<p> The present mixed-methods quasi-experimental study (embedding a case study and a mixed factorial within-between ANOVA test), conducted in a private English school in Limassol, Cyprus, investigated how the use of the schematic learning aids (researcher-made color-coded flash-cards and grids) influence year-2 children's ability to read, write and represent Hindu-Arabic numerals and how these number representations affect their arithmetic competency. This was achieved by comparing an intervention group (n=16) and a control group (n=17) before and after the 2-week intervention. </p><p> It is concluded that the use of the place-value learning aids facilitates numeration system conceptual understanding , reading, writing and representing numbers (in canonical and non-canonical form) by thinking in terms of "100s", "10s" and "1s" (or in terms of color-coded cards). Students visually relate the face-value of the digits (e.g. "3" and "5") of the number (e.g. "35") with the number of flash-cards to be used for the canonical representation (three orange cards and five blue cards). Children also understand how "53" differs from "35" or "503". It is further concluded that the use of the learning aids facilitates addition and subtraction performance in terms of "hundreds", "tens" and "ones" (rather than just "ones") either mentally or by constructing canonical and non-canonical representations with the use of the flash-cards and grids or by constructing abstract representations on paper. Students realize that ten cards of one color can be exchanged with one card of another color (or vice versa). Students further understand how "35-2" differs from "35-20" and how "51-32" differs from "52-31". </p><p> Quantitative data are in agreement with qualitative data, suggesting that children's arithmetic competency is enhanced when taught how to represent numbers, additions and subtractions with the use of the learning aids. The control group mean score increase from before to after intervention was 1,24 marks, compared to an increase of 11,06 marks for the intervention class. The medium to large Cohen's d effect sizes of 0,51 (comparing the intervention group score increase to the control group score increase) or 0,57 (comparing the intervention group score from before to after) indicate strong practical significance.</p>

<p> Multiple-baseline across participants design was used to examine the effects of professional development (PD) and coaching on preschool teachers&rsquo; implementation of embedded-explicit literacy instruction to increase children&rsquo;s opportunities to engage in meaningful, intentional, and contextualized literacy behaviors, as measured by Complete Learning Trials (CLTs). Three teachers were videotaped weekly during free-play and observations were coded for CLT accuracy. After professional development, coaching was provided weekly via email. An immediate effect of PD was observed, with considerable variability once remote feedback was provided. Students&rsquo; early literacy skills were measured prior to and at the end of the study to provide a snapshot of children&rsquo;s literacy-related skills. Compared to pre-intervention scores, children&rsquo;s picture naming, rhyming, sound identification and comprehension skills had significantly increased, however, due to the research design these changes cannot be attributed to teachers&rsquo; implementation or non-implementation of explicit-embedded activities alone.</p>

This study is a qualitative case study of one writer, my daughter Zoe, over a period of two years comparing her writing at home with the writing completed at school during kindergarten and first grade. This study involves descriptions, interpretations, and analyses of Zoe's writing, including the processes and products across the two settings. There are two frames through which the writer and her writing are described, analyzed, and interpreted in this study. The first frame focuses on the purposes for and functions of Zoe's writing activity at home and in school. This includes our present understanding of written language development in terms of purposes and functions, the conditions writers require in order to write, determinants of written language, and the various systems upon which writers rely to make meaning. The second frame through which Zoe's writing is described, interpreted, and analyzed in this study focuses on the nature of the two settings, the home and the school. The settings are analyzed in terms of the activities and experiences in which the writer engages within each setting. The goal of this study is to understand the nature of a young child's writing activity across the home/school settings by analyzing the writing she did in each of those settings. The impact of the social nature of the settings upon her writing activity are also considered. A theoretical framework for written language use and development is presented and discussed as a vehicle for understanding and developing writing programs and developing supportive relationships between the school and the home.

This multiple-case study describes the literacy events that occurred during play in three holistic preschool classrooms over a four-month period. The data includes field notes from observations and from discourse with participants, audiotape transcriptions, interviews, and writing samples. Analytic induction was used for the analysis. Within play, literacy was used as: a support for play themes, a frame for play themes, and as an extraneous aspect of play. Literacy events involved transactions with print, as well as social transactions. Social transactions within literacy events were analyzed for whether they involved: self-construction of meaning, joint construction of meaning, direct instruction, or challenge. The data show that in print-rich environments, where reading and writing materials are accessible, and where literacy is an expected way of life, teachers can meaningfully facilitate literacy development. The teachers capitalized on the many teachable moments that arose during play by carefully observing children and making relevant literacy-related contributions. The children explored and developed their own understandings about literacy, and at the same time, nurtured literacy development in their peers; literacy development was both personal and social. By themselves, and with support from peers and teachers, the children explored the functions and features of written language, they tested their hypotheses about written language, and they developed strategies used by successful readers and writers. Play was found to be a meaningful and effective medium for facilitating literacy development.

