<p> Korean American students seem to excel in academics as soon as they enter formal schooling. How are Korean American parents preparing their children for kindergarten? This qualitative research case study's foundational theory is based on Sue and Okazaki's (1990) concept of relative functionalism, which proposes that "cultural practices ... maximize skills in gaining education" (p. 913). Five Korean American parents (one father, four mothers) were interviewed and discussed topics that could help answer the study's research questions: (a) how do Korean American parents perceive what school readiness means? and (b) how do Korean Americans decide what activities to engage their children in when preparing them for kindergarten?</p><p> As there exists no published research that documents the activities Korean American parents engage their children in with intentions of preparing them for formal schooling, literature in this study focused on the history of Korean American culture's valuation of education, relevant circumstances of Koreans living in the U.S., their childrearing priorities, and the effects of acculturation on Korean American educational values.</p><p> Themed findings include overall parental expectations of their children's academic goals, the perceived definition of school readiness, primary caregivers, and priorities for children's competencies. The fact that the Korean American culture is grounded in the philosophy of Confucianism, which includes the expectation that children should uphold family honor and the belief that success is achieved through effort, may help to explain why this study's participants placed high importance on their children's social&ndash;emotional competencies and on behaving "well."</p><p> As the primary caretaker in the family, Korean American mothers base their decisions regarding their children's activities on feedback received from friends from church, as well as from the broader local Korean community. Significant findings include that participants reported starting their children in academic training when they were as young as two years old, and that children are being raised as bilinguals in dualistic cultures. If shared with educational practitioners, this research could help to better support the home&ndash;school relationship with Korean American parents. Parents of non-Korean American students may also use Korean American educational practices to better support their own children to become more school ready prior to entering kindergarten, as well as throughout their educational careers.</p>

<p> This study examined the effects of a self-regulation strategy, self-talk, on the improvement of executive function. Executive functions are a set of cognitive processes that underlie goal-directed behavior. These processes guide, direct, and manage thinking, emotional responses, and behavior. High executive function has been correlated with academic achievement. Early childhood teachers play an important role in helping young children learn to regulate thinking and behavior. This mixed-design experimental study demonstrated the ease of including self-talk in the daily curriculum through the use of children's literature. The 53 participants were third-graders in an elementary school setting. The Teacher Form of the Delis Rating of Executive Function (D-REF) measured executive function as pre- and posttest for the control and experimental groups. A 2 x 2 split-plot ANOVA calculated the effects of the group assigned and executive function. Students in the experimental group were interviewed following the intervention to obtain student perceptions of self-talk and its impact on learning. Results indicated that students in the self-talk classes showed significant improvement in executive function skills. The findings offer useful insight to the benefits of self-talk in the elementary school setting.</p>

<p> Early numeracy skills are a critical component of daily preschool instruction, according to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM; 2002); however, there is variability in how mathematics-driven instruction is implemented in the preschool classroom (Graham, Nash, &amp; Paul, 1997; Brown, Malfese, &amp; Molfese, 2008). Research indicates that children from low income backgrounds who qualify for Head Start programs do not make comparable growth in early numeracy skill development when compared to children from higher SES levels (Puma, et. al., 2012). The objective of this dissertation was to evaluate a selected mathematics curriculum utilized by the Happy Faces Head Start1 program, after program data indicated that children&rsquo;s mathematics achievement was below established targets (Happy Faces Head Start, 2012). Results indicated that the curriculum, <i>Mathematics: A Creative Curriculum Approach, </i> which was implemented in rural Head Start classrooms did not show significant gains in math skills compared to children in the control group. </p>

