<p> The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the development of children's drawing skills through the use of technology. The research involved five children two girls and three boys, ages three to five years in a preschool center located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Specifically, the researcher observed and analyzed the response of the selected children to the use of tablet-based programs in the development of their drawing skills. The result showed that boys between three to four were more interactive with drawing on the iPad than girls. This result will be helpful for teachers and technology specialists to understand how to optimize technology to support early childhood artistic efforts.</p><p> The first chapter of this thesis is an introduction and holds the purpose of the study. The second chapter is a review of literature. Chapter three is the methodology. And in chapter four, findings and results are discussed. Chapter five is the conclusion and recommendations for further study.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to examine the manner that directors and teachers define ideal leadership practices of Head Start programs. Specifically, this study focused on understanding leadership practices through the lens of transformational leadership. This study was guided by the following three research questions: (a) What are the perceptions of Head Start directors on ideal practices of leadership (b) What are the perceptions of Head Start teachers on ideal practices of leadership and (c) How do the perceptions of directors compare and contrast to the perceptions of teachers.</p><p> The research methodology was a qualitative approach to understanding the perceptions of the participants through their experiences and perspectives of working in the Head Start setting. Data were collected by means of interviews and completion of a demographic questionnaire and an adapted version of the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI). The use of interviews allowed participants to reflect on their experiences and share their perspectives regarding what they consider ideal leadership practices in Head Start. Data were collected from 15 participants who currently work in various Head Start programs throughout Southern California.</p><p> The findings revealed ideal leadership practices in alignment with the practices of transformational leadership. Directors described ideal leadership practices to include a clear vision, collaboration, Head Start-specific knowledge, and staff motivation. Teachers described ideal leadership practices to include visibility ofthe director at the classroom level, leading by example, encouragement, transparency, and professional development opportunities. The results of this study are critically important with the shifts in policy to increase quality of and expand access to early childhood education programs for all children. The shift in policy has resulted in greater accountability being placed on Head Start programs to deliver quality services in order to avoid losing funding. Ideal leadership practices are vital to meeting the needs of the changing expectations of Head Start programs.</p>

<p> This dissertation examines the extent to which children's tablet software applications, commonly called <i>apps,</i> are designed appropriately to promote the optimal development of preschool children aged three to five. This study extends previous research, particularly the theoretical frameworks of <i>developmentally appropriate practice</i> and Bers' <i> positive technological development.</i> The researcher argues that, for children's mobile apps to be developmentally meaningful, they need to satisfy three conditions: (1) apps must be designed appropriately to accommodate the developmental stages and needs of young children; (2) content must be designed to promote young children's development in the areas of cognition, academic skills, social-emotional skills, and physical development; and (3) digital interactions engage children in activities and behaviors that foster optimal developmental assets. The researcher devised three instruments to evaluate and examine the breadth, depth, and design quality of 100 children's apps from the Apple's App Store for iPad. Content analysis revealed that only a non-significant majority of apps (58%) were meaningfully designed for preschool children in terms of user interface, audio and visual design, and instructional support. The apps selected for this sample included games and learning activities, interactive eBooks, as well as creativity and utility apps. The content of these apps tended to cluster around school skills and they rarely engaged children in activities beyond academic drill-and-practice. These apps largely ignored the social, emotional, and physical aspects of children's development. Using numerous vignettes and examples as illustrations, the analysis highlights design techniques, content offering, and technological features that could be productive toward children's development, as well as those that distract from meaningful user experiences. This study underscores the need for developmentally meaningful children's mobile apps for preschool children.</p>

The Canadian early childhood landscape is changing substantially, pushing early childhood from a private family responsibility into the greater public policy discourse. New investments in early childhood services, combined with research that defines the importance of early years learning, requires a careful analysis of the professional preparation of early childhood educators. At the same time typical understandings of family and childhood are being challenged through legal and social policy reforms. Although Canadian demographic changes indicate a growing number of queer families with children, the gap in addressing the interests of queer identified parents and their children is exacerbated by the dominance of a heteronormative perspective in early childhood theory, training and practice. My study demonstrates the disparity between the professional preparation of early childhood educators in Ontario and how queer families are understood in the Canadian context. I draw upon queer theory to deconstruct how educators understand child development patterns and family composition including the newly defined family units that can include single or multiple parents of varying sexual identities that may consist of, but are not limited to lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and trans parents. Using qualitative methods, the research is grounded in data sources including text analysis of key early childhood texts, focus groups with early childhood educators who have graduated from ECE training programs in Ontario during the last decade and interviews with queer parents with young children enrolled in early childhood programs. I argue that the inherent heteronormative discourse of developmentally appropriate practice silences queer in early childhood training and is embedded in foundational approaches including standards of practice, curriculum frameworks and textbooks commonly used in the training of early childhood educators. Notions of diversity, equity and inclusion structure this silencing. My study also found that early childhood educators have a narrow understanding of how queer parents may be similar or different from other parents. Educators have a limited capacity to support and engage with parents that do not fit the dominant framework of family identity. The queer parents’ narratives consistently present subtle forms of homophobia and transphobia through the silencing of their family in their child’s early childhood program. The results of the study provide an opportunity to reimagine the professional training of early childhood educators embedding a much richer theoretical grounding and teaching practice of diversity and difference that includes queer parents and their children.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate early childhood lead teachers' perspectives of time out, including their attitudes and beliefs, and the practice of time out in their classrooms. The study sought to detail the practice of time out, to investigate teachers' perceptions of time out, and to gain further understanding into teachers' choices regarding time out use. These objectives were achieved with the use of a comprehensive, written survey directed to 151 lead preschool teachers at 18 randomly selected preschool programs within Hamilton County, Ohio. Written discipline policies from 9 preschool programs included in the survey sample were also analyzed as they related to the use of time out. Fifty completed surveys were returned representing a well-balanced sample of lead teachers across multiple demographic variables.Results indicated that 66% of teachers were using time out and there were not any distinguishable differences among the variables collected between those teachers who used time out and those who did not. Teachers' time out practices included verbal or visual warnings for children, discussion, and redirection. Teachers defined time out as an action, as a period of time, and as a place. 63% of teachers did not perceive time out as punishment; nonetheless 55% perceived that time out had the potential to be harmful to young children. The majority of teachers using time out did so because they perceived that the child learned through time out, but other teachers indicated that young children were not able to comprehend time out. Some teachers used time out due to the perceived social and emotional benefits for the child while other teachers perceived time out to be detrimental to children's social and emotional development. Teachers also indicated that they used time out to maintain control of children.Teachers who used time out were influenced by experience, education, program policies, and because time out is a form of discipline. Interestingly, these same factors influenced other teachers to not use time out. The majority of the teachers who chose not to use time out were influenced by other methods available for classroom or behavior management. / Department of Elementary Education