Kindergarten was originally conceived as a place for young children to playfully participate in self-initiated investigation and creative work to facilitate their development (Froebel, 1967a). However, over time, curricular mandates have shifted from Froebel’s original conception of kindergarten to prescriptive outcomes that have resulted in a more academically oriented curriculum that emphasizes skills and content in segregated subject areas (Russell, 2011; Stipek, 2004). These expectations and the accompanying accountability have led to the development of a different kind of kindergarten driven by a different set of goals (Stipek, 2004). There has been much discussion concerning the impact of shifting expectations on teacher practice (e.g., Goldstein, 2007b). Much of this research has surrounded a singular debate: the tension between the use of developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) and the obligation to teach prescribed curricular goals (e.g., Einarsdottir, 2008). However, this debate focusses solely on two dichotomous instructional logics and, thus, belies the complexities of the kindergarten classroom (Goldstein, 2007a). To gain a deeper understanding of how kindergarten is enacted in the evolving curricular landscape, this research looks beyond the challenges of integrating competing perspectives and into the interconnected factors at play in a classroom. Accordingly, in this study, I use a conceptual lens informed by Schwab’s conception of the eclectic (1971) and the four commonplaces (1973) to examine the multiple factors that contribute to the development of a kindergarten classroom environment. I re-envision the four commonplaces – subject matter, teacher, milieu, and learner – to align them with contemporary conceptions of educational purposes, practical theory, classroom climate, and childhood. Acknowledgement of kindergarten as an eclectic space provides a framework to explore the concurrent inclusion of both academic and developmental orientations. Using an ethnographic approach that integrates data from classroom observations, teacher interviews, and photo elicitation interviews with the students, I robustly describe learning in three full day kindergarten classrooms in Ontario. The data demonstrate that a successful, albeit different, balance between academic learning and developmentally appropriate practices is present in each of these classrooms. / Thesis (Ph.D, Education) -- Queen's University, 2013-04-28 23:45:55.34

<p> This study is an examination of early intervention services for infants/toddlers with visual impairments, as related to home-based services and andragogy learning theory. Early intervention refers to therapeutic services provided to eligible infants/toddlers while andragogy emphasizes how adults learning. Research discussed the implementation of andragogical factors with parents of infants/toddlers appeared limited. The null hypotheses statements addressed four variables related to infant/toddler with visual impairments assessment scores, the number of home visit units authorized by the child&rsquo;s Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) and implemented by the early intervention service provider, responses on the family outcome survey, and service provider responses regarding the use of andragogical factors during early intervention home visits.</p><p> The researcher examined secondary data related to assessment scores of infants/toddlers with visual impairments, the frequency of home visits implemented by a Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI) and/or Orientation and Mobility (O and M) specialist, comparison of early intervention units, and results of a Family Outcome Survey. The researcher co-authored the Modified Instructional Perspectives Inventory for Teachers working with Parents of Young Children (MIPI-TPC) to measure the frequency in which early intervention service providers implemented andragogical factors during home visits. Participants of this study included 30 infants/toddlers with visual impairments receiving early intervention services from a TVI and/or O and M specialist. Seventeen families completed the Family Outcome Survey and three early intervention service providers completed the MIPI-TPC. The utilization and analysis of descriptive statistics, a <i>t</i>-test of dependent means, and the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, Analysis of Variance, and <i>Chi-Square</i> test determined relationships among the variables.</p><p> The results demonstrated limited relationships with assessment scores, frequency of home visits, units provided and authorized in the infant/toddler&rsquo;s IFSP, and parent responses on the Family Outcome Survey. However, the MIPI-TPC results reported the service providers implementing andragogical factors within the category levels of above average and average. The prominent finding of the study supported the integration of andragogy learning theory during early intervention services. Future studies linking the two fields together may benefit the advocacy of early intervention service providers, empowerment of parents, and most importantly, infants/toddlers with developmental delays. </p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of Missouri public school early childhood teachers and administrators in regard to technology and current practices. If educators have not analyzed their current perceptions regarding technology, they may not use developmentally appropriate technology practices with students (Dietze &amp; Kashin, 2013). According to Anderkin (2015), the position statement from the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning offers guidance for developmentally appropriate technology practices in early childhood. Participants in this study were asked interview questions to determine their perceptions of technology in early childhood classrooms. The interview questions were also utilized to identify what teaching strategies were currently being used when implementing technology and the perceptions of early childhood educators in terms of professional development regarding technology in early childhood. High-quality professional development opportunities for early childhood educators play a role in developmentally appropriate technology integration (White, 2015). The sample group for the study included nine Missouri Preschool Program (MPP) teachers affiliated with public schools in southwest Missouri and nine administrators affiliated with public schools in southwest Missouri with a minimum of one MPP classroom. Results from this study indicated most early childhood educators are in favor of technology in the classroom in moderation. Both teachers and administrators reported a lack of professional development opportunities specific to implementation of technology in early childhood. </p>