<p> This qualitative ethnographic collective case-study of two Nigerian Early Childhood Education (ECE) practitioners focused upon the practitioners&rsquo; reflections over a three-day period in February 2014 (and then a 3-month period from February through April 2014) of their first 18-months of implementing constructivist curriculum after participating in a week-long workshop in October 2012 on constructivist education theory and practice. The reflections were framed by seven questions, and their sub-questions, addressing their impressions of the most efficacious sections of the workshop, what worked and did not in their classrooms, their frustrations and successes, and their recommendations for further workshops for additional ECE practitioners. The practitioners responded to the inquiries in three different formats, as follows: the face-to-face discussion of the seven formal interview questions, a three-month journal (from February 2014 through April 2014) with the formal interview questions, and informal afternoon chat sessions that were more free-ranging. A comparison among the answers, mediated by NVivo10 (2012) software thematic sorting, revealed differences in the quantity and emphasis of the answers to the questions, varied by written and verbal responses. The most surprising finding and one that qualifies as a central phenomenon was that without sufficient parent education and support that the smooth transition from the Rote systems to the constructivist curriculum could be slowed down and even halted at the school site, as the parents voiced their concerns that the students were not going to be well-educated under this new curriculum. In further workshops, it is now apparent that parental education and engaged support must be presented and discussed so that ECE constructivist curriculum can be more widely implemented in Lagos, Nigeria and elsewhere.</p>

This research adopted the concept Hegemonic Masculinity and inquired how this kind of gender practice influenced early childhood teachers’ pedagogy, in order to interpret the gap between the real teaching practice and the ideal gender equity promoted in the elementary schools in B.C. for current years. Combining my growing and teaching experience in the traditional patriarchal society, I interviewed four elementary school teachers and observed their classes. The results presented: (1) hegemonic masculinity within students’ conversations and parents’ educational attitudes became a barrier to teachers who took gender-neutral pedagogy; (2) hegemonic masculinity emphasized gender binary in teachers’ daily language and teaching materials; (3) teachers’ expectations to students reflected the needs and requirements of the male-dominant society. I also collected teachers’ efforts to avoid hegemonic masculinity and promote gender equity with formulating three stories and my analysis. / Graduate / 0518 / 0515 / xinyanfa@uvic.ca

<p> The purpose of this study was to investigate validity and reliability evidence of Smart Start-Second Edition (Zittel, Kim, &amp; Wessel, 2014) (Smart Start-2) in preschoolers with and without a disability. Thirty-two preschoolers with a disability and 28 preschoolers without a disability participated in the study. The mean age of all participants, preschoolers with a disability, and preschoolers without a disability were 50.98 months (<i>SD</i> = 7.86, range 37 &ndash; 64), 53.28 months (<i>SD</i> = 7.28), and 48.35 months (<i>SD</i> = 7.78), respectively. Each participant was asked to perform 12 fundamental movement skills. The participants&rsquo; fundamental movement skills performances were filmed and examined with Smart Start-2 and Test of Gross Motor Development-Second Edition (Ulrich, 2000) (TGMD-2) by three trained raters. For validity evidence of Smart Start-2, correlations between data of Smart Start-2 and TGMD-2 were examined with Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients. Intra-rater reliability and inter-rater reliability were also examined using a proportion of agreement, modified kappa coefficient, and intraclass correlation coefficient. Large correlations between data of Smart Start-2 and TGMD-2 were found for total score (<i>r</i> = .89, <i>p</i> &lt; .01), for sum of scores on locomotor skills (<i>r</i> = .92, <i>p</i> &lt; .01), and sum of scores on object control skills (<i>r</i> = .92, <i>p</i> &lt; .01). Across three raters, the average proportions of agreements for intra-rater using Smart Start-2 on all participants, preschoolers with a disability, and preschoolers without a disability were .92, .91, and .91, respectively. Across three raters, the mean of modified kappa coefficients for intra-rater reliability using Smart Start-2 on all participants, preschoolers with a disability, and preschoolers without a disability were .83 (<i>SD</i> = .09, range .52 &ndash; 1.00), .83 (<i>SD</i> = .09, range .60 - .96), and .83 (<i>SD</i> = .10, range .52 &ndash; 1.00), respectively. The mean of intraclass correlation coefficients for intra-rater reliability using Smart Start-2 on all participants, preschoolers with a disability, and preschoolers without a disability were .96 (95% confidence interval: .94 - .97), .96 (95% confidence interval: .90 - .97), and .96 (95% confidence interval: .93 - .98), respectively. </p><p> The average proportion of agreements for inter-rater using Smart Smart-2 on all participants, preschoolers with a disability, and preschoolers without a disability were .86, .87, and .86, respectively. The mean of modified kappa coefficients, across three raters, for inter-rater on all participants, preschoolers without a disability, and preschoolers without a disability were .71 (<i> SD</i> = .11, range .42 - .89), .72 (<i>SD</i> = .10, range .42- .87), and .69 (<i>SD</i> = .10, range .45 - .89), respectively. The mean of Intraclass correlation coefficients for intra-rater reliability using Smart Start-2 on all participants, preschoolers with a disability, and preschoolers without a disability were .93 (95% confidence interval: .89 - .96), .95 (95% confidence interval: .89 -.97), and .89 (95% confidence interval: .72 - .95), respectively. However, a one-way repeated measures ANOVA showed significant differences of the total scores of Smart Start-2 between raters. <b></b>The major findings of this study support evidence of concurrent validity and intra-rater reliability and inter-rater reliability of the Smart Start-2 for assessing FMS for preschoolers with/without a disability using 3 trained raters.</p>

