Early Childhood Education Commons^™

Child Of My Heart: One Girl's Story Of Adoption, Danielle Bussolini

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This Integrative Masters Project explores the author's personal experience with adoption, written from a child's perspective. Unlike most published books on adoption, which are typically framed through the lens of an educator or parent, this work centers the emotional and psychological experience of the child at the heart of the story.

Early Learning Across Decades: Advances In Measuring Head Start Effectiveness, Chloe R. Gibbs

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

The Head Start program, launched in 1965 and targeted to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, remains the largest early childhood care and education (ECE) program in the United States and the only one deployed at the federal level. As such, the Head Start literature spans several decades and now allows for synthesis of findings from different contexts, time periods, and research designs. This paper provides a comprehensive assessment of the rigorous evidence measuring Head Start’s effects on children, their families, and society. The focus is on how (1) the contrast between program and counterfactual conditions, (2) takeup of the program among …

Utilizing Visual Literacy In Thinking Critically About Children’S Cognitive Development, Andrea Gail Schafer

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Poster Session Papers

Undergraduate coursework in child development requires college students to be proficient in their understanding and assessment of holistic development of young children as defined within the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional domains. Traditionally, undergraduate courses at the 100 and 200 level require college students to critically consider scenarios and evaluate level of child development based on traditional text-based scenarios describing child behaviors or engagement in tasks.

Specifically, considering Piaget's theory of cognitive development (Piaget, 1974), it's critically important in a course that covers early child development that college students (pre-service professionals) be able to identify and correctly assess level of …

Seeing The Whole Child: Bridging Community Beliefs And Early Intervention, Grace Danladi Saleh

Graduate Research Posters

Background

The first five years of a child’s life are a very important time. What happens during these early years has a big effect on how the child grows, learns to communicate, and relates to others. When caregivers respond warmly and consistently, children tend to do better later on. However, most screening tools used to spot developmental concerns are based mainly on Western ideas of what is normal. These tools often don’t match what many families from different backgrounds believe about child growth, behavior, or communication. As a result, children from diverse communities can be missed or identified too late. …

Foreign-National Families, Education, And Parenting: Unpacking The Influence Of Cultural Transitions On Child-Rearing And Expectations, Yuqi Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examines how highly skilled foreign-national parents navigate parenting and educational decision-making within the context of cultural transition in the United States. While existing research on foreign-national parenting has largely focused on socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, less is known about families who possess substantial educational and professional capital. Despite these advantages, these parents encounter unique challenges related to institutional navigation, identity negotiation, and social constraints. Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory, Coleman’s social capital theory, Berry’s acculturation framework, and Yosso’s community cultural wealth model, this study explores how cultural background and migration experiences shape highly skilled foreign-national families’ parenting beliefs …

Enhancing Assessment Of Early Childhood Learning And Development, Stephanie Templeton, Dan Cloney, Sandra Knowles, Ursula Schwantner

Global education monitoring

This policy brief aims to assist governments and development partners in creating and enhancing assessments of early childhood learning and development to inform the creation of evidence-based policies and practices. It draws on the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Centre's Monitoring learning in the early years: A review of early childhood assessments to support global monitoring.

Who's Down With Dap? The Relationship Between Teacher Preparation And The Use Of Developmentally Appropriate Practices During Kindergarten Mathematics Instruction, Megan G. Mccarver

Doctor of Education Dissertations

Children’s experiences in kindergarten classrooms occur during a critical period in their development and can have a long-term impact on not only academic abilities but other areas as well, such as social emotional development and socioeconomic status in adulthood. Kindergarten in America has undergone many changes over time, leading teachers to feel torn between meeting rigorous academic standards and addressing young children’s developmental needs. This mixed methods study investigated North Carolina kindergarten teachers’ understanding of child development and developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) and identified both the types of practices they use during mathematics instruction and whether the use of those …

Parenting With Grace, Eva Nelson Cole

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Parents are often caught off guard by the upheaval of adding children to their lives. Feelings of guilt, shame, isolation, and depression can arise when parents are faced with the demands and stressors that come along with having children. Studies have shown that children who have distressed parents endure lasting negative outcomes that can extend into the primary school years (Mihelic et al., 2018). Educating parents and giving them some awareness about what to expect can make a real difference. To have these conversations, I created a two-part parenting workshop for new parents at Parents’ Place in Pacific Grove, CA. …

