Programwide implementation uses implementation science to provide the supports needed so all practitioners can use DEC recommended practices to improve child outcome. Participants will learn the process of programwide implementation, tools, and strategies they can use and how programwide implementation occurs within classroom and home visiting programs.

Book Summary: The new edition integrates thirteen critical themes that are foundational to the field today: the importance of children’s literacy development, teaching in increasingly diverse classrooms, applying developmentally appropriate practice, closing the achievement gaps between children in poverty and those that are more economically advantaged, integrating special education and early childhood education, teaching in an inclusive classroom, closing school readiness gaps, meeting the challenges of teacher accountability, integrating STEM subjects into the curriculum, providing for children’s mental health, using technology to support learners, developing as a professional, and guiding children’s behavior to promote personal responsibility. The new edition retains the engaging style that has made the book so popular and provides practical examples of authentic teaching practices used by master teachers around the country. Its strong coverage of development in the age-specific chapters and its emphasis on diversity make it the leading book in the field. The Enhanced Pearson eText features embedded video, video analysis exercises, and assessments.

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This portfolio and the project described therein, focus on applied professional ethics for early childhood education settings, particularly during fieldwork, for students and practising professionals. It contains the results of a four year project of research, its synthesis and its dissemination as articles, book chapters, conference presentations and papers and teaching resource materials. Specifically, the materials presented here focus on the resolution of dilemmas using the Ethical Response Cycle, a new model for responding ethically to problematic situations. The model is represented as a cyclical diagram depicting the ongoing, fluid and non-hierarchical nature of ethical judgement that is needed by professionals in any problematic situation. The model includes phases which are underpinned and supported by reflective thinking and negotiation, and are based on Western ethical positions. Suggestions for further research are made. / Doctor of Education ( Ed.D.)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2007. / Title from title screen (site viewed Dec. 5, 2007). PDF text: vi, 206 p. : ill. ; 9 Mb. UMI publication number: AAT 3271925. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

The purpose of the study was to determine what changes have occurred in the attitudes and judgments of Indiana public school superintendents regarding early childhood programs and the public school system. This study replicated a 1976 study conducted by Link. The population for the study included all Indiana public school superintendents. The sample was comprised of 1990-91 superintendents who were willing to complete and return the questionnaire.Instrument Used for Collection of DataThe instrument consisted of forty-five (45) items. A Likert type scale was used to record respondents' attitudes and judgment concerning selected issues. One open-ended question allowed for generalized comments.A Chi-Square procedure was used to test the five stated hypotheses. An overall significance level of .05 was used. Individual items were tested at an appropriate level of confidence to ensure the overall .05 level was not exceeded for a decision in regard to the hypothesis. At least one item exceeded the alpha level established for each subgroup of items pertaining to the null hypotheses. All five null hypotheses were therefore rejected at the .05 level of confidence.General Findings1. Indiana public school superintendents in 1990 have altered their judgments and/or attitudes concerning early childhood programs and the public schools when their response to the issues measured by the instrument and the response provided in the Link (1976) study are compared.2. Compared to the respondents of Link (1976), a larger number of Indiana public school superintendents in 1990 are willing to state a position, either favoring agreement or favoring disagreement concerning issues pertinent to early childhood programs and the public schools.3. Compared to the respondents of Link (1976), a larger number of Indiana public school superintendents in 1990 expressed an affirmative response or an attitude favoring agreement with selected statements concerning issues pertinent to early childhood programs and the public schools. / Department of Educational Leadership

This research study had two primary purposes. The first purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of professional development training sessions with early childhood educators by measuring the emergent literacy skills of their students. The second purpose was to begin to establish concurrent validity for a fairly new skills-based instrument with an established norm-referenced instrument.A pretest-posttest design to assess the children's emergent literacy skills was utilized. After the pretest was conducted with the subjects, ages 3-5 years old, their teachers from the experimental group attended professional development sessions to address emergent literacy strategies for their early childhood classrooms. The teachers in the control group did not participate in the professional development sessions. At the conclusion of the intervention period the children's emergent literacy skills were posttested.The pretest and posttest assessments were conducted following best practice guidelines for early childhood education assessments. The early childhood educators who knew the children well completed the skills-based instrument through an observation process with a rating scale. The primary researcher conducted the norm-referenced instrument with each of the children in a one-on-one situation at the child's early childhood center.The scores of the two instruments were analyzed to evaluate the gains of the children, the significance of independent variables, and to examine the relationship between the two instruments. The data showed that the children in the treatment condition did make significant gains over the control group in the area of Readiness skills, but not in other areas assessed. Additionally, the independent variables of subject's gender and teacher's years of experience were significant for few of the subscales of the assessment tools. This study did begin to establish concurrent validity for the Language Arts Objective Sequence (LOS) with the Test of Early Reading Ability-Third edition (TERA-3). The LOS did possess internal consistency and demonstrated a positive correlation with the TERA-3 at the pretest. Further studies to establish concurrent validity with posttests as well as pretests need to be conducted. / Department of Special Education

This study examined the effects of an early reading intervention with 652 students with disabilities and students at-risk of reading failure over the 2004-2005 school year. An intervention was put into place in a general education setting in Kindergarten (n=155), first (n=246) and second grade (n=251) that consisted of 30 minutes a day of explicit intensive instruction that focused on phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency in a small group setting. The intervention met the requirements of a Tier II intervention. After one school year of intervention, students who were at risk of reading failure or who were already identified as being eligible for special education services made significant progress toward predictive reading benchmarks as assessed by using DIBELS measures. The greatest gains were seen in kindergarten and first grade.This study provided evidence that the intervention was effective with students who were socio-economically at risk. Sixty-five to 80% of students in the study were eligible for free or reduced lunch and 31 to 54% were students with disabilities yet made significant progress toward reading benchmarks. The intervention seemed to ameliorate the `negative' effects of special education status or low socio-economic status. As urban schools struggle to meet AYP, this is an encouraging and welcomed development. / Department of Special Education

Thesis (Ph.D. )--Edith Cowan University, 2006. / Submitted to the Faculty of Education and Arts. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2008. / Additional advisors: Jody Brewer, Joseph C. Burns, Lois M. Christensen, Lynn D. Kirkland. Description based on contents viewed May 29, 2008; title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references (p. 194-208).