This study explores a teacher’s perceptions and teaching practice with culturally and linguistically diverse children and families. A qualitative case study, it follows one in-service pre-kindergarten teacher at a public school. To provide rationales of the study, the researcher adopt culturally responsive teaching, funds of knowledge, developmentally appropriate practice, anti-bias multicultural education and English as a second language learning theories as the conceptual framework. Data were collected through formal interviews, informal conversations, and observations and analyzed using the constant-comparative method. The findings display the results of the study in three aspects: creating a cohesive multicultural community, helping culturally and linguistically diverse children’s English development utilizing their home languages and cultures, and establishing reciprocal relationships with those families. The study finds that a cohesive multicultural community can be created by building caring relationships among community members, by reflecting the children’s cultural and linguistic backgrounds in teaching practice and by practicing anti-bias multicultural education. This study shows the ways of helping the children’s English development according to five themes: understanding the children’s different English abilities, creating a class environment reflecting the children’s home languages and cultures, matching language mates, collaborating with bilingual teachers, and utilizing children as the language experts. This study also finds that reciprocal relationships with culturally and linguistically diverse families can be established by understanding diverse families’ backgrounds, by increasing cross-cultural communications, and by utilizing family resources in her teaching practice. This study reveals that the children’s learning experience can be enhanced when integrating their cultural and linguistic knowledge into class learning. The presented examples and descriptions in this study demonstrates the explicit and practical ways of how teachers can cultivate the children’s cultural and linguistic knowledge base, reflect this knowledge base in their class learning, help the children’s English development, and establish reciprocal relationships with families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Thus, this study will be a source of detailed practical information for teachers, teachers’ educators, and educational administrators in early childhood education. / text

