<p>Educational leadership appropriates significant amounts of money for technology in school budgets. Teachers must decide how to use technology to maximize student learning and make the most efficient use of instructional minutes. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine if a relationship existed between the amount of time students spent in a computer-assisted reading instruction program and the increase in reading skills as measured by an assessment of oral reading fluency. A Pearson Correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between the amount of time 87 first-grade students spent in a computer-assisted reading instruction program and the increase in oral reading fluency test scores measured by the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills test (DIBELS). Numerical information for this study consisted of archived data from the 2010&ndash;2011 school year generated from the computer data bases of DIBELS and the Ticket to Read program. The Pearson Correlation analysis indicated a weak positive relationship between the variables. However, the weak coefficient of determination indicated that the correlation did not have any practical significance. This indication may imply that teachers should not allocate instructional minutes to computer-assisted instruction for the purpose of increasing oral reading fluency. Educational leaders may want to consider other technological interventions that may produce learning opportunities for young students to develop technological awareness and increase oral reading fluency at a reduced cost. Ninety-seven percent of the variance was unaccounted for indicating a need for further research with additional variables. </p>

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The title of this thesis is "iPad and Computer devices in Preschool: A tool for literacy development among teachers and children in preschool." The study was an exploration of how teachers and their pupils put iPad and other computer devices into use in early childhood education. This study was a qualitative research study, based on the observation of the pupils and the interviews of the teachers. In this study, observation of the children and interviewing of the teachers over a period of five weeks produced significant results. The children participants in the observation were approximately 60 and they were between the ages of 3 to 6,5 years. Four preschool teachers and one preschool teaching assistant were interviewed in an attempt to substantiate the use of ICT in early childhood education. The overall result of the study was that the teachers’ positive attitude towards iPad helped to enhance and facilitate the development of literacy skills in the children. This study provided evidence of how children created their own learning environment by actively practising their reading, writing, and comprehension skills. It also showed how ICT enhanced social interaction and developed intra-action activities among the children, to a situation that eventually led to the development in their learning.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of parent or caregiver shared-reading interventions on Hispanic prekindergarten students’ language and literacy scores. In addition, this study investigated the effects of shared reading interventions on Spanish-speaking parents’ home literacy behaviors with their children. Teacher perceptions regarding the effectiveness of the intervention were also examined. The present mixed-methods study was similar to research conducted by Jiménez, Fillipini, & Gerber (2006) and Whitehurst, Falco, Lonigan, Fischel, DeBaryshe, Valdez- Manchaca, & Caulfield (1988) in that shared reading strategies were conducted with parents or caregivers and their children. Differing from previous research, the current study utilized an experimental pretest-posttest control group design, sessions were conducted over a 20-week period, students’ language and literacy scores were examined in both English and Spanish, and Hispanic preschool children and their parents or caregivers served as participants. Statistically significant results were found in students’ oral language scores in English and Spanish. The treatment group scored higher in both languages. Statistically significant results were also found in several aspects of parent or caregiver home literacy behaviors. Parents or caregivers in the treatment group reported reading more to their children in both English and Spanish. The treatment group also reported reading with greater frequency and for greater periods of time with their children. Additionally, children in the treatment group asked to be read to more often and possessed a greater enjoyment for being read to during sessions. Finally, parents or caregivers in the treatment group indicated that they held a greater enjoyment for reading, at the end of the intervention. Teachers in the study perceived the program to be a success and attributed positive changes within the parents or caregivers and children to the intervention.

<p> Verified improvement in the treatment of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in the past decade has involved both early interventionists and parents. It is widely acknowledged that the parent-child relationship is fundamental to the development of communication and social skills, especially for children with ASD, and accordingly that parent education is critical. However, lists of required skills and knowledge in professionally developed curricula designed for parents of children with ASD have not been prioritized by the consensus of large numbers of variously affiliated practitioners. The present research yielded wide professional agreement on the prioritization of such skills and knowledge. The instrument used was a self-evaluating, closed-ended survey administered to 483 behaviorists who treat autism. In particular, the survey identified whether a participant had a child with autism or not. The information gathered will assist in the development of a curriculum intended to guide parents in optimizing the help they can give their children with autism.</p>

