The purpose of this study was to explore, describe and examine how early childhood teachers utilize and integrate the arts (music, drama, and visual arts) in teaching children ages 3 to 5. It also examined the formal and informal arts education background of early childhood teachers, the relationship between teacher training and educational practice and the role it plays in teachers’ use of music, drama and visual arts in their curriculum. Data was collected through the use of the Arts Integration Questionnaire (AIQ) and by observations, Arts Integration observation Protocol (AIOP). A total of 91 early childhood teachers completed the questionnaire; it included background information as well as general aspects of teacher’s knowledge about the arts, an exploration of the use of the arts in their classrooms, and an exploration of arts integration with other academic subjects. From those participants, 20 teachers were randomly selected to participate in the observations. The results of the study indicated that the majority of teachers have received formal and informal training in music, followed closely by visual arts, and very little in drama. Overall teachers were found to use music more than visual arts and drama in their classrooms; more time is spend on musical activities than in any other form. Again teachers preferred music because they considered it to be more beneficial than drama and the visual arts. This study revealed an array of reasoning behind the arts use in the classroom including addressing different learning styles, students’ preference, and stimulating students’ creativity. There was no statistical significant difference between a teacher’s background training and experience and their use of music and drama into their early childhood classroom. In the case of visual arts there is a statistical significant difference meaning that teachers need training and experience to help them develop an understanding of the visual arts. And finally teachers do integrate the arts with other academic subjects with the purpose of developing skills, explore roles, and to assess learning and understanding of concepts. Recommendations for professional development, teacher education, and further research are discussed.

<p> The present mixed-methods quasi-experimental study (embedding a case study and a mixed factorial within-between ANOVA test), conducted in a private English school in Limassol, Cyprus, investigated how the use of the schematic learning aids (researcher-made color-coded flash-cards and grids) influence year-2 children's ability to read, write and represent Hindu-Arabic numerals and how these number representations affect their arithmetic competency. This was achieved by comparing an intervention group (n=16) and a control group (n=17) before and after the 2-week intervention. </p><p> It is concluded that the use of the place-value learning aids facilitates numeration system conceptual understanding , reading, writing and representing numbers (in canonical and non-canonical form) by thinking in terms of "100s", "10s" and "1s" (or in terms of color-coded cards). Students visually relate the face-value of the digits (e.g. "3" and "5") of the number (e.g. "35") with the number of flash-cards to be used for the canonical representation (three orange cards and five blue cards). Children also understand how "53" differs from "35" or "503". It is further concluded that the use of the learning aids facilitates addition and subtraction performance in terms of "hundreds", "tens" and "ones" (rather than just "ones") either mentally or by constructing canonical and non-canonical representations with the use of the flash-cards and grids or by constructing abstract representations on paper. Students realize that ten cards of one color can be exchanged with one card of another color (or vice versa). Students further understand how "35-2" differs from "35-20" and how "51-32" differs from "52-31". </p><p> Quantitative data are in agreement with qualitative data, suggesting that children's arithmetic competency is enhanced when taught how to represent numbers, additions and subtractions with the use of the learning aids. The control group mean score increase from before to after intervention was 1,24 marks, compared to an increase of 11,06 marks for the intervention class. The medium to large Cohen's d effect sizes of 0,51 (comparing the intervention group score increase to the control group score increase) or 0,57 (comparing the intervention group score from before to after) indicate strong practical significance.</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> Early Childhood Care and Education in Ethiopia was revitalized after the initiatives of Education for All campaign were introduced with the intention of expanding access and improving educational opportunities to children living in disadvantaged communities. In the process of expanding access to Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programs in Ethiopia, a greater need to grasp the meaning of early education in the context of children's historical, social, and cultural experiences emerged. </p><p> The purpose of this research study was to explore the integration of indigenous knowledge and cultural practices in ECCE programs in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Vygotsky's sociocultural theory in combination with Yosso's community cultural wealth theory served as the conceptual as well as the methodological framework advising the components of this research. This qualitative case study invited perspectives from local parents, teachers, directors, a university faculty member, and administrative personnel from Ministry of Education in Ethiopia. </p><p> Major findings uncovered that participants in this study associated language, <i> fidel</i> (the Ethiopian alphabet), traditional practices, and religion as core elements of Ethiopia's indigenous knowledge. However, when assessing the value of using indigenous knowledge, it was revealed parents' want for English and the personification English-speaking carries resulted in devaluation of Amharic and cultural practices in ECCE programs. Success with integrating indigenous knowledge by using native languages and culturally relevant materials was evident in schools serving low income families; but it was a challenge for these students when they advanced to all-English secondary schools. Other challenges to integrating indigenous knowledge were attributed to disproportionate numbers of private versus public schools, divergent education philosophy between rich and poor programs, lack of local resources, and absence of a stringent monitoring agency to enforce the national mandate of Amharic or mother's tongue as the medium of instruction. </p><p> The study bears important implications for ECCE programs, policy makers, educational researchers, and for Ethiopia. Recommendations include Ethiopia's adopting a three language system in primary grades beginning in ECCE programs. Further recommendations call for international and national support for developing indigenous resources, delayed introduction of English as a subject in elementary grades, and a comprehensive university-level ECCE teacher training program. </p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-05, Section: A, page: 1661. Adviser: Daniel J. Walsh. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 275-290) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Education, 2008. / Title from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 30, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-03, Section: A, page: 0870. Adviser: Mary B. McMullen.

The major focus of this study is to identify the effect of teacher's verbal expression on children's learning during the free-play period. The verbal expression of teachers was identified as a form of the adult's reinforcement of the child's performance during the free-play period. This reinforcement of the primary learnings which are the children's on-going activities, lead to the elaboration of learning into associate and concomitant learnings. Fifty four-year-old children in ten classrooms were selected and observed. The Child Activity Observation Form designed for 40 minute observations and adapted from Day and Weinthaler (1982) was used to collect the data. A videotape of two classrooms was used for training twelve teachers for inter-observer reliability. The researcher and the twelve teachers observed the tapes and recorded observations. The observation results were correlated with each other to identify the percentage of agreement amongst the thirteen observers. The percentage agreement for all variables was calculated for the activities observed. Findings indicate average percentage agreement amongst variables in two activities ranged between 84% and 94%. SPSS/PC+V.3.1--Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (1988) was used to analyze the data. Contingency table analysis was used, which showed the frequency distribution and crosstabulations. The analysis of the results indicate that there was no significant difference between teacher and child on "who initiated activities." The teacher initiated in 61 activities while the child initiated in 53 activities. In looking at the effect of teacher interaction on the child's achievement of elaborated learnings, results revealed significant differences in the roles of the teacher and the frequencies of both associate and concomitant learnings. Results show that teachers were observing in 43 percent of all the activities, directing in 28.9 percent, participating in 17.5 percent and absent in 10.5 percent. There was no observed associate learnings in 61.4 percent of all activities and no observed concomitant learnings in 57.0 percent of all activities.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: . Adviser: Liora Bresler. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-189) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-09, Section: A, page: 3708. Adviser: Lynne Boyle-Baise. Title from dissertation home page (viewed May 5, 2008).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-11, Section: A, page: 4597. Adviser: Karla J. Moller. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 282-298) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.