Early Childhood Education Commons^™

Decodable Readers Versus Leveled Text, Taylor Leitch

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

A student’s ability to read fluently is an extremely vital skill, necessary to allow them to succeed both in an academic setting and in everyday life. To guide those developing readers in increasing their independent reading fluency, abilities educators must have the correct instructional methods and tools that are developmentally appropriate to provide meaningful instruction. This quantitative action research project explores the use of decodable readers versus leveled text for students who are still developing the phonemic skills and recognition needed to read fluently. A decodable reader allows a student to explicitly practice one phonemic skill to mastery before adding …

Bringing Learning Progressions Down To 2-Year-Olds In Reading And Mathematics, Prue Anderson

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

ACER’s learning progressions in reading and mathematics describe growth that is mainly focused on skills students demonstrate at and beyond school. These progressions have recently been extended down to describe earlier levels of growth so we now have seamless progressions from skills and understandings toddlers might demonstrate up to highly sophisticated skills and concepts. This presentation briefly outlines ACER’s work and identifies key implications for educators. The pathways that support early reading development were described in progressions for listening comprehension and sounds and letters. Along with an early mathematics progression, these were conceptualised as embedded in an oral language progression. …

Fostering Language Development And Literacy In Children From Birth To Two Years Old, Vanessa Vives

Honors Theses

This thesis explores what language is and how its development can impact literacy. It includes a brochure with practical tips for parents and guardians to foster language and literacy development in children from birth to two years old.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, How Should We Read: Applying Principles Of Literacy Development To Shared Book-Reading Experiences, Kalika Melody Burnett Bridwell

Senior Theses

Literacy has long been recognized as critical to success in and out of the classroom (Duchouquette, 2014; Hernandez, 2011; National Center for Family Literacy, 2008), having significant impact on students’ ability to achieve positive outcomes in academic, professional, social, and personal domains. Research suggests that this correlation is established at an early age (Cunningham & Zibulsky, 2011, Storch & Whitehurst, 2002, National Center for Family Literacy, 2008), giving urgency to the provision of high-quality early literacy education and to the identification of best practices in this area. Outside of explicit teaching, one of the most popular of these practices is …

Infographic: Language And Cognitive Skills In The Early Years, Zoe Kaskamanidis

Teacher infographics

Results from the 2021 Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) collection cycle show that of all early childhood developmental domains, children’s language and cognitive skills have seen the most significant shift. Find out more in today’s infographic.

Relationships, Learning, And Motivation For One Virtual Literacy Camp During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Caitlin Spears, Heather D. Young

Educational Considerations

This article focuses on one university literacy camp for kindergarten through sixth grade students that shifted from traditional in-person instruction to a virtual setting during the COVID-19 pandemic. The change from an in-person camp to a virtual camp setting created an opportunity for research in investigating students’ attitudes towards literacy, literacy learning, and participation within the newly formatted virtual literacy camp. Twenty-six kindergarten through sixth grade students were interviewed at the beginning and conclusion of a semester-long literacy camp regarding their attitudes toward learning and participation in the literacy camp. Throughout the data, researchers noted the theme of relationships as …

Kindytxt: A Free Text Messaging Program For Kindergarten Children And Families, Lennie Barblett, Nicola Johnson, Caroline Barratt-Pugh, Susan Hill

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

• This project focused on developing, delivering and evaluating a literacy text-messaging program for parents / carers with a child at kindergarten in WA.
• Texts were delivered weekly over 30 weeks, in collaboration with Better Beginnings. Families were invited to participate through a flyer in the book gifting bag delivered by local librarians to families attending kindergarten across Western Australia.
• Kindergarten teachers and librarians from 16 LGAs attended workshops to establish kindergarten-family library partnerships, along with the production and evaluation of a partnership framework and implementation materials.
• Evaluation involved all participants, with in-depth data collected from participants in six communities.

