Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

Nearly 70% of preschool children in the United States are enrolled in child care facilities. This means that they eat many meals away from their homes. Despite government support for childhood nutrition through the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), research that measures the nutritional value of meals served in child care facilities has been lacking. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there are differences in the calories and nutritional value of lunch meals offered to preschool children in facilities that participate in CACFP and in facilities that do not participate in CACFP. Ajzen's theory of planned behavior formed the theoretical foundation for this study. Two research questions addressed the nutrient and caloric content of lunches served in CACFP and non-CACFP facilities. An ex post facto quasi experimental design was used to compare 598 meals from existing monthly menus from a random sample of 30 child care facilities located in a state in the Southwestern United States. Using a MANOVA test, significantly greater amounts of proteins, fats, and calories were found in meals served by non-CACFP facilities. A comparison of actual menu items suggested that greater numbers of fatty foods were present in menus served at non-CACFP facilities. These results support literature that found childhood illnesses, like obesity and malnutrition, may stem from high-calorie meals that lack adequate nutrients. This study may contribute to positive social change by supporting nutrition oversight, such as that provided by the CACFP program; encouraging tighter state and local nutritional guidelines in child care; and focusing attention on the importance of everyday nutrition for all children attending child care facilities.

Despite state requirements, standards, and recommendations from various early childhood agencies, huge differences exist in levels of education held by teachers of 4-year-olds in early childhood classrooms, which may affect the quality of service they offer to children as well as students' performance on assessments. This quantitative study determined whether significant differences existed between assessment scores of at-risk children taught by teachers with different levels of education and years of experience using standardized assessments (Teaching Strategies GOLD [TSG] and Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening [PALS]). The theoretical framework for this study was Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory of human development. Data were analyzed using a descriptive and 1-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Pretest and posttest data were collected from an archived database of TSG and PALS assessment scores of 142 at-risk Prekindergarten 4 children who were taught by 18 different Prekindergarten 4 teachers at a local Head Start site. A 1-way MANOVA multivariate test indicated that assistant teachers' level of education was statistically significant at p = .012. A univariate 1-way ANOVA indicated that no statistically significant difference was found among the groups of dependent variables. It is recommended that attention be focused on teacher practice and teacher-child interaction backed with adequate professional development, rather than levels of education and experience. This study may support the hiring of committed teachers who can turn knowledge into practice and use data to inform their practice to unlock the potential of at-risk children.

This study explored mothers’ perceptions about kindergarten readiness and practices in preparing their child for kindergarten. The relationship between maternal educational level and the developmental appropriateness of their perceptions and practices in preparing their children for kindergarten was examined. The relationship between the child’s birth status and the developmental appropriateness of mothers’ responses was also investigated. A questionnaire asking parents about their perceptions and practices with their child entering kindergarten was sent home to 60 families who had enrolled their child in the Adele and Dale Young Child Development Laboratory at Utah State University during the 2010-2011 academic year; 33 mothers returned completed questionnaires. The questionnaire contained statements for the parents to rate in importance and in frequency of their child participating in an activity. A variety of developmental areas such as literacy, math, motor, and social were included in the statements. The findings from the study suggest that mothers were more developmentally appropriate in their responses to their perceptions of kindergarten readiness than they were in their responses about their actual practices in preparing their child for kindergarten. However, mothers were mostly developmentally appropriate in their responses in all areas. They seemed to understand the importance of literacy and mathematics in young children’s lives, but they may not understand how wide the spectrum is for a child learning about literacy and mathematics in developmentally appropriate ways. The participants had low means with their responses to some of the literacy practices, such as with how children should be taught letter and word recognition. Mothers were most developmentally appropriate in their perceptions of being involved in their child’s education. They appeared to understand that being involved in their child’s education will help their child transition to and be more successful in school than if they were not involved. Overall, it was found that mothers had a reasonably good understanding of what is developmentally appropriate to prepare children for kindergarten; however, they were not as clear about what is less developmentally appropriate for preparing children for kindergarten. Limitations, implications, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to determine if data routinely collected during the kindergarten year and at entry into first grade could be used to predict whether a child would be perceived as successful or not successful by the end of first grade. The need for immediate continued research on this topic was established through the review of literature, which highlighted the extent of the at-risk problem both locally and nationally. The growing number of at-risk students combined with the minimal impact of the educational programs mandates the need to identify these students in time to prevent school failure. However, clear identification procedures are not currently available and previous studies have raised substantial questions regarding the accuracy of early identification procedures. The presenting problem of this study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of a set of predictor variables, and then to analyze these findings as to whether or not they were accurate enough for use as an initial identification process for subsequent classes. The primary research approach of this study was a longitudinal data collection and correlational analysis, with discriminant analysis techniques used to determine predictive accuracy. The study was limited to data on the class of 2001 from two elementary schools within the Washougal School District. The data collected and the subsequent analysis were used to answer six exploratory research questions. No hypothesis was proposed. This study used ratings and scores obtained from the administration of the Preschool Screening system, kindergarten teacher ratings, the School Success Rating Scale, and the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Readiness Tests as predictor variables. Criterion measures of school success/failure were: placement into special programs or grade retention, and end-of-first-grade evaluations of individual student success (report cards, teacher ratings, Gates-MacGinitie Reading Achievement, and the School Success Ratings Scale). The demographic variables of gender, age, parent marital status, and eligibility for free or reduced lunch were analyzed for their potential to exceed or enhance the accuracy of the predictor variables. Three types of measurement were defined and required in order for a predictor or predictor combination to be considered adequate for use in an identification process. These were overall accuracy, criterion sensitivity and specificity accuracy, and prediction sensitivity and specificity accuracy. An 80 percent accuracy level was desired on all three types of measurement. Findings of this study indicated that no single or combination of predictor, and/or demographic variables produced all three desired levels of accuracy. Various combinations of the predictor and demographic variables produced overall accuracy rates exceeding 80 percent for each of the criterion variables. Criterion measured sensitivity and specificity were found to be adequate for use in the prediction of at-risk students. Prediction measured specificity was also found to be highly accurate. Prediction sensitivity, however, was below the desired 80 percent level, indicating that the predictor variables over identify at-risk students. It was concluded that the predictor variables could be used in an identification process if mild over-identification of at-risk students was acceptable to the district. Any use of these identification procedures is assumed to be in connection with ethical intervention practices. Recommendations from this study included cross validation of the results and continuation of the study regarding the predictive accuracy of the identified variables as the students move through higher grade levels. The study also encouraged the Washougal School District to develop a formal collection and processing procedure for their routinely collected data.