<p> The purpose of this multiple case study is to document how directors at private preschools have already, or are preparing for, leadership transitions. The study documents two private preschools; one preschool recently completed a leadership transition and the other is preparing for a transition that is scheduled to take place in the next five years. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with directors, teachers, and families in both centers and analysis of archival records. Data were analyzed deductively drawing on key concepts from literature discussing leadership styles, factors impacting leadership transitions in organizations, and Heifetz's theory of adaptive leadership. Findings suggest that private preschools benefit from long-term succession planning for future leadership transitions, that includes staff participation and parent feedback. This study documents examples of intentionally planned transparent and collaborative administrative and leadership change in early childhood environments.</p>

<p> The current study examined the possible gaps in meeting the needs of children in foster care, the additional skillsets that contribute to meeting their needs, and the role child life specialists play in meeting those needs. Additionally, the study looked specifically at how child life could find a place in the nontraditional setting of foster care. Two groups of participants were recruited for the study; the first group was comprised of child life specialists. The second group included professionals who worked directly with children in foster care in some capacity. Two surveys were designed and conducted, one for each group. Generally, both groups of participants identified the following unmet needs: emotional needs, attachment needs, behavioral needs, supporting children in coping, and psychological preparation. Skillset matches for meeting these needs included experience in psychological preparation for children, knowledge in supporting coping, child development expertise, and awareness of family-centered care. These matches are closely tied to child life specialists' training. Additionally, there seems to be a lack of play in working with foster children, and this was identified as a possible gap in the system, highlighting another way child life specialists could support children in foster care. Through this study, clear ways were identified in which child life specialists could strengthen the services provided to children in foster care. These results have implications for an interdisciplinary future of the child life field. </p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> child life, foster care, unmet needs, child life in nontraditional roles</p>

<p> The current study examined the role of music in Mandarin vocabulary learning in a Mandarin immersion preschool setting. The goal was to find out how children learn Mandarin with and without music. Using a pre-test/post-test design, I first identified 5 Mandarin words that most children did not know, and then divided children into two groups: the experimental group were taught the 5 words using pictures and song, and the control group learned the same words by pictures and the same song with the melody removed. In the post-test, I asked children of each group "Which one is the XX" in Mandarin and each child pointed to the picture of what they thought was XX. My results show that both groups learned new words; however, children in the non-music group learned more words than children in the music group. These results demonstrate learning from a short-term intervention, but also raise questions about the role of the language's tonality in the effectiveness of using music for word learning.</p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> immersion school, music, vocabulary learning, Mandarin</p>

<p> This study examines the professional identities of early educators with master's degrees in the United States. While other democratic nations have begun to move toward fully funded early care and education that offers qualified teachers a living wage, early education in the U.S. continues to be vastly underfunded and inconsistently regulated. Through semi-structured interviews with five teachers I identified specific ways in which highly qualified early educators have constructed professional identities within a marginalized profession. Results indicate that the attainment of a Master's degree in Early Childhood Education [ECE] positively influences teachers' abilities to take a leadership role, reflect critically on the field, and participate within the broader public sphere to enact change. Implications of this study highlight the pivotal role that early educators with master's degrees play in shaping the future of ECE in the U.S.</p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> Early Care and Education, professional identity, professional status, reflection, leadership</p>

<p> The current study examines the connection between a change of family income and the retention of academic gains for children in low-income households who have attended a center-based preschool program. These children are often shown to lose the academic advantage they gain during preschool as they move through k&ndash;12 education in a phenomenon called fade out. A theoretical framework was constructed positing that material and psychological effects of poverty inhibit the ability of these families to support and maintain growth during this critical time when children are highly nested in the family unit. </p><p> Treating family income as a causal risk factor, a study was crafted to examine the fade out effect when family income increased during early childhood for children in low-income households. Using the ECLS-K data set, ex post facto, quasi-experimental methods were employed to analyze two comparison groups of low-income children who went through a center-based preschool program. One group gained the treatment of a constant increase in family income beginning during early childhood (LIP), while the other stayed within their starting low-income bracket throughout the study (LCP). Multiple regression analysis was used to test if this treatment would correlate to the LIP group retaining more of their preschool skills than the LCP group, measuring from kindergarten to eighth grade. Before the main dependent cognitive measures (math and reading scores) were examined, regressions on social competence variables were performed. After examination, these variables were added as controls to the academic regressions. </p><p> The results of the academic regressions showed that the LIP group correlated to nearly a one-half reduction in fade out as compared to the LCP group by eighth grade in both mathematics and reading. These findings lead to many implications for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers as well as open the door to future exploration into the subject.</p>