Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Early Childhood Education Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Early Childhood Education

Using Preschool To Close The Socioeconomic Math Achievement Gap, Sydney King Jan 2020

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 …


A Phenomenological Exploration Of Early Childhood Educators' Perseverance Experience, Alison Lee Mellott Apr 2019

A Phenomenological Exploration Of Early Childhood Educators' Perseverance Experience, Alison Lee Mellott

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the experiences which motivated early childhood educators to persevere in their positions at the same early childhood education center, for five or more years, in south-central Pennsylvania. For the purpose of this research, perseverance was generally defined as continuous teaching at the same site for five or more years. The theory guiding this study was Herzberg’s (1968) motivation hygiene theory as it addressed experiences which impacted job satisfaction and dissatisfaction, directly impacting perseverance. One central research question and two supporting research questions were used to guide the study. The central …


Ipads In Preschools: A Collective Case Study About Tablet Technology In Subsidized Preschool Programs, Dean Tagawa Apr 2018

Ipads In Preschools: A Collective Case Study About Tablet Technology In Subsidized Preschool Programs, Dean Tagawa

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Preschool children today will not remember a time when there were no smartphones, laptops, or iPads. The purpose of this qualitative collective case study was to develop an in-depth understanding of the challenges and benefits of implementing tablet technology for early education teachers that work in subsidized preschool programs. Tablet utilization in preschool classrooms was generally defined as how teachers from five different classrooms utilize tablet technology to enhance the instructional programs for children in subsidized preschool programs. The setting for this study was five early education centers in a large urban school district. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, …


Effects Of Social-Emotional Education On Pre-Kindergarten Student Academic Achievement, Lauren Pierce Starnes Dec 2017

Effects Of Social-Emotional Education On Pre-Kindergarten Student Academic Achievement, Lauren Pierce Starnes

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Social-emotional education is an ongoing area of interest to optimize student achievement and ameliorate problem behaviors. This study examines the systematic effects of social-emotional education on preschool students’ academic achievement testing. A sample of Pre-Kindergarten students from private, suburban preschools was examined for this study. The results of this study yielded strong positive academic achievement scores in the domains of Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Early Math for students exposed to a social-emotional education program compared to a matched sample not exposed to social-emotional education. The results add to the research on social-emotional education by studying a lesser-studied population of …