The purpose of the study is to approach the problem from a practical and workable angle in determining which definite and significant influences have been of benefit to the first-grade pupils of Sherman, Texas, in preparing them for reading readiness.

E-learning continues to gain popularity as a way of delivering instruction in the workplace. However, adoption of e-learning is often considered without determining organizational readiness for e-learning. Comacchio and Scapolan (2004) found that bandwagon pressures such as fear of losing competitive advantage often drive e-learning adoption decisions. Many organizations use various types of analysis to determine instructional need but often at a course level. An e-learning readiness analysis tool will add to existing tools but focus on the workplace organization as the unit of study. The purpose of this design and development study is to create an analysis tool for determining e-learning readiness in organizations. Four existing e-learning readiness models, Aydin and Tasci (2005); Chapnick (2005); Borotis and Poulymenakou (2005) and Psycharis (2005), were used as a basis for identifying factors affecting e-learning readiness which informed the tool design. Using developmental research-based practices the tool was developed for use by practitioners. This study describes the design and development of the tool and the expert review used in the validation of the tool. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study has been to discover print awareness of kindergarten children in Taiwan and the evidence that they are constructing knowledge about written Chinese. The study utilized Print Awareness Tasks including twenty environmental print items chosen from the Taiwanese society. Sixteen kindergartners age from three to six were the informants. These children were asked to read and respond to environmental print items with a different degree of decontextualization in each of the two task sessions. The results of the study showed that kindergarten children in Taiwan are highly aware of print in their environment. These young children demonstrated high semantic intent when they read environmental print. They used various information sources available to them, which include contextual clues in the print setting and their personal experience and background knowledge. They also showed that they used their developing concepts about the Chinese writing system as linguistic strategies to help them read the print items. There were differences between the responses to the two task sessions in terms of semantic and pragmatic characteristics and use of information. The contextual clues appeared to play a significant role in reading of environmental print. There were also differences between age groups. Three and six year olds differed from other age groups in terms of the semantic and pragmatic characteristic of their responses and their use of information. The children demonstrated that they were developing important concepts about the Chinese writing system. They were hypothesizing the representational relationships in language between: (a) written representation and the object it represents; (b) written representation and oral utterance--character-syllable correspondence; and (c) segmentation in written representation--language units. Most of the children had developed the concept of character as a written segment and word as a semantic segment. Very few of them had concept of the radical. They appeared read in a holistic way. The older children tended to develop concepts which were more specific and were closer to the conventions; however, no fixed linear developmental progress by age is suggested by the data.

School readiness is a prominent issue in early childhood education as adults strive to prepare young children for school. The desirability of school readiness lies within the notion that if children enter kindergarten prepared, then they will be successful throughout their schooling. However, school readiness is a complex concept. It is perceived differently by parents, teachers, policy makers, and researchers. Nationally, children are the only stakeholders whose voices are ignored in the discussions of school readiness. Based on three frameworks, that children are active agents in their experiences, that children have the right to be heard, and that children should not be silenced by traditional research practices, this dissertation proposed that children could participate in research to express their views about being ready for school. Since the central argument for school readiness is that children who enter school prepared will be successful later in school, it was imperative to determine how children’s views on school readiness were linked to later school-related outcomes. Therefore, this dissertation also sought children’s perceptions of their adjustment to school (i.e. their attitudes toward school). In a two-part study, 36 kindergartners from Southern Arizona participated in interviews, activities, and a survey to discuss their perceptions of being ready for school in the beginning of kindergarten and their attitudes toward school at the end of kindergarten. Participants consistently revealed that they needed to create positive peer relationships and that they needed to comply with institutional demands (rules, routines, and tasks) in order to be ready for and succeed in school. In addition, participants revealed three influential factors that affected their attitudes toward school: types of activities (academic versus extracurricular), play, and peer relationships. Participants who didn't like academic activities, who didn’t view school as a place for play, and who had fewer peer relationships struggled with adjusting to school and reported low school liking. Finally, a qualitative analysis was conducted to investigate trends that emerged between kindergarteners' perceptions of school readiness at the beginning of the year and their attitudes toward school at the end of the school year. School readiness perceptions that were centered on the rules, routines, and tasks (work) of school were related to less positive attitudes toward school and perceptions centered on knowledge/skills (learning) and prosocial behaviors were related to more positive attitudes toward school. These patterns suggest that students will enjoy school if they perceive school to be intellectually and socially empowering rather than institutionally limiting. These findings confirm that young children have unique insights of school readiness and what they need to succeed in school. Additionally, their early perceptions of school readiness are related to their later attitudes toward school suggesting that these views should be given due weight. In order for these views to be given due weight, adults should consider how to incorporate children's perspectives regarding school readiness into educational practices and policies. Children's perspectives provide insight into the experiences and challenges of being a new student. Only by listening to children can adults identify how to support and prepare children for success in school.

This study sought to determine if visual perceptual training could be effectively used to improve the school readiness skills of kindergarten children.

acase@tulane.edu / Background: Early life and learning experiences have the potential to influence a person’s health throughout the lifespan. These influences, for children of low socioeconomic status in the United States, are compounded by the existence of racial and socioeconomic disparities exist in both child health and development. One of the pathways through which early life and learning experiences affect adult health is through educational attainment, which is initially exhibited through school readiness (i.e. how prepared children are for school). Research in this area traditionally focuses on early learning environments and family level dynamics as predictors of school readiness, although evidence suggests that non-academic factors, like child health, and even more distal factors such as neighborhood structural and social context, contribute to how ready a child is for school. While many have theorized about the relation between both physical health and school readiness and neighborhood social context and school readiness, empirical evidence is limited. Objective: The objective of this research was to investigate non-academic factors related to the behavioral and cognitive domains of school readiness (language and literacy, social-emotional, numeracy/cognitive) including physical health and neighborhood social context. Methods: The research was conducted as a mixed methods design: 1) a longitudinal, retrospective matched cohort study, using data from the Educare Learning Network’s 2007-2015 data set which included data from 26,810 children enrolled in 20 Educare schools across the United States with children propensity matched on exposure, either by health status (see Aim 1 p. 15) or parental perceived neighborhood support (see Aims 2-3 p 16); and 2) a qualitative study conducted with parents of children ages 0-5 in New Orleans, Louisiana and aimed at a deeper understanding of parent perceptions of school readiness, neighborhood, child health and the intersection of these concepts. Results: Results from Paper 1 indicate that there is an association between asthma and school readiness outcomes, however this may be confounded by child and family level factors and may also differ by child race or sex. Paper 2 Quantitative results indicate that there is an association between perceived neighborhood support and child health and school readiness, particularly social emotional development, and that these results may differ by child race and sex and that there are significant interactions between neighborhood and race playing a role. Qualitative analysis in Paper 2 indicated common themes of perception of neighborhood, neighborhood safety, and stress and these discussed in relationship to their impact on their children. Paper 3 Results indicate that parental stress and parent-child relationship, individually and in sequence, are mediators of the relationship between perceived neighborhood support and receptive vocabulary scores, but mediation was not significant for other child cognitive, language, and physical health outcomes. Conclusions: Findings from this study contribute to the current understanding of external factors, outside of the early learning environment, that contribute to disparities in child health and school readiness in a vulnerable population. Not only as they relate to childhood, but also to adult health and well-being across the life course. The data will provide empirical evidence to inform programs and policies related to external factors that may impact school readiness for a high quality early education programs. / 1 / Lauren Futrell Dunaway

No description available.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--PlanB (Ed. Spec.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.