Very preterm birth is an important developmental and public health concern, with clear evidence to suggest that very preterm children may be at long term risk of neurodevelopmental impairment and educational difficulties. Although a great deal is known about the neurodevelopmental outcomes associated with very preterm birth,comparatively little is known about the social competence of children born very preterm during the important early childhood period. Therefore, as part of a prospective, longitudinal study, this research examined the social competence of 105 children born very preterm (birth weight <1,500 g and/or gestational age ≤33 weeks) and 108 full term comparison children (gestational age 37-40 weeks) at age 4 years (corrected for extent of prematurity at birth). The aims of this study were 1) to examine the social competence of a regional cohort of children born very preterm and full term comparison children at age four years, 2) to identify infant clinical factors and socio-familial characteristics associated with poor social competence amongst children born very preterm, and 3) to examine the predictive validity of social competence problems amongst both very preterm and full term preschoolers in relation to school academic functioning and behavioural adjustment at age 6 years. At age 4, children were assessed using a range of parent and/or teacher completed questionnaires, spanning emotional regulation, behavioural adjustment and interpersonal social behaviour. Measures included the Emotion Regulation Checklist, the Infant-Toddler Symptoms Checklist, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning “ Preschool version and the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale. In addition, as part of a structured research assessment, children completed a battery of false belief tasks and a short form version of the Weschler Preschool and Primary Scales of Intelligence. Two years later at age 6, school teachers qualitatively rated children's behavioural adjustment and academic achievement in math, reading, spelling and language comprehension compared to their classroom peers. Results showed that relative to their full term peers, some children born very preterm tended to score less well across several areas of social competence. Specifically, parent report showed that children born very preterm were more likely to be characterised by higher levels of emotional dysregulation (p=.002) as well as a range of behavioural adjustment problems, spanning inhibitory control problems (p=.03), hyperactivity/inattention (p=.01), conduct problems (p=.01) and emotional symptoms (p=.008). While elevated rates of behavioural adjustment difficulties were also evident amongst very preterm children within the preschool environment, group differences were not statistically significant. However, a statistical trend towards elevated risk of inhibitory control problems amongst very preterm children in the preschool environment was noted (p=.09). Further, children born very preterm were at around a four-fold risk of emotional regulation difficulties of clinical significance,as well as being around 1.5 times more likely to exhibit clinically significant externalising and internalising behavioural difficulties and interpersonal social problems at age 4 years. In contrast, the interpersonal social behaviours and the extent of social cognitive understanding were largely similar across both groups. This pattern of findings remained largely unchanged following statistical control for the selection effects of family socio-economic status. Amongst children born very preterm, significant infant clinical and sociofamilial predictors of both emotional dysregulation and externalizing behaviour were male gender (p=.008/p=.006), neonatal indomethacin (p=.002/p=.005) and elevated maternal anxiety (p=.009/p=.002). Emotional dysregulation was also predicted by low socio-economic status (p=.002). In contrast, internalising behaviour was predicted only by low birth weight (p=.03). Finally, across both groups significant associations were found between overall social competence problems at age 4 years and later school adjustment with those very preterm and full term preschoolers characterised by poor social competence being at elevated risk of a range of behavioural adjustment difficulties and poor academic functioning in reading, spelling and math at age 6 years (corrected). Links between poor social competence and later behavioural adjustment remained across both groups following statistical control for child IQ, while associations with academic functioning were largely attenuated. By age 4 years a number of very preterm children are beginning to display elevated levels of emotional dysregulation, hyperactivity/inattention, conduct problems and emotional symptoms. Further, a substantial proportion of very preterm children may be at risk of developing clinically significant difficulties with these most pronounced in terms of emotional regulation abilities. Children's abilities to regulate their emotions and behaviour represent important building blocks for their later social and emotional functioning. Further, these abilities will likely influence the extent to which children are able to successfully transition to school. Therefore,alongside other important aspects of development, these findings highlight the importance of monitoring the social abilities of preschoolers who were born very preterm across a range of developmental domains and contexts. Preschoolers characterised by emotional, behavioural and/or interpersonal difficulties could then receive targeted intervention aimed at facilitating their social competence prior to school entry.

Current government policy aims to redress the persistent under-participation of Pasifika children in early childhood education by improving the standard and availability of services delivered through Pasifika early childhood initiatives. This research explores the rationale that underpinned the choices of sixteen New Zealand-born Samoan parents in Christchurch by using the qualitative method of in-depth interviews, structured around a questionnaire. Three primary themes emerged from the primary data: Pasifika early childcare provisions; identity issues; and the effect of generational changes in parenting styles. As first and second generation New Zealand-born Samoans, participants' preference vis-ā-vis the types of early childhood initiatives they accessed, reflected trans-generation differences between the original migrants and their offspring. Moreover, some participants and many of their children are of multi-ethnic heritage, exemplifying the changing face of Pasifika people in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Participants were divided into three groups. Findings indicate that Group A parents, who had the highest levels of social, cultural and economic capital, made informed decisions to access Pasifika Education and Childcare Centres in order to ensure their children were acculturated in Samoan language and culture. While there were multiple reasons why Group B parents withdrew their children from Pasifika services they were generally ambivalent about the effectiveness of Pasifika provisions in meeting the needs of their children. Group C parents did not access Pasifika preschool education; barriers to participation included their personal perceptions of alienation from the traditional Samoan community. Findings suggest that government policy formulation processes exclude the voices of stakeholders who demographers predict will comprise an increasingly large percentage of the population of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Pasifika parity in accessing early childhood education is contingent upon service provision that is conducive to meeting the needs of all Pasifika parents, including those who are marginalized by mainstream society and Pasifika communities.

This qualitative ethnographic study explored the various ways a team of early childhood teachers made sense of, and used, an assessment framework based on learning dispositions and formative assessment for assessing children’s learning. In the late 1980s and early 1990s traditional methods for assessing children were being significantly questioned. The development in 1996 of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, signalled a re-form of assessment practices in the early years. This reform involved a major shift in thinking and practice for teachers who worked in early childhood education. The teachers in this study were already beginning to change their assessment practices to reflect learning dispositions and formative assessment. This study focused on the theoretical and policy framework that reflected the shift toward teachers being encouraged to adopt these new ways for assessing children’s learning Multiple sources of data collection included individual interviews, a group interview, an analysis of documents including relevant policies, staff meeting minutes and Learning Stories written by three of the teachers over a six-month period. Findings revealed that the ways in which the teachers in this study made sense of, and used, the dispositional framework depended on how they viewed the purposes of assessment and their role as teachers. The study also explored some of the consequences of teachers adopting the dispositional framework when they were already experienced in other forms of assessment practice. The significance of self-directed professional development was also highlighted. Implications for management include the need to consider that the theoretical concepts associated with shifting from a developmental approach to a dispositional focus requires extensive time, resources and a team that is committed to change.