Monitoring Learning In The Early Years. A Review Of Early Childhood Assessments To Support Global Monitoring, Dan Cloney, David Jeffries, Stephanie Templeton, Ursula Schwantner, Juliette F. Mendelovits, Amy Berry, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Nicola Andrews, Bethany Davies

Global education monitoring

Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. In relation to Early Childhood Education (ECE), SDG Target 4.2 aims to “ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education”. To operationalise this goal, the primary Indicator 4.2.1 sets out to measure the “proportion of children aged 24–59 months who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex". The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is the custodian of …

Increasing Head Start Parents' Awareness About Kindergarten Readiness, Griselda Galvan-Ramirez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Kindergarten is important for children because this is where they start to be prepared socially, emotionally and cognitively to reach their full potential at school. Many of the children in the USA are not prepared for kindergarten and this is something that can be prevented if their parents engage in at home activities. This activities help prepare their children for kindergarten. This project focused on informing Migrant Head Start parents of ways they can support their children’s development to achieve kindergarten readiness. Kindergarten readiness helps children make the transition to school be smooth and positive. Parents need mentorship and guidance …

Social Emotional Learning For Students In Schools And Communities, Gisselle Villar

Senior Capstone Papers

The goal of the educational approach known as Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is to integrate these skills regarding SEL to be implemented in the school curriculum. In addition to emphasizing students’ abilities, education helps students build the kind of brains needed to acquire everyday tasks. The goal of this proposal is to help students develop a feeling of self-worth and awareness so they can connect and communicate honestly with one another. Schools will witness a significant shift in the lives of their students and the way teachers instruct once this learning is implemented. When this knowledge is successfully applied …

Child Development Homes, Play-Based Learning, And Academic And Social-Emotional Skills, Hollie Fairholm

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This action research study was based on my own need to discern if children who attend child development homes, also known as family childcare homes, are effective spaces for children to learn academic and social-emotional skills using play-based learning. In this action research child development home, family childcare and play-based learning were defined, with a review of how children learn. My study was conducted in my own child development home family childcare program with chilren ranging in age from 12 months to 4 years old. In total, nine children attend my program Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 …

Loose Parts In The Outdoor Play Space, Samuel L. Shapiro

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Loose parts play is a play practice that prioritizes a child’s ability to self-direct and intrinsically motivate above all else. It does so by utilizing decontextualized items that are flexible in their usage and allow children to project their own ideas, imaginations, and usages onto the items, rather than by allowing the items to dictate usage to the children. The booklet that Sam Shapiro created, Loose Parts in the Outdoor Play Space, provides a tool that professionals can utilize in support of their own loose parts programs. It provides an overview of the state of play, an examination of what …

What Removal Causes Are Most Common For Children In Foster Care? Are There Discrepancies Across Age Groups?, Elise Woodliff

Social Work Theses - Archive

Although there has been recent focus on child welfare to prevent removals, little literature has examined reasons children are removed among diverse developmental stages. The present study explores the multifaceted demographics of children in the foster care system in order to recognize who is being affected by what removal causes. The purpose of this study is to better understand the foster care system to target interventions and screenings for children under eighteen years of age in the United States. Quantitative measures were used to analyze statistics that were made available through the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System. …

Partnerships In Early Childhood Education: Engaging Families In Professional Conversations, Simone Griggs, Greta Rollo

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

Effective monitoring of learning and development involves integrating multiple perspectives from a child’s parents, carers, family, and their educators. A collaborative approach between educators and families not only recognises the family’s critical importance in their child’s life but it has also been shown to benefit children with learning difficulties, delays and behavioural concerns (Parenting Research Centre, 2012; Prior et al., 2011). Efforts made towards the integration of multiple perspectives can also support stronger inclusion of diverse families into communities of early childhood education and care. However, discussions with parents and carers about issues regarding their children’s development can be a …

Analysis Of Early Childhood Education And Learning Outcomes In The Pacific, Dan Cloney, Yung Nietschke, Jeffery Marshall