High-quality preschool is freely available at two locations in a rural area. However, many parents choose not to send their children to preschool at all, despite its availability and demonstrated benefits to children. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory study was to understand why families did not enroll children pre-K. Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems model was used as a conceptual framework for the study. which suggests that child development is influenced by multiple environmental factors. Research questions were related to examining the perspectives of parents who had not enrolled their children in pre-K on their inhibitions and inducements to enroll their children in pre-K. Interviews were conducted with parents who did not enroll their children in high-quality preschool. Semi-structured interviews with 12 parents of kindergarten-enrolled children at a single school in a mid-west state were conducted to address questions. Data acquired from interviews were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding. Inhibitors to enrollment included lack of transportation, lack of knowledge of program availability, and parental attachment to their young child. Participants reported the currently zero cost as an inducement, and they noted that more convenient transportation and extended pre-K hours would also induce them to enroll their children in pre-K. Parents disagreed about the usefulness of pre-K, with some asserting its benefit in providing academic skills and socialization and others arguing that it is not beneficial to children. This study could lead to positive social change by encouraging public outreach to inform parents better about the benefits of high-quality pre-K programs and ways to increase knowledge of their availability.

Despite positive effects of parent engagement on children's school success, prior research into parent engagement has relied almost exclusively on interactions by mothers and has not included fathers. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the perspectives of preschool teachers regarding their engagement with fathers of children in their classrooms. The conceptual framework was Epstein's 6 types of parental involvement. Three research questions, regarding teachers' perspectives of father engagement, teachers' reported efforts to increase the engagement of fathers, and the barriers teachers describe in increasing fathers' engagement, form the basis of this study. This was a qualitative study using the interviews of 9 lead preschool teachers with at least 3 years' experience, who work with children 2 to 5 years old. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis following open coding of interview transcripts. Five themes emerged including the teachers' comfort level, communication preferences, limiting center perspectives, limiting teacher perspectives, and fathers' disengagement. Findings indicated that teachers felt uncomfortable with fathers and preferred to communicate with mothers, and father engagement was hampered by limiting assumptions by the center and by teachers, and by fathers' perceived lack of interest. This study presents implications for positive social change by suggesting that individual teachers can increase parent engagement by being more inclusive of fathers, including becoming more comfortable engaging fathers, communicating with fathers directly, and being open to fathers' engagement in a variety of ways. When fathers feel welcome in childcare settings, children benefit because both parents are working on the child's behalf.

Choosing the most effective method of teaching literacy acquisition that will improve student achievement is a challenge for many early childhood educators. The problem is the target school district where this study took place did not have a curriculum for preschool teachers to use that provided reading instruction. The purpose of this causal comparative study was to explore the relationship between Concepts About Print (CAP) scores of preschool students who received direct CAP instruction and those who received indirect instruction through indirect reading and writing activities. Guided by Marie Clay's theory, which concludes that reading difficulties among beginning readers stem from a lack of attention to print concepts, this study examined students' knowledge of print conventions. A comparative research design compared pre- and post-test scores on the CAP assessment. An analysis of covariance with the pretest as the covariate was also performed in this study. Results revealed that students who were taught print concepts directly scored higher on the CAP assessment than did the students who were taught indirectly. Research findings from this study could aid administrators in the target school district with developing a technique to teach reading for preschool teachers on the local level, which will lead to social change by providing each preschool student with the strong literacy foundation needed to ensure later school success. Lifelong readers can begin in preschool.

As students enter kindergarten, some students are more academically prepared than others. This study looked at the relationships among preschool attendance, preschool type (i.e., public, private, Head Start, and home-based technology providers) and preschool quality and early mathematical literacy skills for diverse students. The study sought to answer three research questions: What is the relationship between preschool attendance and early mathematical literacy? What is the relationship between preschool type and early mathematical literacy? What is the relationship between preschool quality and early mathematical literacy? Within each research question, there was also an investigation to see if there were differing effects for diverse student demographics. Data was obtained from the USBE in relation to preschool enrollment records and kindergarten entry scores on the state mandated Kindergarten Entry and Exit Profile (KEEP) assessment for all kindergarten students enrolled in the 2017-18 school year. The researcher conducted a 2x2 Factor ANOVA, independent group means t-tests, and multiple regression analysis to determine relationships among preschool attendance, type, and quality and early mathematical literacy. In general, the independent variables of attending preschool and the quality of the preschool did not seem to have the positive influence expected on early mathematical literacy as a whole, but when looking more specifically at the demographic covariates, there were some positive influences. Students who participated in online preschool programming on average experienced the highest early mathematical literacy scores. Overall, the results suggested that students from diverse backgrounds experience improved early mathematical literacy when they attended preschool. Therefore, with the limited funding available for preschool, policymakers should consider which students might most benefit from preschool experience and target limited resources to such populations.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 168-178).