<p> The majority of children with exceptionalities aged 3-5 are being served in general education settings. Teachers working in these inclusion classrooms must have the ability and knowledge to work with all students under their care. The purpose of this study was to determine how teachers in early childhood inclusion classrooms plan to incorporate the principles of Universal Design for Learning, an inclusive pedagogy, and to determine how professional development in UDL changes teachers' knowledge and behaviors in the classroom. This qualitative case study followed two early childhood inclusion co-teachers and a district office specialist in charge of the UDL professional development. Interviews, observations, lesson plans, and training materials were collected over an extended amount of time in the field. Results of the data analysis indicated that many principles of UDL were inherent in quality early childhood instruction. Teachers were adept at individualizing instruction on an as needed basis, but they needed more practice at embedding modifications and accommodations into curriculum and instruction. Early childhood teachers understood and saw the value in UDL, but they lacked appropriate professional development, access to the necessary resources, and the time needed to take universal instruction to the next level.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to examine children's musical and mathematical behaviors as they participated in an interdisciplinary pre-K curriculum. Research questions were: 1. What connections&mdash;if any&mdash;do young children make between music learning and mathematics learning? 2. Is there a relationship between young children's emergent rhythm development and emergent numeracy development? </p><p> To address these questions, a concurrent embedded mixed-methods design was utilized. One intact class of 14 preschool children were observed at predetermined points throughout the Spring 2012 semester through participant observation and video footage of music classes, math activities, and other times where music was used in the curriculum. Interventions for classroom and music teachers were intended to foster developmentally appropriate practice in music and mathematics. Music aptitude and pre- and post-test measures of early music rhythm achievement and early numeracy achievement were correlated to embed a quantitative dimension. </p><p> Observed rhythm responses included movement such as (a) continuous, free-flowing motion during songs; (b) steady beat motions of bouncing, tapping, and clapping; and (c) rhythmic body motions of tapping or clapping rhythm patterns; chanted responses of (a) echoed rhythm patterns, (b) improvised rhythm patterns, and (c) parts of poems. Sung responses included singing with a light quality in initial singing range, as well as resting tone and tonal patterns. Mathematical responses included subitizing, one-to-one correspondence, counting fingers, forward and backward verbal counting, and using finger patterns to count on, and add and subtract numbers less than 10. </p><p> Limited, but supportive quantitative evidence was found regarding the relationship of early rhythm and early mathematics development. Emergent themes, <i> community of learning and sharing, expanded social conventions,</i> and <i> reinforcement of learning,</i> revolved around current thought that learning is both individually and socially constructed. That some children express themselves more readily through music and others through mathematics was supported; carefully selected song literature that meets both music learning and mathematics learning objectives can elicit observable musical and mathematical responses and may reinforce learning connections. Recommendations include replication with a design that addresses limitations of the present study and increased music and math pedagogy courses and professional development for pre-K classroom teachers.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable survey instrument to examine elementary general education teachers' attitudes toward the inclusion of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the general education classroom. By determining what influences attitudes, the needs of elementary general education teachers can be established to make educated decisions, develop meaningful professional development activities, or enable teachers to self-reflect thus improving attitudes of elementary general education teachers toward inclusion of students with ASD. </p><p> The study was guided by the following phases: Phase One: (1) Reviewed current literature and conducted a discussion with a focus group to determine the overall construct, (2) wrote and modified an initial set of items, (3) consulted a panel of experts to certify that items measure the overall construct intended for content and construct validity, (4) conducted a think-aloud with individual teachers to ensure questions are being interpreted as intended, and (5) rewrote and revised as needed. Phase Two: Conducted an Exploratory Factor analysis in order to determine common factor structures. Phase Three: Conducted a pilot test to establish reliability in a test/re-test format. The findings indicate evidence of a valid and reliable survey instrument to examine elementary general education teachers' attitudes toward the inclusion of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the general education classroom. </p>

<p> Limited research exists examining the social-emotional functioning of rural, at-risk children in addition to school characteristics that may impact behaviors. In the present study the social-emotional functioning of rural, at-risk Kindergarten students was observed in relation to various school characteristics including teacher perceptions of professional climate, opportunities for professional development and collaboration, teacher efficacy, and teacher-child relationships. The sample of students from low SES families residing within rural areas was derived from a nationally representative database (ECLS-K 2011), and yielded a sample size of 1,318. The results were analyzed using several path analyses. The analyses revealed that teacher perceptions of professional climate in addition to reported opportunities for professional development and collaboration were important to their feelings of effectiveness as a teacher (teacher efficacy). In addition, the conflict within a teacher-child relationship was significantly related to teacher ratings of internalizing and externalizing problems. Implications for the potential impact on social-emotional problems through interventions at the school and teacher level are discussed.</p>

<p> The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the development of children's drawing skills through the use of technology. The research involved five children two girls and three boys, ages three to five years in a preschool center located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Specifically, the researcher observed and analyzed the response of the selected children to the use of tablet-based programs in the development of their drawing skills. The result showed that boys between three to four were more interactive with drawing on the iPad than girls. This result will be helpful for teachers and technology specialists to understand how to optimize technology to support early childhood artistic efforts.</p><p> The first chapter of this thesis is an introduction and holds the purpose of the study. The second chapter is a review of literature. Chapter three is the methodology. And in chapter four, findings and results are discussed. Chapter five is the conclusion and recommendations for further study.</p>

