creating their own narrative picturebooks. The researcher addresses the following two research questions: 1. What explicit instructional practices did the teachers enact? 2. What influence did these explicit instructional practices have on the second graders’ composing work? The researcher applied cross-case analysis, first to create an inventory of explicit instructional practices, and …

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 …

Sccs Tinley Cultural Relationships School Improvement Plan, Rebecca D. Rael

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This school improvement plan (SIP) aims to identify and implement tangible practices to welcome families of color to the SCCS Tinley Park Campus and create pathways for cultural discussions to begin and grow within the school community. The plan also includes lesson plan materials in the form of tips and guidelines for conversation starters, a list of notable living people of color, technology resources and books for teachers to use in the classroom as they model and scaffold multicultural relationship building amongst students. This SIP also seeks to answer the question “What are effective strategies for increasing parent engagement from …

How Prepared Are Educators To Work With Students Of Color, Ja're Thorn

Dissertations

From what I have experienced, there has been a lack of preparation when it comes to preparing educators to work with students of color. This research aimed to explore the importance of early childhood teachers’ cultural preparation programs when it comes to working effectively with students of color. Most of the time, teachers teach to the common core standards set in place by the state. They also implement a curriculum that is considered “best practices” for students instead of paying attention to and considering the individual student’s specific culture, family, and community values and ways of life before planning (Spies, …

Efficacy Of Discrete Trial Training, Paula Ahlrich

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This action research was driven by the researcher’s interest in Autism and Discrete Trial Training- specifically the efficacy of implementation and the generalization of skills learned into the classroom. The researcher is a preschool teacher in her 15th year of Early Childhood education. The 4-week intervention was conducted during specially designed instruction, but also how those skills taught have been displayed during large and small group time. Throughout the 4 weeks progress was monitored using the CBTU recording sheets and DTT steps. Findings revealed common generalization of skills when the student was presented with the cue outside of the trial …

Foundational Literacy Programs Affect Fast Scores, Courtney Stekl

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This action research study investigated if there is a relationship between the implementation of a foundational literacy intervention in the first grade classroom and the results of the earlyReading (FAST) scores. This action researched answered the question: Is the foundational literacy intervention programs affecting earlyReading FAST scores? First grade students were participating in various literacy programs that focused on phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension, writing, and language. This action research study was conducted throughout the 2022-2023 school year. Data was collected through two out of the three FAST assessments in the school year.

Supporting Play In The Preschool Classroom With Visuals, Jessica Luetkemeier

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

Early childhood classrooms in the United States look very different today than they did a decade ago. There are a number of reasons why this changing portrait is the case; however, students entering preschool classrooms today are coming to school with less social and academic skills than in the past. Preschool teachers are feeling the pressure to have students “school ready” while also implementing developmentally appropriate practices. After surveying the research around challenges incorporating play in preschool classroom’s today, this school improvement plan suggests how to justify and support play in the preschool classroom using visuals, such as play scripts.

Implementing Changes In Family Childcare Programs To Increase Social-Emotional Development And Decrease Negative Behavior, Julia Green

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The purpose of this action research project was to determine if implementing environmental and instructional changes in an-home family childcare program would increase children’s social-emotional development as well as decrease negative behaviors exhibited. An assessment of social-emotional skills was conducted prior to the research using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ). The researcher observed staff members implement changes in the childcare program over four weeks, with one change each week. Following the four-week implementation period, the researcher conducted three weeks of observations to determine how the changes affected the children’s social-emotional development and behavior. A second ASQ assessment was conducted …

The Impact Of Notetaking In A Middle School History Class, Marybeth Flietstra

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The purpose of this action research project was to determine the impact of notetaking in a 7th grade World History classroom on learning and engagement. A mixed-methods study of 36 7th grade students was used to determine significant differences between notetaking styles, student performance, and engagement during short class lectures. Post-lecture assessments, Likert-style surveys, and student notes were assessed and triangulated, while interviews and survey questions were evaluated to illustrate common themes and perceptions of notetaking. Data analysis revealed that notetaking does have some impact on both academics and engagement, however, the style of notetaking made a significant difference. Additionally, …

Play Based Learning A School Improvement Plan, Kalee Chamberlin

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

Play-based learning is a topic that is often discussed at the early childhood level. Research has shown that play-based learning can lead to success within the classroom in the areas of social-emotional skills, literacy, and mathematics. Research conducted within the Muscatine Community School District suggests that children could benefit from additional time in play-based learning opportunities. This school improvement plan describes in detail the process needed to implement a plan to increase the amount of time spent in play-based learning opportunities within the preschool classroom.

Conscious Discipline For Parent, Amber Brown

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

Conscious Discipline is a universal comprehensive program combining social-emotional wellbeing into our everyday lives by enhancing the social-emotional skills of administrators, teachers, students and families. Collaboration is the key for Conscious Discipline to be effective. In order to change others, we must first change ourselves. This program uses evidence-based research to help overall improvement for all people involved. It has been known to be a traumainformed approach to learning about ourselves in others to the best of our ability.

