Five studies were conducted examining a pattern of interaction children use as a mechanism for learning from others. The three components of this interaction pattern consisted of children’s questions, adults’ explanations and children’s follow-up. I was interested in how individual differences might influence this interaction pattern. In Study 1, I performed a secondary data analysis to explore the entire pattern of interaction. Analyses revealed that children across diverse socioeconomic groups asked a similar proportion of information seeking questions in daily conversations with caregivers. However, when looking at the responses children received, caregivers from low-SES families offered significantly fewer exemplary responses (those that include explanations) to causal questions than mid-SES caregivers. When exploring the quality of explanations that caregivers offered, low-SES caregivers provided more circular explanations while mid-SES caregivers provided more non-circular explanations. Finally, when exploring children’s follow-up to unsatisfactory responses, no differences were found when looking at fact-based questions. Indeed, children from low-SES and mid-SES families were most likely to re-ask their original question which indicates that children across diverse backgrounds purposely use their questions to acquire new knowledge. Significant differences were found when looking at follow-up to unsatisfactory responses to causal questions. Mid-SES children were significantly more likely to provide their own explanations. These findings extend previous work and suggest that this interaction pattern may not look the same across diverse backgrounds. Studies 2, 3 and 4 explored the first half of this interaction pattern: questions and adult explanations. Here I focused on 3- and 5-year-olds’ evaluation of non-circular and circular explanations, and their use of such explanations to determine informant credibility. Whereas 5-year-olds demonstrated a selective preference for non-circular over circular explanations (Study 2: long explanations; Study 3: short explanations), 3-year-olds only demonstrated a preference for the non-circular when the explanations were shortened (Study 3). Children’s evaluation of the explanations extended to their inferences about the informants’ future credibility. Both age groups demonstrated a selective preference for learning novel explanations from an informant who had previously provided non-circular explanations – although only 5-year-olds also preferred to learn novel labels from her. However, when looking at individual differences in these preferences by socioeconomic status (Study 4) children from low-SES families selectively preferred informants who provided circular explanations, whereas mid-SES children showed a preference for non-circular explanations. Study 5 explored the second half of the interaction pattern: adult explanations and children’s follow-up. Here I explored individual differences in epistemological beliefs and their impact on caregiver’s explanations and children’s subsequent learning. Epistemological stance predicted children’s learning. Children of caregivers who adopted an evaluativist stance learned more than children of caregivers who used an absolutist stance. Taken together, these results have the potential to inform caregivers, daycare providers and classroom teachers about the importance of the responses they offer to children’s questions. These responses are integral to the question, explanation, follow-up pattern of interaction that children use when acquiring new knowledge from others. Understanding how individual differences impact this interaction pattern may help decrease cognitive disparities between children across sociocultural contexts before the onset of formal schooling.

<p> The purpose of this case study was to explore the successes and challenges faced by a private, faith-based preschool in Los Angeles County in providing quality care and education to homeless children and their families. The study included interviews with parents, teachers, and administrator/staff to gather their perspectives as well as examined program structure through field observations and analysis of relevant documents. The National Association for the Education of Young Children&rsquo;s quality standards were used to examine the quality of the program. Findings showed that the relationships among all stakeholders involved in the preschool program were crucial to the success of this preschool. The study&rsquo;s findings highlighted some challenges in the following areas: support for teachers, sustained teacher training and development, strong administrative program structure, and funding. The findings bear important implications, both at the program and policy-level, for early childhood education programs serving children in exceptional circumstances, and specifically homeless children and their families.</p><p>

In a within-subjects alternating treatments design, I tested for the presence of audience control in four participants' frequency of stereotypy in a self-contained special education setting versus a general education setting. Three students with autism, and one student diagnosed with an emotional disability were participants in the study. All students had the capability of observational learning and the cusp social listener reinforcement in their repertoires of verbal behavior. Probes were conducted at random across participants and settings, and showed high frequencies of stereotypy in the self-contained setting and low to no instances of stereotypy in the general education setting. As an extended test of audience control, Experiment 2 identified developmentally delayed nursery school students in an integrated setting and tested the effects of the social listener reinforcement protocol (Reilly-Lawson & Walsh, 2007) on the audience control of social vocal operants. All participants had speaker behavior in repertoire but few conversational units, sequelics, and mands were emitted with typically developing peers in the classroom. Participants also emitted low levels of correct choral responding during group instruction. Following the social listener reinforcement protocol all participants increased social vocal operants with classroom peers and became more integrated in the classroom environment. Correct choral responses increased, as well as sharing and mands, with each other and with typically developing classroom peers.