Early Childhood Education

There is strong evidence supporting early childhood education (ECE) programmes as an effective way to support children to have the best start in life, especially for the most disadvantaged children. When high‐quality programmes are established – where quality is assured, and barriers to participation eliminated – large positive effects are observed that are sustained into adulthood. Indeed, substantial positive returns on public investment in ECE programmes are reported. When low‐quality programmes are taken to scale in the market, however, smaller effects or no effects are observed. This is attributed to failure to get quality right. And when quality is too …

How Can A Play-Based Curriculum Foster Social And Emotional Self-Regulation Skills In Early Childhood Classrooms?, Kalei Stephens

Graduate Teacher Education

Play is an essential aspect in the early childhood years, especially during the years of preschool and kindergarten when children’s social and emotional skills are developing rapidly (Denham et al., 2012; Kangas et al., 2015; Kroll, 2017). Even though play is an essential part, allowing children to partake in pretend play during school hours has decreased tremendously due to the push of academics within the school (Aras, 2015). With the rising importance of play as part of the curriculum, there have been previous studies and research explaining the why and the benefits of play and how play has allowed children …

Increasing Social Awareness Skills In Kindergarten Students, Chloe Dennis

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Social awareness is a key component of social-emotional learning and is often underrepresented in kindergarten curriculum. Students who struggle with social awareness are at a greater risk for antisocial behaviors, low academic performance, diminished self-efficacy, low motivation, and low adaptability. Jean Piagets’ cognitive-developmental theory places kindergarten-age students in the preoperational stage of development. At this stage, children are egocentric, exhibit centrated thought, and struggle to use perspective and empathic skills. Kindness, problem-solving, and maintaining positive relationships are all rooted in social awareness and require students to move away from egocentric thinking. I designed a three-part lesson on acts of kindness …

Universal Child Health And Early Education Service Use From Birth Through Kindergarten And Developmental Vulnerability In The Preparatory Year (Age 5 Years) In Tasmania, Australia, Catherine L. Taylor, Daniel Christensen, Kim Jose, Stephen R. Zubrick

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study investigated patterns of universal health and education service use from birth through Kindergarten (age 4 years) and estimated associations between cumulative risk and service use patterns, and between service use patterns and children's developmental vulnerability in the Preparatory Year (age 5 years). The study used population-wide linkage of health and education administrative data records for 5168 children who had a 2018 AEDC instrument collected in Tasmania and were born in Tasmania (2011–2013). Latent class analysis (LCA) identified three service use patterns: Regular (72.2 per cent of children; reference group), Low (15.6 per cent of children) and High service …

Technology’S Impact On Students In A Virtual Environment, Leah S. Sorensen

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In 2020, a worldwide pandemic ensued as the coronavirus spread throughout the United States. This caused a nationwide shutdown, closing schools. All forms of education went to a virtual learning setting, where all students were expected to learn outside of a classroom. This also meant that there became a heavy reliance on technology. This setting and use of technology began to affect students’ learning and development. Through conducted research, three domains of child development are evaluated to determine the effects of this form of learning. The cognitive, physical, and social-emotional domains will be considered.

Establishing Trauma-Informed Practices Within The Early Learning Environment, Daria M. Castor

Selected Honors Theses

Nearly half of US children have experienced one or more types of serious trauma with rates continually increasing. Early childhood educators get a first-hand encounter with childhood trauma as it affects the learning and behavior of young students. Young children process their trauma differently whether that be through behavioral issues or a withdrawn demeanor. Building strong, positive relationships with students and creating a safe learning environment are practical methods used by educators when working with traumatized young learners, however there is much more to be done to best meet the needs of these students. This thesis emphasizes the detrimental effects …

Fostering Resilience Through Early Childhood Education, Amanda Nelson

Graduate Teacher Education

Resilience is the capacity to thrive in, rather than just survive stress and adversity (Ernst et al., 2019). Supporting children to develop resilience is an essential part of holistic developmentally appropriate practice within the field of Early Childhood Education because an improved capacity for resilience benefits other domains of education and wellness (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2011). Studies on resilience in early childhood education were examined to identify and explore protective factors, classroom strategies, and home relationships that contribute to an increased capacity for resilience in young children. In addition, position statements and articles from early …

The Value Of Play-Based Learning In Early Childhood Classrooms, Brandice Tegrootenhuis