<p> Due to narrowly defined quality measures, teacher preparation in Montessori, Waldorf, Reggio and LifeWays pedagogies is not recognized in many state ECE professional development systems. The problem is compounded by Quality Rating and Improvement System&rsquo;s child care program ratings, which rely on teacher qualifications as a component of program ratings. Limitations, due to philosophical dissimilarities pertaining to the spirit of the child, ill-fitting measurements of quality, and policy exclusion make it difficult for alternative pedagogy communities to meet qualifications or to obtain scores that count. This is exacerbated by narrow definitions regarding national versus regional accreditation in teacher preparation programs. U</p><p> sing a transformative, mixed-methods approach, this study asks, &ldquo;What is the role and relevance of alternative pedagogy teacher preparation to the professional development system, and where does it fit in the current policy landscape nationwide?&rdquo; As a follow up question, the study seeks to answer, &ldquo;What is the process for change?&rdquo; Through the use of surveys, interviews, and a cultural context model, a way forward is mapped. </p><p> Registry policy makers in 28 states and 46 teacher preparation directors, across three types of alternative-pedagogy teacher preparation programs, assisted in data collection, resulting in a recognition baseline. Public sources were used to triangulate a composite snapshot of this national policy situation, demonstrating appropriate policy inclusion in six out of 17 states&rsquo; career pathways and/or data collection in ECE workforce registries. Cumulative data revealed alternative pedagogy teacher recognition levels across the country and revealed how relevant policies evolved to become system inclusive. The study concludes by inviting community representatives to respond and to share their experiences and thoughts. Actionable study outcomes, community-developed recommendations, and an advocacy map were circulated in three of four alternative pedagogy communities. </p><p> Using a cultural equity paradigm, the study elucidates power relationships between alternative pedagogy teacher preparation and national/state efforts towards ECE professional development and quality improvement policy systems, illuminating where federal and state policy/initiatives are shaping, responding to, and limiting the alternative-pedagogy teacher preparation pipeline in the United States. Recommended courses of action encourage policy collaboration and a cultural shift from policy power over, to power with policy.</p>

<p>The purpose of this study was to examine best teaching practices utilized by virtual K&ndash;3 instructors through a qualitative content analysis of distance education journals, dedicated virtual school blogs, and electronically-documented surveys completed by virtual K&ndash;3 instructors. Two theoretical perspectives informed this study, socio-constructivism and activity theory. Socio-constructivism provided a lens addressing factors contributing to the implementation of best practices, while activity theory functioned as a descriptive means for considering the implementation of best practices within the context of varying activity systems (Vygotsky, 1978; Engestrom, 1987; Leont&rsquo;ev, 1978; Luria, 1976). The sample consisted of 5 distance education journals, 4 dedicated virtual school blogs, and 11 electronically-documented surveys completed by virtual K&ndash;3 instructors. The qualitative content analysis revealed that in following best practices virtual K&ndash;3 instructors were responsible for setting clear expectations, personalizing instruction, accommodating diverse learners, building a community of learners, implementing evidence-based teaching practices, using technology effectively in the online classroom, participating in professional development activities, and actively working with parents and administrators to improve the learning environment for virtual K&ndash;3 students. </p>

Childhood poverty is associated with a range of negative developmental consequences (Brooks-Gunn & Duncan, 1997). Several well-known early childhood intervention programs have demonstrated success in supporting cognitive, language, and behavioural outcomes for children experiencing social disadvantage (Anderson et al., 2003; Barnett, 1995, Ramey & Ramey, 2004). Less known is the impact of naturally occurring centre-based child care programs on developmental outcomes of children living in poverty. A systematic review and meta-analytic inquiry was undertaken to shed light on the potential for child care programs to support developmental outcomes. Of the over 11,000 titles and abstracts reviewed, 226 full documents were subsequently retrieved and reviewed for possible inclusion, and 25 were ultimately included in the in-depth review. The large degree of heterogeneity in and across these studies, reflecting a variety of child care and outcome measures, precluded combination into a single average effect size. A reduced meta-analytic inquiry into the impact of high quality child care on cognitive-linguistic, social, and behavioural outcomes revealed average effect sizes of g=0.41, g=0.37, and g= -0.36 respectively. High quality child care was associated with improved cognitive-linguistic and social outcomes, and reduced behavioural concerns for children from impoverished backgrounds. Collectively, the systematic review, meta-analytic inquiry, and individual effect size data indicates that child care holds the potential to exert a meaningful and positive influence in the lives of children experiencing poverty under conditions of high structural and process quality. Findings are discussed through the lens of Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecology of human development.