Exclusionary Discipline In Early Childhood, Courtney O'Grady, Michaelene M. Ostrosky

Journal of Catholic Education

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to examine how the perceptions and experiences of teachers relate to the suspension and expulsion of preschoolers in Catholic schools.Results indicated that teachers have a range of experiences with suspension, from children being removed from the classroom temporarily to out-of-school suspensions lasting up to a week. Most participants also had experienced expelling a student because of behavior. Patterns that emerged from the data included a frequency of extreme behavior from some children, the application of various strategies in response to challenging behavior, the use of exclusionary discipline when other strategies did not …

The Process Of Developing A Piece Of Children’S Literature Over The 12 Cranial Nerves For The School Aged Child To Comprehend And Retain, Macey Kanaman

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Say It Louder: The Importance Of Reading Aloud In Your Pre-K Classroom., Kaleb Reiner

Andrews University Teaching and Learning Conference

When you think about the key features of growing up, one of the prominent memories is being read bedtime stories by your parents. Why is that so memorable? Because read aloud stories are an imperative part of early education and literacy. From toddlers to 2nd or 3rd grade, being read to in and out of the classroom is an immensely important tool for reading and writing, and in this poster, I’m going to show you just how important it is.

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 …

Emotional Depictions Of Dogs And Cats In Interactions With Humans In Picture Books, Juri Nakagawa, Naoko Koda

People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

This study quantitatively analyzed the depiction of dogs’ and cats’ emotions in picture books and discussed the effects on children’s recognition of real dog and cat emotions. The stories depicted many basic emotional depictions of interest, joy, and surprise in dogs and cats, whereas the humans in the stories showed more varied, complicated emotions. Interest was most often caused by familiar humans in dogs, and by objects in cats. Joy was most often caused by familiar humans in dogs and cats, which would lead child readers to recognize that dogs and cats are friendly toward humans. There were depictions of …

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 …

The Child And Dependent Care Credit: Unlike Trix, Not Just For Kids, Gabrielle Pepin, Yulya Truskinovsky

Upjohn Institute Policy and Research Briefs

No abstract provided.

Not Just For Kids: Child And Dependent Care Credit Benefits For Adult Care, Gabrielle Pepin, Yulya Truskinovsky

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

As the U.S. population ages, family caregivers face substantial out-of-pocket costs and financial risks while providing the majority of long-term care. The Child and Dependent Care Credit (CDCC), a tax credit based on income and care spending, subsidizes caregiving expenses but has low participation among adult caregivers. This paper evaluates the CDCC’s current structure, documenting its limited impact on reducing caregiving costs and examining reforms to increase its utility for adult caregivers. Simulations of proposed changes—higher benefits, refundability, and relaxed eligibility requirements—demonstrate potential to expand access and enhance support for family caregivers within the existing policy framework.

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 …

Nebline, March/April 2023

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Youth-Led Photovoice Project Gives Refugees Opportunity to Explore Mental Health by Emily Gratopp

Upcoming Photovoice Exhibits

Recipe of the Month: Baharat (Middle East Spice Blend) by Emily Gratopp

Early Season Disease Control in the Home Orchard by Sarah Browning

Garden Guide: Things to Do This Month

2023 Chemigation Training

Farm Estate Planning Workshop, March 7

2023 Lincoln Early Childhood Conference, Saturday, March 25

Two Lancaster 4-H’ers Participated in National 4-H Congress

4-H Horse Judging Team at Nationals

Teen Council 4-H’ers Team Up to Lead Lock-In

Heart of 4-H Volunteer Award: Trevor Kauer and Bethany Bettenhausen

4-H Club Gives Youth With …

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 …

Exploring Perspectives On Social And Emotional Learning Programs In Schools, Gina N. Carruth

University Honors Theses

This study explores different viewpoints on the implementation of social and emotional learning (SEL) programs in schools. Using a literature review approach, information was collected through peer-reviewed and online articles to examine the benefits and potential challenges of SEL programs in promoting students' social and emotional development. The findings reveal that while there is widespread support for SEL programs, there are also concerns about its implementation, effectiveness, and potential unintended consequences. This study contributes to the field by highlighting the need for a more nuanced and critical understanding of SEL programs, and their impact on students as well as insight …

Exploring Attitudes Of Four Groups Of Stakeholders Toward Family Childcare And Recommending Best Practices To Promote Positive Experiences, Yvonne S. Williams

Dissertations

This research aimed to increase the awareness of licensed family childcare programs and use the viewpoints of four stakeholder groups to construct recommended best practices. These best practices are crucial for supporting effective business practices and providing high-quality services to their stakeholders. Online surveys and virtual interviews were used to acquire the stakeholders' perspectives. The collected data revealed three principal thematic codes: family childcare provider, family childcare business, and family childcare environment. Within these three codes, the family childcare program's areas of improvement, inconsistencies, and strengths were identified and evaluated to construct recommended professional and business best practices. Some of …