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The purpose of this literature review is to demonstrate the value of play-based learning in early childhood classrooms and encourage educators and policy-makers to focus more on this developmentally appropriate practice of learning through play in early childhood classrooms. The findings of this literature review are that play is an essential component in all areas of child development. The reviewed research suggests play and academic and social development are closely linked and indicate success in the areas of 21st century skills, literacy and language, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education. The conclusion of this review includes recommendations for …

Achieving The Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence From The Longitudinal Parenting Across Cultures Project, Jennifer E. Lansford, W. Andrew Rothenberg, Sombat Tapanya, Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Saengduean Yotanyamaneewong, Liane Peña Alampay, Suha M. Al-Hassan, Dario Bacchini, Marc H. Bornstein, Lei Chang, Kirby Deater-Deckard, Laura Di Giunta, Kenneth A. Dodge, Sevtap Gurdal, Qin Liu, Qian Long, Patrick S. Malone, Paul Oburu, Concetta Pastorelli, Ann T. Skinner, Emma Sorbring, Laurence Steinberg

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Power Of Play In Early Childhood Education, Rachel Mary Nichols

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This literature review synthesizes research on how early childhood classrooms use play as a learning tool for students. The review of literature examines different types of play and how children develop in relation to play. Play in the classroom is often viewed as a reward for completing schoolwork, but in preschool classrooms and beyond, play offers a wide variety of learning opportunities and aids in the development of new skills. This literature review uses scholarly articles and journals to examine the different types of early childhood play in the classroom and how children develop in relation to being able to …

The Mindful Child: Supporting Children's Development Through Mindfulness, Erica Flesher

Mindfulness Studies Theses

This study is about mindfulness and its impact on the development of children in early adolescence. The three developmental categories this thesis will be addressing are cognitive, social-emotional, and physical development. These developmental domains will be supported by the following mindful-based practices; mindful movement in the form of Qigong, meditation, and mindful communication. Mindfulness is an important practice to incorporate into the lives of children because it can be used in various forms and fashions as a tool towards developmentally targeting and supporting the whole child in early adolescence. My findings are that incorporating mindfulness activities and practices into the …

The Effects Of Technology In Early Childhood, Krista Werling

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This literature review examines the effects of technology in early childhood. This literature review uses scholarly journals and articles to show the advantages and disadvantages of technology in early childhood. The research examines how technology can impact a child's development in the areas of (a) social emotional, (b) physical, (c) cognitive, (d) language, (e) mathematics, and (f) literacy skills. The advantages and disadvantages of technology will be reviewed in each of these early childhood developmental areas. Parents and teachers must be aware of screen time guidelines. Recommendations from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the …

Baby Project, Jen Longley

Open Educational Resources

During Psychological Foundations of Early Development and Education students were given a ping-pong ball “baby” to care for during the semester. Students were given a birth certificate for their baby, were asked to name their baby, to draw characteristics on their baby, to bring their baby to each class. During each class students were asked to answer questions related to their baby. The questions fell into two categories – parenting dilemmas (to encourage families to take on the perspective of families) and development questions (to apply material learned from class to their baby). Below are the questions used for the …

Through The Elementary School Years: Self-Regulation Predicting Social Competence With Student-Teacher Relationships As Mediators, Kelsie Anderson

Honors Theses

Using a longitudinal, nationally representative dataset, ECLS-K:2011, research was conducted to determine the predictive relationship between Self-Regulation in kindergarten and first-grade years and Social Competency in the third- and fourth-grade years of elementary school. Along with this, Student-Teacher Relationships were studied to determine if they could mediate the relationship between Self-Regulation and Social Competency. These aspects have been extensively studied individually in previous research, but this study looks at how these aspects work together and the implications that these relationships have. The current study documented that a) Working Memory predicts indices of Behavioral Engagement and Internalizing Behavior Problems in the …

International Early Learning And Child Well-Being Study, Australian Council For Educational Research

Assessment GEMS

The International Early Learning and Child Well-Being Study (IELS) assesses children at age 5, measuring key learning and development outcomes. The overall purpose of IELS is to help countries to better support the development and overall well-being of young children through improved early learning experiences. It achieves this by: providing robust empirical data on children’s early learning; identifying factors that enable and inhibit children’s early learning; and informing early childhood education centres and schools about skill levels of five year old children, as well as related contextual factors, which could be used to make more informed decisions about curriculums and …