The number of Latino children in the United States is steadily increasing. Many of these children are underperforming academically, with noticeable gaps in math and literacy between Latino and White children apparent by kindergarten. In coming years, researchers and policymakers will be confronted with the challenge of developing interventions, such as high quality child care, to better prepare Latino children for their entry into kindergarten. Findings from several studies already suggest that high quality center-based child care arrangements may have positive impacts on Latino children's academic outcomes. Such research is informative and has important policy implications; however, several gaps still remain in the literature. First, while center-based care appears to have larger effects on school readiness than parental care for Latino children, we know less about how different center-based arrangements compare to each other (e.g. Head Start vs. pre-kindergarten) or how different home-based arrangements compare to each other (e.g. parental vs. other home-based care). Second, most studies have estimated the effects of care arrangements for 3- and 4-year old children. We know relatively little about the effects of care arrangements for Latino children younger than that. Finally, many studies come from a single site or city, limiting the variability of data and generalizability of findings. This dissertation aims to address these gaps in the literature by drawing on a nationally representative sample of Latino American children from the birth cohort of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-B). With these data, this dissertation first examines the association between care arrangements the year before kindergarten (YBK; Head Start, pre-kindergarten, other center, parental, home) and outcomes at kindergarten entry (math, literacy, and approaches to learning) for Latino American children. I then extended this inquiry to estimate impacts of care arrangements at 2 years (center, parental, home) and outcomes at kindergarten entry for Latino children. Finally, for Latino children from Spanish speaking homes, I examine whether the primary language of instruction (Spanish or English) is associated with outcomes at kindergarten entry. Results from Propensity Score Models (PSM) reveal few significant differences between care arrangements for Latino children. Among those significant differences that did emerge when care arrangement was measured the YBK, most were for English literacy outcomes. Latino children in center-based care arrangements (Head Start, pre-kindergarten, and other-center) scored significantly higher than those in home based care. Latino children in Head Start also scored higher than those in parental care. No significant differences emerged between the three center arrangements. Even fewer contrasts were significant when math was the outcome (center > home; Head Start > center), and no contrasts were significant when approaches to learning was the outcome. Follow-up analyses indicated that the findings were not very robust. Moreover, those significant differences that did emerge could be explained by differences in care arrangement quality. Second, results from PSM models at the 2-year wave did not reveal any significant contrasts for Latino children. Children scored similarly on math, literacy, and approaches to learning in kindergarten regardless of the care arrangement they attended at 2-years. Finally, results from PSM models showed that the language of instruction plays an important role in predicting kindergarten readiness outcomes. Latino children whose teachers spoke primarily Spanish scored significantly lower on math and literacy compared to those whose teachers spoke primarily English. These results were not explained by several characteristics of classroom quality (e.g. teacher qualifications, classroom size, time spent on reading and math activities).

This dissertation addresses the knowledge gap about the dosage feature of preschool programs and its relationship to kindergarten readiness by asking: Does the degree of center-based preschool attendance—more than 20 hours/week (full-day), more than zero and less than 20 hours/week (part-day), or zero hours/week (no attendance)—of 4-year old children in the United States have a discernible effect in mathematics, reading, and socio-emotional tests administered at the beginning of kindergarten? I used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) to answer my research question. This high quality probability sample collected a wide range of data on young children and their families rather than assigning them to conditions. In the absence of experimental data, the quasi-experimental design that best fits the research question is a non-equivalent control group. In this design, two treated and an untreated group are compared on pre and posttest data on the same units. To minimize selection bias I first identified critical covariates that matter for selection into treatment and can be reliably measured. Then, I used propensity score analysis to match the treatment and control groups’ pretest scores and observable characteristics before directly comparing their outcomes. Results from this dissertation make evident that preschool level of attendance matters for kindergarten readiness compared no preschool. First, children who attended full-day preschool outperform their peers who did not attend in reading and math test scores at the beginning of kindergarten. Second, children who attended part-day preschool outperform their peers who did not attend in reading, math, and eagerness to learn tests scores at the beginning of kindergarten. However, results show that full-day preschool compared to part-day preschool had no statistically significant effect on cognitive skills, and had negative socio-emotional effects at the start of kindergarten. Children who attended full-day preschool performed the same in reading and math test scores- yet showed less eagerness to learn- compared to their peers who attended part-day preschool. These findings are aligned with existing literature stating that preschool has a positive effect on cognitive outcomes, particularly for low-income groups, and a negative or non-significant effect on socio-motional skills. They build upon and advance this knowledge base by empirically demonstrating the strong academic foundation that all young children develop when exposed to even a small number of hours of preschool per week. These results support the case for investments in our education system’s response that transcend the K-12 oriented approach. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2019. / April 3, 2019. / early childhood, ECLS-B, full-day, part-day, preschool, propensity score matching / Includes bibliographical references. / Stephanie S. Zuilkowski, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Toby Park, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Beth M. Phillips, University Representative; Carolyn Herrington, Committee Member.

