This qualitative study explored the changes in the practice of early childhood education (ECE) teachers in a specific Montessori program after a series of trainings. This study’s purpose was to compare the teacher practices in a Montessori preschool program before and after specific pedagogical training. The ECE teachers were trained in a four-week series of didactic sessions on Montessori philosophy and pedagogy. On week days the teachers were mentored by observation, direct feedback, and guidance of practice. Classes met 15 hours per week for a total of 60 contact hours. Prior to the beginning of the training classes a baseline of each teacher was established according to the qualities identified for the study. These qualities included the teacher’s subjective view of young children, their perception of their teaching role, and their performance with children. Following the end of the training period this process was repeated and any changes were reviewed and described. The information for this review was collected by interview, ongoing documented observation, personal narratives, and personal journals. Results of the study supported that specific Montessori training impacted the participant/teachers’ subjective view of young children, the perception of their teaching role, and their performance with children. As compared to the beginning of the study, after the four weeks of training the participant/teachers recognized a more constructivist view of how young children learn; they expressed a more reflective perception of their teaching role; and engaged in more responsive, facilitative, and less interruptive performance with children. Conclusions of the study were that providing Montessori pedagogical and philosophical training can improve the qualitative relationships of teachers with young children.

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In the United States of America, various manmade constructs such race, ethnicity, and social-economic status have been used to categorize members of society; however, there have been gaps in social conditions between subgroups. Critical race theory posits that public policy has played a role in these disparities (Chapman, 2011). Conditions in the United States of America matter as social cognitive theorist, Bandura (1989), posited that learning is socially constructed by triadic reciprocal determinism involving the person, environment, and behavior. Self-efficacy, a judgment of one's ability, and outcome expectancy or the judgment of whether engaging in an action will produced the desired effect are belief categories that have been reported to precede and predict behavior (Bandura, 1982). This study explored associations between 57 Voluntary Prekindergarten teachers' culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy and outcome expectancy beliefs located in urbanized Florida areas. An association between culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy and outcome expectancy beliefs and teacher demographics (i.e., age range, range of teaching experience in years, and degree level) were also explored. A Spearman's rho yielded a statistically significant, strong positive correlation between Voluntary Prekindergarten teachers' culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy and outcome expectancy beliefs. Results yielded no statistically significant associations between Voluntary Prekindergarten teachers' culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy or outcome expectancy and teacher demographics.

Substantial research supports the efficacy of early intervention services for children with developmental delays from birth to age 5. Federal legislation, IDEA, P.L. 101-476, now mandates that states provide services to infants and toddlers (Part C) and preschoolers ages 3--5 (Part B) using either categorical or noncategorical classifications.;Research relative to eligibility classifications and stability of classifications of preschool students transitioning to school age service is limited. The purpose of this study was to determine: (a) the initial eligibility classification at time of exit from preschool special education services, (b) the stability of classifications for students initially declassified and initially classified, and (c) the performance of students who were classified with mild disabilities in terms of attendance, disciplinary referrals, retention, math and reading achievement, and grade point average. Results of the study indicated that 86% of students who exited preschool special education continued to be eligible for special education services. Overall, 29% of the students maintained the original exit classification status over six years. Seventy-five percent of students originally declassified at time of exit were subsequently reclassified within the first three years following exit. No significant differences were found on variables of achievement between students originally declassified and originally classified. Examination of stability of school assignments indicated that students who were initially declassified and remained declassified experienced significantly fewer school assignment changes than all other groups.

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Since the release of the first iPad in 2010, over 200 million have been sold worldwide. In the short time since the iPad's release, the devices have become popular in classrooms. The purpose of this study was twofold: 1) to document the fine motor iPad gestures of 2 , 3-, and 4-year-old children who used iPads by themselves and in dyads and 2) to conduct international comparisons regarding such observed fine motor iPad gestures. In this study, I examined seven iPad gestures: (a) tap, (b) drag/slide, (c) free rotate, (d) drag and drop, (e) pinch, (f) spread, and (g) flick. This study had five components. The first component involved observations of the iPad gestures of a sample of Orlando, Florida, children operating iPads by themselves. The first component was a partial replication of the 2013 and 2014 studies conducted by Aziz et al. The second component of this study involved observations of the iPad gestures of the Orlando children operating iPads in dyads. In the third component of this study, I compared the iPad gestures of the Orlando children with the gestures of a sample of 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old children from London. In the fourth component of this study, I compared the iPad gestures of the Orlando children with the gestures of a sample of 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old children from Malaysia. In the fifth component, I compared the iPad gestures of the Orlando sample when the children were paired with classmates and asked to play with the iPads in dyads, rather than operating iPads by themselves. Biographical information was collected, including (a) child's age, (b) household income, (c) child's gender, (d) child's ethnic origin, (e) types of mobile devices in the household, (f) daily usage of mobile devices, (g) people with whom the child used mobile devices, (h) earliest age of device usage, and (i) the primary language spoken at home.

