This is an ethnographic, auto/biographical study of Sure Start Greendale which is situated on the outskirts of a seaside town in the south east of England. I undertook the research while I was Director of the programme. The thesis is written from the perspective of key participants in the programme, as well as my own learning biography, background in health visiting and practice as leader of a new high profile government initiative called Sure Start. It is highly reflexive and written in a narrative genre. Sure Start aims to give young children living in communities similar to Greendale a better start in life by creating opportunities for them and their parents and by eradicating child poverty. This research explores, through auto/biographical and focus group interviews with parents, community workers and representatives from partner agencies, perspectives of the Greendale area prior to Sure Start, the impact of the Sure Start programme and the new building, and their notions of community prior to and post the establishment of the Sure Start programme. The voices of parents, community workers and partner agencies are heard through an interpretative, analytical approach in a process of shared learning. Issues relating to insider research are discussed in detail. Auto/biographical interviews indicate the challenges of partnership working, the impact of poverty on children and their parents, and the complex ways in which Sure Start helped to renew a sense of community. The main finding of the research was that the Sure Start Greendale programme was able to engage to varying degrees a suspicious and sceptical community and support parents to access services and develop relationships with other parents. Sure Start Greendale was the enabler of communication in the estate and the community workers played a major role in building social capital and reducing social isolation. This research is important as it is the only ethnographic, auto/biographical, insider researcher’s account of a Sure Start Programme, covering a period of eight years. The study adds to the body of knowledge about Greendale and similar communities and factors that assist community renewal.

abstract: This mixed methods study examined whether participation in a virtual community of practice (vCoP) could impact the implementation of new skills learned in a professional development session and help to close the research to implementation gap. Six participants attended a common professional development session and completed pre- , mid- , and post-intervention surveys regarding their implementation of social emotional teaching strategies as well as face-to-face interviews. Both quantitative and qualitative data was examined to determine if participation in the vCoP impacted implementation of skills learned in the PD session. Quantitative data was inconclusive but qualitative data showed an appreciation for participation in the vCoP and access to the resources shared by the participants. Limitations and implications for future cycles of research are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among competencies recommended by the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (DEC/CEC), state requirements for teacher certification, and college and university personnel preparation program requirements for educators working with children with disabilities from birth-5 years of age. The study included all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The groups of subjects interviewed by phone consisted of state Part H coordinators, department of education staff, and college and university professors from early childhood education (ECSE) programs.;Overall the results indicate an increase in the number of states requiring certification in early childhood special education and in the number of college and university preparation programs since the passage of P.L. 99-457 in 1986 and the 1991 Part B mandate for states to serve 3 year old children with disabilities. as the nation proceeds in implementing the preschool mandate and moves toward the fifth year of services of Part H for infants and toddlers with disabilities, this growth is crucial to the success of newly developed programs for the education of young children with disabilities. The number of states issuing certification to early childhood special educators has grown from 19 in 1989 (37%) to the 37 (71%) identified in this study. This indicates an increase of 18 additional states requiring certification.;This increase is also shown in college and university teacher preparation programs. Four states currently have no college or university teacher preparation programs in early childhood special education, while forty-seven states have one or more teacher preparation programs in ECSE. Thirty states have more than one preparation program.;Teacher preparation program requirements appear to be equally extensive as state certification regulations; however the correspondence between state certification requirements and college and university requirements appears to be low. The results of this study indicate that state requirements and college and university preparation program requirements appear to be focusing on different content but an equal number of courses and/or competencies. The overlap among state certification requirements, college and university requirements and the 15 DEC/CEC competency recommendations was only 3.4.

Methodology: The Behavioral and Environmental Safety Program (B.E. Safe) for Early Childhood Professionals is being developed in response to Federal Safety regulations for childcare procedures and addresses social and emotional safety concerns. The curriculum includes Family Life Education content areas focusing on diversity, inclusion, social and emotional health, bullying prevention, supporting children with special needs, building relationships with parents, and understanding children’s behavior. Discussion of existing research: Research states that high quality childcare and education benefits all children (DHSS, 2015). Best practices indicate that Early Childhood Professionals need high quality training to be equipped to understand child development, strategies for working with families, and having the resources for supports when including children with disabilities in early childcare programs (DHSS, 2015). Not only should Early Childhood Professionals be equipped with the tools and resources to understand children’s behavior, educators need to demonstrate competency in state regulations, environmental safety for children, and playground safety (Sheridan, Edwards, Marvin & Knoche, 2009). B.E. Safe allows Early Childhood Professionals to engage in a research-based training that will help to ensure safety within their center. Connection to Theory: Behavior theories of child development incorporate environmental influences on behavior (Shute & Slee, 2015). A child’s early learning environment and the adults influence of children affects emotional, social, and physical development. B.E. Safe relates to Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory (1978) suggesting that children learn actively through hands on experiences. The Sociocultural Theory suggest that parents, caregivers, and a child’s environment from a young age is largely responsible for higher order functions (Shute & Slee, 2015). Proficiency in Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) will allow participants to grasp how traumatic events can affect a child’s developmental process. Educating early childcare professionals on ACEs will allow for adults to be aware of what to look for, and how to keep children protected from adverse experiences (Sacks, Murphey & Moore, 2014). How will the study add to knowledge/innovative practice? Family Scientists will gain knowledge on best practices for providing Family Life Education to Early Childhood Professionals. Specifically, participants will gain knowledge on promoting inclusion, understanding behavior issues, developmental delays, and how to keep children safe from potential environmental hazards.