The expansion of a child's problem solving repetoire to incorporate symbolic problem solving is the ultimate achievement in the development of adaptive symbolic functioning. In this cross-sectional study, problem solving ability was examined as a function of age. In addition, the development of the symbolic representational activities deferred imitation, symbolic play, drawing, mental imagery, and language were examined in relation to the type of problem solving behaviors demonstrated on search/retrieval problems. The sample included 36 children from 30 to 36 months of age. / Symbolic skills were assessed with a Dramatic Play Behavior Checklist, a drawing task, the Gestalt Closure subtest of the Kaufman-ABC, the Utah Test of Language Development, and two problem solving performance tasks. Spearman's Rho correlations, Chi Square Analyses, and T-tests were performed. / Clear differences were found between children $\ge$33 months of age and those $<$33 months in that younger children relied on trial and error problem solving while older children derived symbolic solutions to the performance task problems. The symbolic skills of deferred imitation, symbolic play, mental imagery, and language were found to develop in tandem with increased ability to symbolically problem solve. / Most importantly, children who averaged 34.5 months of age were found to reliably use models as mnemonic devices to symbolically problem solve on the search/retrieval tasks. Additionally, an intriguing and persistent error pattern emerged in this study. The pattern of errors indicated the presence of an intermediate step in problem solving between reliance upon trial and error and the achievement of full symbolic problem solving capability. Children committing this perseverative type error averaged 32.2 months in age, which is between the average ages of those who solved the problems via trial and error 31.1 months) and those who problem solved symbolically (34.5 months). / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-06, Section: B, page: 3181. / Major Professor: Carol Anderson Darling. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

The purposes of the study were to investigate perceptions of kindergarten teachers, first grade teachers, and parents of kindergarten children on various aspects of kindergartens and to determine if kindergarten teachers' practices coincided with their philosophies. / Researcher-designed questionnaires for teachers and parents were validated and checked for statistical significance. A sample of 75 teachers and 72 parents were drawn from a central Alabama city. Subjects completed appropriate questionnaires. / Parent data were analyzed on type of school, socioeconomic status, race, age, education, and child's ordinal position. Teacher data were analyzed on place of employment, race, age, and grade level taught. / Four null hypotheses with sub-null hypotheses were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Alpha was pre-set at .05. / The results indicated that on most aspects of kindergarten programs, kindergarten teachers and first grade teachers as a group, kindergarten teachers as a group, and parents as a group have similar opinions: the groups favored maintaining developmental orientations while including certain readiness and academic orientations such as using workbooks and drilling phonics. Parents agreed and teachers disagreed that reading, printing and simple mathematics are appropriate expectations for all kindergarteners. There were some differences in perceptions when the variables were introduced but no notable trends in philosophical orientations were indicated. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-02, Section: B, page: 0465. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

Young children with severe and profound mental disabilities are entering the public school system as the result of Public Law 99-457. Potential social/communicative partners increase as children with severe or profound disabilities share common school times and settings with children having no disabilities. / This intervention attempted to affect change in social/communicative skills among children with severe or profound mental disabilities by affecting change in the nondisabled peers' use of techniques that facilitated social/communicative interactions during free play. A multiple baseline design across groups was used to assess the relationship between the intervention and the participants' behaviors. The dependent measures included: (a) peers' (with no disabilities) use of imitating, waiting, being animated, modeling, sharing, requesting shares, and play organizing when interacting with peers with severe or profound mental disabilities and (b) visual regard, toy or body use, proximity, initiations and responses for peers with severe or profound mental disabilities. / Peer interactions were observed and data collected by an observer using an interval recording system with auditory signals cueing times to observe and times to record. The observations were made during experimental free play times in the experimental playroom setting. / The results indicated that a functional relationship existed between the training and the minimal changes observed in the peers' (with no disabilities) use of social/facilitative strategies when interacting with peers having severe or profound mental disabilities. Training phases involving prompts resulted in greatest use of social/facilitative behaviors by the peers with no disabilities and social/communicative behaviors of the peers with severe or profound mental disabilities during free play. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-01, Section: A, page: 0081. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

The eight published articles in this portfolio collectively constitute a reconceptualising of literacy curriculum and pedagogy in early childhood education, with an emphasis on the use of drama pedagogy. The portfolio includes a synthesis of the themes that unify the articles and a review of the qualitative research methods that inform the articles, namely theoretical/conceptual and case study research. In relation to literacy curriculum, the portfolio explicates an inclusive and extended definition of literacy which reflects the wide range of social and cultural practices that engage young students in their everyday lives. From a sociocultural perspective, the articles investigate current literacy practices involving spoken, written and visual modes of representation and highlight the prevalence of multimodal texts within the concept of multiliteracies. Reconceptualising literacy pedagogy is another major theme of the articles in the portfolio. The majority of articles explore the use of drama pedagogy for the teaching and learning of literacies in early childhood education. A second pedagogical strategy researched in the articles is the explicit teaching of knowledge about language to young school students. The portfolio is underpinned by the premise that the proposed reforms of literacy curriculum and pedagogy contribute to social justice in education by facilitating success in literacy for more young students / Doctor of Education

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 178-185).