Culturally Relevant Teaching For The 21st Century: The Success And Challenges Of Pre-Service Teachers When Using Technology In Critical Ways, Virginie Jackson, Stacy Delacruz, Dominique Harry

Georgia Journal of Literacy

This case study examined pre-service teachers' use of technology as they implemented culturally relevant literacy lessons while tutoring elementary students in their field placement sites. As we enter a new decade, we want our students to be future-ready with technology skills. Here, we present an examination of how pre-service teachers integrated culturally relevant teaching with technology along with a discussion of the tools and devices their students used. Findings provided evidence that as pre-service teachers experienced authentic and engaging learning experiences within a supportive space, they emerged equipped to teach in culturally responsive ways that supported student learning and deeper …

Impact Of An Emergent Reading Skills Intervention On Letter Recognition And Phoneme Identification In Pre-Kindergarten Children, Laura K. Simmons

LSU Master's Theses

Research in the field of early literacy has demonstrated that letter recognition and phoneme identification are two necessary components of emergent reading skills (Casbergue & Strickland, 2016). Emergent literacy refers to the reading and writing skills that young children develop prior to learning traditional literacy skills and has been linked to increased literacy achievement (Justice & Pullen, 2003). This study focused solely on emergent reading skills. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of a targeted multi-sensory intervention on the emergent reading skills of letter recognition and phoneme identification using a multiple baseline design (Kazdin, 2011). …

Book Review Of A Young Writer's World: Creating Early Childhood Classrooms Where Authors Abound., Hannah D. Szatkowski

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

A Young Writer’s World: Creating Early Childhood Classrooms Where Authors Abound (Giles, 2020) provides early childhood educators with the knowledge and resources in order to create an immersive learning environment conducive for developing pre-school and kindergarten’s writing development. This book review evaluates the layout and key components of the text in order to identify the potential implications it could provide within an early childhood classroom.

Innovations And Critical Issues In Teaching And Learning, Volume 2, Issue 1, 2021

Innovations and Critical Issues in Teaching and Learning

Complete text of Innovations and Critical Issues in Teaching and Learning, volume 2, issue1, 2021.

Teaching Early Literacy Skills In Preschool And Future Kindergarten Success, Amanda Wehrhan

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This literature review examines the importance and the effect of literacy on Kindergarten readiness and future school success for early childhood education, specifically on preschool students. Early Childhood Educators are feeling the pressure now more than ever to have their young students prepared to enter Kindergarten. In recent years there has been a shift away from a play-based classroom to more of a focus on academics. In this literature review, various research studies are examined to determine whether or not the real focus of the preschool curriculum should be play or literacy or both.

Extending Literacy Work Beyond Our Buildings: The Collaborative Work Of Creating A Community Writing Center, Catherine Calabro Cavin, Cathy Fleischer, Ann Blakesee, Mary Garboden

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

YpsiWrites, a community writing center that supports youth and adults, is a collaborative effort among 826michigan, Eastern Michigan University’s Office of Campus and Community Writing, and the Ypsilanti District Library. The authors share the background for this work, the partnerships that sustain it, and the day-to-day realities of operating it. They conclude with ideas for how others might create similar collaborations to extend literacy beyond the walls of schools.

Unpacking Perceptions Of Play And Literacy In Early Childhood Education: Creating Home Literacy Bags As A Guide To Parental Support, Delaney C. Knapp

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This paper takes a deeper look into how children's literacy development can be supported at home. Specifically, the paper examines the use of home literacy bags that are directed towards the students' specific needs by exploring their family background and home literacy environment. First, I explored the research on family perceptions of literacy, children's perceptions of literacy, home literacy practices, and home-school literacy partnerships in a literature review. Next, I created a literacy-based curriculum consisting of ten home literacy bags. This paper outlined a home-school literacy intervention in my future classroom. The information was obtained from my junior and senior …

Assessment Of Oral Language And Early Literacy In Early Childhood Education And Care: Literature Review, Danielle Anzai, Sandra Knowles, Dan Cloney, Pam Munro-Smith, Pru Mitchell

Early Childhood Education

This literature review is one of a series of reviews to support Victorian early childhood professionals to assess children's learning and development in relation to the five Learning and Development Outcomes in the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF). This review focuses on the Outcome: Children are effective communicators, and specifically on children as effective oral communicators. Focusing on the development of oral language and early literacy in the early years, this literature review sets out to provide a resource that will equip early childhood professionals with the knowledge to identify and assess children's progress in oral language …

Innovations And Critical Issues In Teaching And Learning Volume 1, Issue 1, 2020

Innovations and Critical Issues in Teaching and Learning

Complete text of Innovations and Critical Issues In Teaching and Learning Volume 1, Issue 1, 2020.