Selective mutism (SM), an anxiety disorder wherein children have difficulty speaking or communicating when they are uncomfortable, is relevant for the early childhood population as symptoms often manifest upon school entry (Steinhausen & Juzi, 1996) and early treatment leads to better treatment prognosis (Oerbeck, Stein, Wentzel-Larsen, Langsrud & Kristensen, 2014). Bergman, Gonzalez, Piacentini and Keller, (2013) utilized an integrative behavioral treatment for children (ages 4-8) with SM and reported a 75% treatment responder status after 24 weeks of therapy. Their mothers are the focus of this study. This exploratory study examined the content of Five Minute Speech Samples at baseline and end of treatment condition for 9 mothers whose children had participated in the randomized controlled trial. Via a content analysis of language samples, this study examined emergent themes and a priori codes of Expressed Emotion (a construct associated with a variety of disorders) and parental overcontrol (a construct associated with the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders). Results revealed five categories of content expressed by mothers: (a) child characteristics (b) child's activities, (c) relationships with others, (d) difficulties other than SM, and (e) thoughts related to SM. Analysis revealed mothers who had children with SM had higher levels of expressed emotion and emotional overinvolvement than samples of mothers of children without SM. The implication of this finding is unknown and is a direction for future research. Overcontrol was overtly present in one mother and subtle in other mothers. Levels of expressed emotion largely remained unchanged over the course of treatment. Overall, information garnered from giving mothers the five minutes speech sample provides insight for therapists to design intervention. Giving the mothers a chance to discuss their views and experiences with their children is valuable in determining the behavioral and emotional support they need as they parent their child with SM.

This study seeks to influence choices made by Kindergarten students in a Title I school who receive free breakfast and lunch through a health literacy intervention with the intent of decreasing daily added sugar consumption. Fruit and milk choices, either with naturally occurring sugar (NOS) or added sugar (AS), were recorded for 70 Kindergarten students among six classes in a Title I school for ten days before a four-week health literacy intervention. Three of the classes were randomly selected to learn about 'sometimes' and 'anytime' choices through the Healthy Habits for Life curriculum delivered by representatives from Nemours Children's Hospital. Following the intervention, milk and fruit choices were recorded for ten more school days to determine differences among the control and intervention groups. Pearson Chi Square test results concluded that the health literacy intervention lead to statistically significant improvements in milk choices for the intervention group, but fruit choices were inconclusive due to inconsistencies in significance. Hierarchical loglinear analyses were run to determine if there was a difference in response to intervention between male and female students, and the results indicated that the effectiveness of the intervention was not moderated by gender. The success of this intervention for milk choices will help students who receive free school breakfast and lunch to decrease their daily consumption of added sugars, and additional research needs to be done to help students make choices that will further decrease their daily added sugar consumption.

Children of immigrants are the fastest growing population of children in the U.S. A greater proportion of children of immigrant than US-born parents are from households with low incomes. Despite this reality, eligibility rules are complex for many services and supports, including healthcare, that could help immigrant families to financially stabilize, often barring certain immigrants from getting help. For others who are eligible, the confusion creates barriers to assistance, with the result that they also do not receive help. Children’s health suffers when their basic needs are not met, especially in early childhood. The first three years of life are a critically important period of development. When families are unable to provide sufficient food, shelter, healthcare, responsive caregiving, and/or safety, children’s health and development suffer, with the potential to affect their trajectory for physical, mental and academic well-being over the lifecourse. In recent years, and accelerating under the Trump Administration, immigration and public assistance eligibility policies have changed rapidly and dramatically, increasing many immigrant parents’ confusion and concern about their eligibility. Immigration, healthcare, and social service policies intersect at the household level. Young children are not the decisionmakers about their own health or healthcare, thus public health professionals, healthcare and social service providers, and policymakers need a household view of these policies. However, relationships between access to healthcare, family material well-being, and the wider sociopolitical environment for immigrant families with young children are understudied. In a multifaceted world of interconnecting identities and policies, there is an urgent need to examine child and family issues in their full complexity, including race and ethnicity alongside nativity. In this mixed methods dissertation, I use a cross-sectional dataset to assess whether and how health care hardship varies among young children of immigrant compared to US born mothers, as well as by immigrant mothers’ self-reported racial and ethnic backgrounds. I also examine relationships between health care hardship and young children’s health and development and family material well-being. Additionally, I present a difference-in-differences analysis of the impact of President Trump’s election on young children of immigrant and US-born mothers’ health care utilization. I examine impacts on both preventive and acute care outcomes for young children. Using qualitative analysis based on semi-structured interviews with immigrant mothers, I explore mothers’ daily experiences navigating decisions about health care with the many other demands they face. Their perspectives on seeking healthcare and public assistance in the current political and policy environment provide important context to inform policy at the state, federal and health systems level. This dissertation expands understanding of early childhood care from a child to a household focus, sheds light on the interplay between race, ethnicity, and nativity for families with young children, and adds nuance and detail to the ways in which families navigate health care and other competing needs. / 2024-08-31T00:00:00Z