<p> The focus of this dissertation was to explore the importance of high quality early education in later secondary education development, quantifying quality in early childhood education programs, and examining how teacher education contributes to quality of early childhood education programs. For phase I, early childhood education positively associated with improved eighth grade state proficiency percentages in the mathematics and writing summative assessment scores. When examining scoring procedures for <i>Colorado Shines</i> QRIS in phase II, programs that accepted Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP), were not part of Colorado Preschool Program (CPP), had children that spoke more than one language, and accepted infants overall scored the lowest scores of early education programs. Phase III results showed that teachers with bachelor&rsquo;s degrees did not significantly improve overall student mathematics and literacy scores under <i>TS Gold</i> compared to students of teachers that did not have bachelor&rsquo;s degrees.</p>

<p>Across the globe, the viability of welfare states depends on the success of policy adaptations to a post-industrial, internationalized economy and domestic demographic changes that encompass family formation, declines in fertility, and lifespan extensions of the elderly. One of the most important issues facing contemporary welfare states is the need to adjust social policy to the demise of the male breadwinner model in favor of the increased participation of women and mothers in the workforce. Whereas childrearing was traditionally the central occupation of stay-at-home mothers, their workforce participation has necessitated out-of-home care for children under the ages of five or six, before the start of primary school. Providing financial supports and investing in early childhood care and education are several policy instruments that can be used, not only to ease the burden of care faced by working mothers and their partners, but to promote the well-being and long-term economic productivity of their children as adults. In turn, the increased economic productivity of future generations can mitigate social risks and threats to the survival of the welfare state. Using a social investment approach based on human capital development in children, a set of indices is constructed to measure public investments in early childhood by ten member countries of the OECD from 2001 through 2011. The indices permit a theoretical exploration of patterns of expenditure and characteristics of policy design relative to their conformity to acknowledged types of welfare state regimes. The indices are also used to detect empirical changes in welfare state expenditures for early childhood investments pre- and post- the fiscal crisis of 2008. The study contributes to the literature of welfare state theory by situating investments in early childhood as a stage in the evolution of family policy; by creating a set of measures that characterizes public investments from a child-centered developmental perspective, one that is less prominent than work-family balance and gender equity viewpoints; and lastly, by combining expenditures and policy design components into a single measure.

<p> A Multi-Tier System of Support (MTSS) for academic skills is widely recognized as the best practice framework for supporting all students. Additionally, the recent shift from constructivist pedagogy toward more intentional teaching of mathematics at the preschool level has encouraged more explicit mathematics instruction with younger children. In spite of these advances, there are no published best practice guidelines for implementing MTSS for mathematics at the prekindergarten level. The current study sought to investigate one possible way to implement effective instructional practices for preschool mathematics within a multi-tier system, including the use of validated screening and progress monitoring instruments. A centers-based mathematics curriculum was implemented at the universal level within an inclusive preschool classroom. Universal screening was conducted using curriculum-based measurement (CBM) in order to identify at-risk students in need of additional instruction. A supplemental prekindergarten program was implemented with small instructional groups at the secondary tier of support. Students receiving supplemental instruction were progress-monitored using growth-sensitive CBMs in a multiple baseline across dyads research design. Results and limitations of the study are discussed. Finally, topics for future exploration in preschool mathematics are suggested. </p>