The Importance Of Utilizing Play To Promote Emergent Literacy In Early Childhood Environment, Terisa Scrabeck

Innovations and Critical Issues in Teaching and Learning

There is no question that play is important in the lives of children at home and at school. Unfortunately, the amount of play in early childhood classrooms continues to diminish. Teachers are under pressure to meet high academic expectations so they are spending more time on instruction and testing instead of play. Children enjoy play and it improves many different skills, like literacy. Children develop knowledge of literacy as they engage with print. Therefore, literacy can be developed through different types of play, including well-defined enriched literacy play settings and adult role models. The importance of utilizing play to promote …

Read, Write, Rhyme: Increasing Reading Performance With Hip-Hop Texts, Crystal Monique Lavoulle

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

This presentation describes the Harlem Renaissance to Hip Hop Movement, a literacy program that uses best practices in literacy instruction to improve reading comprehension, critical thinking, and writing. Moving beyond educational hip-hop songs and videos, this presentation offers insight into effective ways to increase Georgia Milestone Assessment scores in both English language arts and social studies using a variety of hip-hop texts.

The Impact Student Behavior Has On Learning, Ashton J. Kirkpatrick

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This action research project was conducted to determine if a child’s behavior can affect their learning, especially in the area of early literacy. Information from FAST Bridge and the documentation from the “Check In/Check Out” process was used to determine if certain students using this process struggled in the area of literacy. After analyzing the data, it was determined that this certain student that was followed did struggle in the area of literacy and showed signs of emotional and social concerns alongside their behaviors. After the “Check In/Check Out process was implemented, the student showed academic growth according to the …

Impacts Of Parental Involvement On Early Literacy Skills, Sara Harlan

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This action research was conducted to identify a correlation in high literacy skills with parental involvement and support. Baseline data was gathered from kindergarten student's winter FAST screener scores. Parental involvement began by sending homework for my students to work on with an adult in their home. A spreadsheet was kept tracking which students returned their parent signature sheet weekly and which students did not. All students were progress monitored on letter sounds weekly. The spring FAST screener data was then used to gather ending data. Growth was compared from the winter to spring data with the amount of parental …

Developing Language And (Pre)Literacyskills In Deaf Preschoolers Through Shared Reading Activities With Bimodal-Bilingual Ebooks, Gene Mirus, Donna Jo Napoli

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

Encouraging relaxed and playful interaction over stories naturally fosters language interaction and both preliteracy [hereafter (pre)literacy skills] and literacy without anxiety. Reading for pleasure is valuable for young hearing children – we know that, it is among the most beloved family rituals. In this article we argue that reading for pleasure needs to be recognized as valuable for young deaf children and needs to become a beloved family ritual for them, as well. One way to achieve this is to read ebooks to deaf children in order to advance their communication and other (pre)literacy skills. An exploration of these types …

Interaction Effects Of Socioeconomic Status On Emerging Literacy And Literacy Skills Among Pre-Kindergarten And Kindergarten Children: A Comparison Study, Kasey Thompson, Lydia P. Richardson, Heather Newman, Kathleen George

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Socioeconomic differences in children’s reading and educational outcomes have been thoroughly documented throughout literature. Bobalik, Scarber, and Toon (2017) examined the link between socioeconomic status (SES) and classroom instruction on emerging literacy skills in pre-kindergarten children. The results supported the theory that children identified as belonging to a low socioeconomic status enter school with lower emerging literacy skills and benefit most from academic instruction; these children’s literacy skills substantially increased throughout the academic year, growing closer to those of their peers who were identified with a high socioeconomic status. The aim of the present study was to expand our understanding …

The Effect Of Book Provision On Family Shared Reading Patterns Among Women Participating In The Nurse-Family Partnership, Susan Marie Knutsen

Education Dissertations

This study sought to determine whether a book provision intervention delivered to low-income mothers participating in the Nurse-Family Partnership had an effect on family shared book reading patterns and family attitudes toward shared book reading. The 25 participants in this study were low-income, first-time mothers, aged 18-25 with infants, newborn to 12 months of age at recruitment (13 male, 12 female, M = 6.7 months of age) currently participating in one of three Nurse-Family Partnership agencies in Washington State.

