Nearly 70% of preschool children in the United States are enrolled in child care facilities. This means that they eat many meals away from their homes. Despite government support for childhood nutrition through the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), research that measures the nutritional value of meals served in child care facilities has been lacking. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there are differences in the calories and nutritional value of lunch meals offered to preschool children in facilities that participate in CACFP and in facilities that do not participate in CACFP. Ajzen's theory of planned behavior formed the theoretical foundation for this study. Two research questions addressed the nutrient and caloric content of lunches served in CACFP and non-CACFP facilities. An ex post facto quasi experimental design was used to compare 598 meals from existing monthly menus from a random sample of 30 child care facilities located in a state in the Southwestern United States. Using a MANOVA test, significantly greater amounts of proteins, fats, and calories were found in meals served by non-CACFP facilities. A comparison of actual menu items suggested that greater numbers of fatty foods were present in menus served at non-CACFP facilities. These results support literature that found childhood illnesses, like obesity and malnutrition, may stem from high-calorie meals that lack adequate nutrients. This study may contribute to positive social change by supporting nutrition oversight, such as that provided by the CACFP program; encouraging tighter state and local nutritional guidelines in child care; and focusing attention on the importance of everyday nutrition for all children attending child care facilities.

Despite state requirements, standards, and recommendations from various early childhood agencies, huge differences exist in levels of education held by teachers of 4-year-olds in early childhood classrooms, which may affect the quality of service they offer to children as well as students' performance on assessments. This quantitative study determined whether significant differences existed between assessment scores of at-risk children taught by teachers with different levels of education and years of experience using standardized assessments (Teaching Strategies GOLD [TSG] and Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening [PALS]). The theoretical framework for this study was Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory of human development. Data were analyzed using a descriptive and 1-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Pretest and posttest data were collected from an archived database of TSG and PALS assessment scores of 142 at-risk Prekindergarten 4 children who were taught by 18 different Prekindergarten 4 teachers at a local Head Start site. A 1-way MANOVA multivariate test indicated that assistant teachers' level of education was statistically significant at p = .012. A univariate 1-way ANOVA indicated that no statistically significant difference was found among the groups of dependent variables. It is recommended that attention be focused on teacher practice and teacher-child interaction backed with adequate professional development, rather than levels of education and experience. This study may support the hiring of committed teachers who can turn knowledge into practice and use data to inform their practice to unlock the potential of at-risk children.

High-quality preschool is freely available at two locations in a rural area. However, many parents choose not to send their children to preschool at all, despite its availability and demonstrated benefits to children. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory study was to understand why families did not enroll children pre-K. Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems model was used as a conceptual framework for the study. which suggests that child development is influenced by multiple environmental factors. Research questions were related to examining the perspectives of parents who had not enrolled their children in pre-K on their inhibitions and inducements to enroll their children in pre-K. Interviews were conducted with parents who did not enroll their children in high-quality preschool. Semi-structured interviews with 12 parents of kindergarten-enrolled children at a single school in a mid-west state were conducted to address questions. Data acquired from interviews were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding. Inhibitors to enrollment included lack of transportation, lack of knowledge of program availability, and parental attachment to their young child. Participants reported the currently zero cost as an inducement, and they noted that more convenient transportation and extended pre-K hours would also induce them to enroll their children in pre-K. Parents disagreed about the usefulness of pre-K, with some asserting its benefit in providing academic skills and socialization and others arguing that it is not beneficial to children. This study could lead to positive social change by encouraging public outreach to inform parents better about the benefits of high-quality pre-K programs and ways to increase knowledge of their availability.

Despite positive effects of parent engagement on children's school success, prior research into parent engagement has relied almost exclusively on interactions by mothers and has not included fathers. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the perspectives of preschool teachers regarding their engagement with fathers of children in their classrooms. The conceptual framework was Epstein's 6 types of parental involvement. Three research questions, regarding teachers' perspectives of father engagement, teachers' reported efforts to increase the engagement of fathers, and the barriers teachers describe in increasing fathers' engagement, form the basis of this study. This was a qualitative study using the interviews of 9 lead preschool teachers with at least 3 years' experience, who work with children 2 to 5 years old. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis following open coding of interview transcripts. Five themes emerged including the teachers' comfort level, communication preferences, limiting center perspectives, limiting teacher perspectives, and fathers' disengagement. Findings indicated that teachers felt uncomfortable with fathers and preferred to communicate with mothers, and father engagement was hampered by limiting assumptions by the center and by teachers, and by fathers' perceived lack of interest. This study presents implications for positive social change by suggesting that individual teachers can increase parent engagement by being more inclusive of fathers, including becoming more comfortable engaging fathers, communicating with fathers directly, and being open to fathers' engagement in a variety of ways. When fathers feel welcome in childcare settings, children benefit because both parents are working on the child's behalf.

Choosing the most effective method of teaching literacy acquisition that will improve student achievement is a challenge for many early childhood educators. The problem is the target school district where this study took place did not have a curriculum for preschool teachers to use that provided reading instruction. The purpose of this causal comparative study was to explore the relationship between Concepts About Print (CAP) scores of preschool students who received direct CAP instruction and those who received indirect instruction through indirect reading and writing activities. Guided by Marie Clay's theory, which concludes that reading difficulties among beginning readers stem from a lack of attention to print concepts, this study examined students' knowledge of print conventions. A comparative research design compared pre- and post-test scores on the CAP assessment. An analysis of covariance with the pretest as the covariate was also performed in this study. Results revealed that students who were taught print concepts directly scored higher on the CAP assessment than did the students who were taught indirectly. Research findings from this study could aid administrators in the target school district with developing a technique to teach reading for preschool teachers on the local level, which will lead to social change by providing each preschool student with the strong literacy foundation needed to ensure later school success. Lifelong readers can begin in preschool.

