The purpose of this study is two-fold: (1) to evaluate an instrument for measuring the self-concept of middle grade children; and (2) to determine the relationship of a middle-grade child's self-concept to his peer status, his classification by the teacher as a problem in behavior or classroom management, and to his academic achievement.

The problem of this study is the effect of movement from the sixth grade to the seventh grade upon student social status, attitude toward school, and achievement.

The purpose of this study was to explore the developmental characteristics of young children (ages 11-60 months) with prenatal substance-exposure. A developmental rating scale, the Developmental Checklist (DC) of the Developmental Observation Checklists (DOCs) was utilized. The DC measures the domains of language, motor, social/behavioral, and cognition, as well as overall developmental status.

The purposes of this study were to determine if a kindergartener's developmental stage correlates with subsequent scholastic achievement, to determine whether developmentally younger children who repeat kindergarten attain higher academic achievement than developmental 1y younger children who do not repeat kindergarten, and to investigate the relationship between head circumference, developmental age, and achievement. Ninety-seven kindergartners of various ethnicity and socio-economic status were administered the Gesell School Readiness Screening Test to determine developmental age and were followed academically for three years. Head circumference was noted periodically to measure brain growth. The hypotheses predicted significant positive correlations between developmental age in kindergarten and scores on later achievement tests. Further, it was predicted that children below 5.3 years in developmental age who delayed entrance to first grade would score significantly higher on first grade achievement tests than match-paired promoted students. It was hypothesized that there would be significant correlations between head circumference growth and (a) gains in achievement test scores and (b) developmental age at kindergarten. The first hypothesis, tested by Pearson Product Moment Correlations, established the existence of significant correlations between developmental ages of test subjects and their scores on four academic achievement tests. The results indicated that developmental age was a better predictor of achievement test scores than chronological age. Since only five children in this study were retained in kindergarten, hypothesis 2 was analyzed descriptively. Mean scores on first grade achievement tests were higher for the retainees than for the "at risk" non-retainees. Hypothesis 3 was tested by stepwise multiple regression. At the first step, the linear trend between the independent variable, CTBS score, and the dependent variable, I TBS score, was calculated and found to be significant at the .001 level. The addition of head circumference growth to the equation did not add significantly to the prediction of I TBS scores from CTBS scores. There was a significant negative correlation between developmental age in kindergarten and head growth.

No description available.

The study explores children in middle childhood’s experiences of homeschooling. The researcher makes use of a qualitative research design in the form of a case study, studying the participants’ experiences of homeschooling in their natural setting. The sample consisted of children in middle childhood who participated in semi-structured interviews exploring their individual experiences pertaining to learning at home, their familial relationships and their social learning in the homeschooling environment. Developmental aspects relating specifically to middle childhood are discussed and utilised along with the views of the participants in this study, those of experts, and literature reviews in order to gain a genuine understanding of the child’s experience of homeschooling. / Sociology / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

Thesis to Changes in attitudes in education and care in early child development is the analysis of current attitudes and opinions in the concept of motherhood in the generation of mothers and daughters. The theoretical part deals with the educational and developmental aspects of early stages of child development, reflects a shift from authoritarian educational orientation to the humanist conception of education. The empirical part presents results of research probes obtained by questionnaire survey, which was attended by 40 pairs of mothers and their daughters.

Master of Science / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Bronwyn Fees / An increased focus on school readiness in recent years has placed more attention on the importance of quality early care and education settings for children ages 3 to 5 years. The first five years of a child’s life represent a crucial period for development, and care settings impact children’s outcomes in a variety of domains. Preparation of teachers in order to provide a high-quality level of care that supports positive outcomes for children is critical. This report assesses the current state of the literature on effective professional development for early childhood professionals (primarily those working center-based settings with children ages 3 to 5 years), specifically as it relates to improved outcomes for children in the areas of social-emotional competence and language and literacy development. Methods for adult learning are also reviewed and recommendations for appropriate models of professional development based upon this review are provided. It is recommended that specific aspects within models of professional development be reviewed further to determine more concrete predictors in terms of what is effective for adult learning and application of concepts. It also is recommended that early care and education providers take part in professional development activities that have an added level of support and feedback, such as coaching, to assist in improving instructional practices to impact developmental outcomes in targeted areas, such as literacy.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Mary Catherine (Katie) Kingery-Page / According to Barbara Hendricks, play environment designer and consultant, “If we want children to grow up with a zest for living we need to give them living spaces that express life as a grand experience.” Hendricks emphasizes playtime is important for children to process formal lessons (Hendricks 2011). This applied design research project seeks to facilitate child development through an experiential learning playscape while addressing stormwater management for Bluemont Elementary School. The central research question of this project is: How can school playgrounds be designed to afford children improved social interactions and experiential learning? An exploration of landscape affordances theory (Sanseter and Hansen 2009, Heft 1988) and experiential learning (Kolb 1984), combined with social interactions and cognitive child development (Addo-Atuah 2012), formed a theory base for the project. Playground observations, stakeholder surveys, stakeholder interviews, and site inventory and analysis informed the eventual design. Major factors influencing students’ play include age, playground rules, equipment available for use, and weather. Site conditions, including topography and site drainage, can also influence students’ play. In current conditions, stormwater is a schoolyard liability restricting play and safe site circulation. The researcher gathered insights from student surveys, playground observations, teacher interviews, and site inventory and analysis to complete a comprehensive master plan. The comprehensive master plan and detailed stormwater management plan address the schoolyard over the next twenty to fifty year outlook. The designs resolve practical issues while increasing the variety of site educational and play affordances available to students and teachers for play and learning. A primary goal of the detailed plan is to convert stormwater schoolyard liabilities into amenities and educational tools.

Children are endowed with agency, a fundamental trait of humanity which is accomplished through collective striving. This striving occurs as children meet, and create, their world and its expectations of them. I explore how one particular 2-year-old child, Emily, encounters her world. The study focuses on Emily’s agency and power as she meets an adult society which extends control into her life. Through Emily’s life, I illustrate how this extension of control creates confined spaces of childhood which infantilize and regulate Emily. The socially constructed childhood Emily encounters denies and ignores much of her agency. Yet, Emily powerfully and irreparably alters the world she meets, generating novel landscapes as she pushes back against the world. Emily refuses to concede to the world presented to her; she instead takes the world and changes it. I use ethnographic, idiographic methods to describe the extension of control into children’s lives as adult imperialism and locate Emily’s powerful agency in her transformative dissent and stance of opposition. Field observations occurred over a nine-month period; interviews were conducted with Emily, her parents, and her teachers. The Transformative Activist Stance, a critical expansion of cultural-historical activity theory outlined by Dr. Anna Stetsenko, is used as an orienting framework. All data was audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed to offer a convincing argument regarding agency and imperialism in Emily’s life. I argue that Emily’s transformative dissent is the social assertion of her agency and that she, like all children, deserves to be appreciated and celebrated for her capacity to matter in the world-as-it-is-being-made. Social accomplishments are implicated in the research as manifestations of individual agency: Emily matters because of how she engages with others. This research suggests a critical shift away from vertical adult-child relationships, which are presented in the data as defined by regulation and control, and towards horizontal relationships, oriented around recognition and appreciation. A horizontal relationship implies shedding developmental assumptions about children and ceding back to them areas of their own lives.