A pretest-posttest experimental design with random assignment was conducted. A mixed factorial analysis of variance found that the book provision intervention …

A Program For Teacher Induction, Patricia Lager 7701725, Katherine Bertolini

Empowering Research for Educators

Even though many novice teachers are prepared academically to deal with subject matter, many of them enter the teaching field unprepared for many of the other aspects of teaching such as dealing with grading programs, insurance claims, inventory and various other matters that differ from school-to-school. Often these new teachers feel isolated and unsupported and possibly do not realize what they do not know or the proper questions to ask. This results in nearly 29% of them leaving the field within their first three years and around 39% leaving within their first five years. This project proposes creating a teacher …

Critical Coaching: Approaching Literacy Coaching Through A Critical Lens, Melissa Wells

Education Faculty Articles

Based in critical theory, this qualitative case study explored how a new genre of literacy coaching, called critical coaching, developed and what outcomes it produced. The researcher (a literacy coach) built a critical coaching partnership with an early childhood teacher, and two findings emerged: (1) self-reflection occurred through defining educators’ identities as cultural beings, as well as by naming and challenging assumptions; and (2) taking action occurred through critical networks, advocacy in public spaces, and planning culturally relevant pedagogy. Implications include seven essential conditions for building critical coaching partnerships.

Literacy Tutoring Strategies Of America Reads University-Level Tutors, Mauricio Cadavid

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore, study, outline and describe tutoring strategies applied by American Reads (AR) tutors and non-America Reads (nAR) tutors helping young tutees develop early literacy skills. There is limited research on the implementation of effective tutoring strategies during one-on-one tutoring with elementary school children in terms of early literacy development. Most of the literature is split between peer tutoring and program tutoring. This lack of research presents a particular challenge when it comes to identifying an effective tutor and effective tutoring methodologies. Using a qualitative approach, this study utilizes survey data, session recordings, and …

How To Boost Literacy In Ages Birth To Three, Brianna Johnson

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This literature review explores the history, viewpoints, theoretical frameworks, and themes in literature of early literacy in the United States. It also discusses legislation on this topic, such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Literacy in ages birth to three has been a long time educational issue. The ‘pendulum’ has swung between different approaches to literacy instruction. It is important for every person to be informed on this subject because early literacy affects each life. What one learns or fails to learn in the first three years of life affects the rest of …

Neighbors Link's Parent-Child Together Program: Supporting Immigrant Parents' Integration To Promote School Readiness Among Their Emergent Bilingual Children, Carola Otero Bracco, Judith Eisenberg

Publications and Research

The authors of this article describe Neighbors Link, a multi-service community and worker center in suburban Westchester County, NY. This organization created Parent-Child Together in the belief that supporting immigrant parents' integration and social inclusion, in activities that also engage long-term community residents, would improve school readiness outcomes for preschool children. A key assumption in the program design is that immigrant parents are best supported when teaching respects their home language and incorporates their home culture and customs. Among the program's positive results has been greater acceptance of the assets and strengths that immigrants bring to the community. The community, …

Constructing A Sense Of Story: One Block At A Time, Joanne Robertson-Eletto, Smita Guha, Marina Marinelli

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

This photo essay focuses upon the literacy practices of two groups of preschoolers as they built, illustrated, and dictated stories in response to their participation in a “Castle Project.” Data, including literacy artifacts, photodocumentation, sociodramatic play scenarios, and conversations are qualitatively analyzed, coded, and evaluated over a three month period. We use a narrative approach to describe the three- and four-year-olds’ talk, actions, and ideas, and the ways block play facilitated their sense of story and motivation to write. We suggest a reciprocity of thinking between the building and composing processes. Preschoolers’ story ideas, we deduce, were conceptualized and rehearsed …

Orchestrating Literacies:Print Literacy Learning Opportunities Within Multimodal Intergenerational Ensembles, Lori Mckee, Rachel Heydon

Education Publications

This exploratory case study considered the opportunities for print literacy learning within multimodal ensembles that featured art, singing, and digital media within the context of an intergenerational program that brought together 13 kindergarten children (4 and 5 years) with 7 elder companions. Study questions concerned how reading and writing were practiced within multimodal ensembles and what learning opportunities were afforded the children while the participants worked through a chain of multimodal projects. Data were collected through ethnographic tools in the Rest Home where the projects were completed and in the children’s classroom where project content and tools were introduced and …