Parental involvement during preschool has been linked with stronger pre-literacy skills, acquisition of mathematical skills, well-developed social skills, and positive attitudes toward school (Arnold, Zeljo, Doctoroff, & Ortiff, 2008; Powell, Son, File, & San Juan, 2010). Parents' active involvement in their children's learning is a recommended strategy in engaging families in children's education experiences (Henderson & Mapp, 2002). The purpose of the current study was to measure the impact of parents' active participation in a parent-directed early literacy intervention on parental home-based involvement, school-based involvement, and home-school conferencing among Head Start parents and their preschool-aged children. The study used a quantitative research design, in which preschool children and their parents were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group to assess later levels of parental involvement as a result of the intervention across three time points. This relationship was also examined in the context of parents' prior experience with their children's preschool education. Following implementation of the intervention, average levels of Home-Based Involvement increased among parents in the intervention group. Assigning Head Start parents an active role in developing their preschoolers' pre-literacy skills may be an effective strategy to increase home-based parental involvement activities.

Since the release of the first iPad in 2010, over 200 million have been sold worldwide. In the short time since the iPad's release, the devices have become popular in classrooms. The purpose of this study was twofold: 1) to document the fine motor iPad gestures of 2 , 3-, and 4-year-old children who used iPads by themselves and in dyads and 2) to conduct international comparisons regarding such observed fine motor iPad gestures. In this study, I examined seven iPad gestures: (a) tap, (b) drag/slide, (c) free rotate, (d) drag and drop, (e) pinch, (f) spread, and (g) flick. This study had five components. The first component involved observations of the iPad gestures of a sample of Orlando, Florida, children operating iPads by themselves. The first component was a partial replication of the 2013 and 2014 studies conducted by Aziz et al. The second component of this study involved observations of the iPad gestures of the Orlando children operating iPads in dyads. In the third component of this study, I compared the iPad gestures of the Orlando children with the gestures of a sample of 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old children from London. In the fourth component of this study, I compared the iPad gestures of the Orlando children with the gestures of a sample of 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old children from Malaysia. In the fifth component, I compared the iPad gestures of the Orlando sample when the children were paired with classmates and asked to play with the iPads in dyads, rather than operating iPads by themselves. Biographical information was collected, including (a) child's age, (b) household income, (c) child's gender, (d) child's ethnic origin, (e) types of mobile devices in the household, (f) daily usage of mobile devices, (g) people with whom the child used mobile devices, (h) earliest age of device usage, and (i) the primary language spoken at home.

This study seeks to influence choices made by Kindergarten students in a Title I school who receive free breakfast and lunch through a health literacy intervention with the intent of decreasing daily added sugar consumption. Fruit and milk choices, either with naturally occurring sugar (NOS) or added sugar (AS), were recorded for 70 Kindergarten students among six classes in a Title I school for ten days before a four-week health literacy intervention. Three of the classes were randomly selected to learn about 'sometimes' and 'anytime' choices through the Healthy Habits for Life curriculum delivered by representatives from Nemours Children's Hospital. Following the intervention, milk and fruit choices were recorded for ten more school days to determine differences among the control and intervention groups. Pearson Chi Square test results concluded that the health literacy intervention lead to statistically significant improvements in milk choices for the intervention group, but fruit choices were inconclusive due to inconsistencies in significance. Hierarchical loglinear analyses were run to determine if there was a difference in response to intervention between male and female students, and the results indicated that the effectiveness of the intervention was not moderated by gender. The success of this intervention for milk choices will help students who receive free school breakfast and lunch to decrease their daily consumption of added sugars, and additional research needs to be done to help students make choices that will further decrease their daily added sugar consumption.

Abstract Gardner's ( I983) Theory of Multiple Intelligences supports developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) espoused by NAEYC for early chiJdhood classrooms. This research examines teachers' use of multiple intelligences-based (MI-based) strategies while teaching for mastery of the required Florida's Sunshine State Standards (SSS). Second grade teachers in a rural community in Central Florida were surveyed with follow-up interviews regarding their teaching practices and philosophies. Data collected show that teachers believe children can master SSS using MI-based strategies but report barriers of large class sizes. Teachers who received training on Ml reported greater success with MI strategies. Teachers reported more use of MI-based strategies for teaching than in their assessment practices. Discussion includes the impact of the state standardized assessments.

Family literacy encompasses the way family members use literacy at home and in their community. This study reports early literacy activities these families do that are connected to the activities they carry out in their every day events. Reading aloud, print awareness, and how reading environmental print relates to young children between the ages of birth to preschool are some of the activities discussed in this study. Other topics such as the time of day parents read to their children and what kind of educational toys or materials their children prefer to use in relation to literacy are also incorporated. A survey instrument was given to parents and is included in Appendix A. The findings reported include the percentages of factors the surveyed parents chose as important to them in regards to early literacy activities and future success in school. Promoting literacy activities at home and in the community is an important role for parents who have children in day care. The purpose of this study was to determine what parents with children in day care do with their preschool children to support literacy development. The research question was How do parents of preschool children attending day care promote literacy activities at home? Seventy-five families that have their children in four different day care centers, participated in this study. The survey instrument used in this study revealed which activities that support literacy are most important to parents that have their children in local day care centers. Of the seventy-five families surveyed, twenty nine families have children that attend day care centers run by the United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) organization. These child development centers serve all children, especially children that have a variety of disabilities. Another forty-six families have children that attend different day care centers in the Apopka area.