<p> The current study examined the role of music in Mandarin vocabulary learning in a Mandarin immersion preschool setting. The goal was to find out how children learn Mandarin with and without music. Using a pre-test/post-test design, I first identified 5 Mandarin words that most children did not know, and then divided children into two groups: the experimental group were taught the 5 words using pictures and song, and the control group learned the same words by pictures and the same song with the melody removed. In the post-test, I asked children of each group "Which one is the XX" in Mandarin and each child pointed to the picture of what they thought was XX. My results show that both groups learned new words; however, children in the non-music group learned more words than children in the music group. These results demonstrate learning from a short-term intervention, but also raise questions about the role of the language's tonality in the effectiveness of using music for word learning.</p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> immersion school, music, vocabulary learning, Mandarin</p>

<p> The purpose of this case study was to explore the effects of a literature-based social-emotional learning curriculum on kindergarten students' social-emotional behaviors, awareness, and early reading skills in a large elementary school. The study examined beliefs/perceptions of kindergarten teachers in regards to what reading skills students possess, the progress students make during a semester, how social-emotional skills affect the classroom environment and whether a literature-based social-emotional learning curriculum has a general impact. Two experimental and two control teachers participated in the study. There were fifty-three (N = 53) students who participated in the study. Forty (N = 40) students were assessed due to time constraints; twenty (N = 20) in the experimental group, twenty (N = 20) in the control group. Students were assessed using the <i>Assessment of Children's Emotion Skills</i> test, (Schultz, Izard, &amp; Bear, 2004) to measure social awareness and emotional accuracy skills and the <i>Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills</i> (DIBELS) Next Assessment (Dynamic Measurement Group, 2011) to measure first sound and letter naming fluency both before and after implementation of Strong Start, the literature-based social skills curriculum. Qualitative data collected included teacher interviews, teacher reflective journals, fidelity check observations, communication logs, and researcher field notes. </p><p> Results showed that while there was a change in scores on the ACES and <i> DIBELS Next</i> assessments from pretest to posttest for all groups and from experimental to control group, scores were not comparatively statistically different. The change in scores could not be attributed to the social-emotional learning curriculum. Gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, nor group had any effect on the scores for the ACES. However, white children did better than "other" students on the letter naming fluency <i>DIBELS Next</i> subtest. Experimental group students did not lose ground in reading, improved their problem-solving skills and enriched their social-emotional vocabulary. The data revealed classroom schedules filled with primarily teacher driven activities, core academics, and structure. Teachers changed their own behaviors by focusing on students' social-emotional skills and behaviors, teaching social-emotional skills formally and explicitly, and by modeling social-emotional skills.</p>

<p> At the time of this study, school districts in the United States faced challenges relative to educational accountability, especially in the areas of language arts and mathematics. Research suggested that music held the potential to bolster student engagement and academic achievement to improve reading outcomes for students. An integrated music curriculum was designed and implemented by the researcher to support reading achievement in a Midwestern, suburban elementary school. The purpose of this counterbalanced research design was to examine the effect of an integrated music curriculum upon the reading achievement of kindergarten students. The lesson framework included brain-based and active listening warm-ups, the presentation of literature, an Orff-Schulwerk activity and literacy centers. Quantitative methods were used to answer four hypotheses statements including <i>t</i>-tests for difference in means, <i>z</i>-tests for difference in means, a chi-square tests for difference in variance, and an analysis of variance to determine the effects of the integrated music curriculum. </p><p> Although the quantitative results for three of the null hypotheses were not statistically significant, there were observable changes in the children's motivations and attitudes toward reading. Student growth in the content area of music was shown to be significant. The researcher concluded that music as a content area was valuable on its own, but could also make learning more powerful when utilized in reading instruction and other content areas. The new information gained from this study may help readers find effective ways of using music to enhance reading achievement.</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>

<p>The study used an embedded qualitative, historical, explanatory, case study design with a dominant quantitative, quasi-experimental pre-post, longitudinal, retrospective design. The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of Ludus Reading&mdash;a new reading program&mdash;in terms of kindergarten students&rsquo; reading perceptions and performance between the control and experimental group addressing the problem of illiteracy and aliteracy. Study participants included 73 kindergarten students. The results of the study were statistically significant (alpha = .05). The null hypothesis H1 was rejected (<i>F</i> (1,70)=15.01, <i>p</i> &lt;. 001). Consequently, the experimental group had higher means on KDRA2 (<i>M</i>=9.25, <i> SD</i>=5.11) than the control group (<i>M</i>=5.07, <i> SD</i>=4.25). The null hypothesis H2 was rejected (<i>F</i> (1,69)=6268.69, Wilks Lambda=0.68, <i>p</i> &lt; .001). Therefore, the experimental group had higher means on KDIBELS NWF-CLS (<i>M</i>=53.31, <i> SD</i>=21.51) than the control group (<i>M</i>=32.20, <i> SD</i>=18.99). The sub-null hypotheses were retained, signifying that moderating factors, gender and speech language services, did not influence the students&rsquo; reading performance. Qualitative data from learning profiles were explored, and emerging themes indicated that the experimental group enjoyed reading more than the control group because students from the experimental group used more descriptive emotion words to describe reading, and expressed a higher intensity level of enjoyment. </p>