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This multiple baseline single-case design study explored the influence that training in observation and interpretation had on teachers’ meaningful conversations with children. Three preschool teachers (1 from public school and 2 from Head Start) were trained using the Cycle of Inquiry System (Broderick & Hong, 2011) that informs of ways to observe and interpret children’s thinking to facilitate developmentally appropriate conversations. Teachers documented and interpreted observations of children engaged in small group play. Teachers were surveyed pre-training and post-training about observation, interpretation, curriculum, the teacher’s role, and the purpose of teacher interactions with children. Teachers were interviewed to clarify researcher questions and videotaped before the training to establish a baseline on their use of productive conversations with children. Videotaped observations after the training showed the effect of training on teachers’ conversations. Field notes from mentoring and videos were collected to provide insight into the influence of the training. A social validity questionnaire was used to determine if participants found value in the process learned. Data were evaluated for the 3 participants using graphs to show evidence for the rate of change. The Cycle of Inquiry Intervention increased teachers’ productive conversations with children. Pre-surveys and post-surveys indicated that teacher’s perceptions were positively affected. Teachers perceived productive conversation as important to documenting and interpreting children’s thinking. Their beliefs about children’s theory development and awareness about the role of conversation in the process changed after the intervention. They value observations and documentation to learn about children’s thinking as a way to engage in conversations. Social validity was used to determine if the goals of training were acceptable, if the training was valued, and if it would influence participants’ teaching. Participants indicated that the Documentation Record (DR) and recording observations was worthwhile and that they would use what was learned during training to increase productive conversations. Two of the 3 participants were concerned about consistency regarding the DR form, indicated it was worthwhile to complete the Interpretation of Children’s Knowledge and Thinking (ICKT) form, but were not sure of their consistency. Curriculum constraints and lack of support could influence their consistency concerns.

In order to help children gain a more robust understanding of place value, teachers must understand the connections and relationships among the related concepts as well as possess knowledge of how children learn early number concepts. Unfortunately, teachers’ familiarity with the base-ten number system and/or lack of an understanding of multidigit whole numbers leads to instruction that encourages a superficial understanding of the concepts of our base-ten system rather than instruction that pushes students to go beyond recitation of the value of the digit in the ten's place. This study highlights the attempts of three mathematics educators in reconceptualizing and impacting teachers’ understanding of place value concepts.

abstract: There is a national shortage of highly qualified early childhood educators. For many early childhood educators, this career path begins with the Child Development Associate credential. Community colleges are well-positioned to award this credential and address the shortage of highly qualified early childhood educators. However, many students arrive at community colleges academically unprepared, with excessive work and family responsibilities. The purpose of my participatory action research study is to explore the impact of internships on early childhood education student attitudes towards persistence in their course of study. This study has the potential to impact strategies used with child development majors in the community college setting. Successful community college students who persist through their plan of study to graduate will experience the benefits that college completion brings. In addition to the interests of college completion, these students will enter the workforce or university setting with valuable work experience and professional credentials achieved in a supportive community. Both outcomes have the potential to positively affect the growth of the early childhood workforce. The findings of this study reveal that student interns placed in high-quality, early learning centers found support in the relationships with their mentor teachers, valuable experiences with the children in the rooms, and a new sense of self-efficacy when offered opportunities to participate in professional development activities, leading to persistence in their course of study. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2019

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a statistically significant relationship between teacher self-efficacy beliefs and teacher recommendations for student retention. An online survey served as the data source for this study. The survey link was emailed to 236 kindergarten, first, and second grade teachers in an urban Virginia school district. Teachers were asked to report the number of students recommended for retention over a two year period as well as information regarding the characteristics of the children actually retained (e.g., race, gender, SES status, etc.) over that same two year period. In addition to providing the information regarding student retention, teachers were asked to complete Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy's (2001) Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale.;The results from the study indicated that among teachers at non-Title I schools the higher the number of recommendations for student retention, the higher the Student Engagement Subscale mean. When examining the characteristics of retained students in grades K-2 at Bayside, as reported by the classroom teacher, many of this study's findings contradicted previously published research in regards to race, family socioeconomic status, school attendance, and parental involvement.