Recent charter school enrollment trends suggest that many parents are choosing to enroll students in charter schools instead of traditional public schools, even though data indicate public school achievement is equal to or above charter schools. Guided by Rogers and Maslow's humanistic theory, the purpose of the study was to examine reasons why parents exercised their right to educational choice and chose charter schools instead of traditional public schools for their children. The study focused on two charter schools, the Learning Academy and the School of Excellence (both pseudonyms), which are located in a large urban and suburban school district in Georgia. In this qualitative case study, data collection occurred through focus groups and individual interviews. The information was then coded, and themes were identified. This resulted in rich descriptions of the beliefs and perceptions of 13 classroom teachers, 2 administrators, and 21 parents from the 2 schools studied. Parents interviewed considered student achievement, school climate, and parent involvement opportunities when choosing the charter school. The analyzed data led me to develop a policy recommendation highlighting professional development for teachers and administrators as well as suggestions for increased parental involvement in public schools. This study has the potential to bring about positive social change by providing insights regarding why charter schools are becoming a better choice for parents through the perceptions of parents, teachers, and administrators. School leaders have the option to implement policy recommendations in a way that promotes student learning, positive school climate, and parental engagement, benefiting students within the district.

Despite credible research to support a constructivist-based approach in early childhood programs, policymakers continued to push for a more academic-based philosophy in an effort to reach standardized testing goals. Reggio Emilia, a constructivist-based early childhood philosophy that originated in Northern Italy, has been shown to be an excellent model to facilitate optimum learning in young children. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate parental experiences when choosing the constructivist-based early childhood program, Reggio Emilia, for their children and to explore parents' perceived benefits after their children attended. A constructivist conceptual framework was used to provide context for the Reggio Emilia philosophy. A purposeful sampling strategy was used to select a Reggio Emilia inspired program, Foundations Early Learning Center, in the American Midwest. Five parents who had enrolled their children at Foundations Early Learning Center for a minimum of 6 months participated through in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed, categorized, and clustered into similar themes that described the phenomenon. Results indicated parents identified an overall satisfaction for choosing a Reggio Emilia experience for their preschool children. Ten perceived benefits from parents were identified that were associated with their children after they attended the Reggio Emilia inspired program. Findings of the current study have the potential to bring awareness to policymakers and early childhood program directors when making decisions on what type of educational philosophy to implement into early childhood programs with results favoring the choice of a constructivist-based Reggio Emilia inspired program over alternative options.

Early childhood education (ECE) teachers often lack the experience and skills to provide children with supports necessary to foster academic and social skill development. Professional development can improve ECE teachers' skills, but ECE trainers often lack understanding of adult learning principles, known as andragogy. Knowles' conceptual framework of andragogy was used to explore the knowledge and use of andragogical principles of 8 ECE trainers selected via criterion-based purposive sampling. The research questions focused on ECE trainers' knowledge and use of andragogical principles. Three cases, each consisting of 2 or 3 live professional development trainings for early childhood educators, were used in this study. Data sources included (a) observations of ECE trainings, (b) semi-structured interviews with ECE trainers, and (c) content analysis of ECE training materials. Thematic analysis revealed that although participants were not formally trained in andragogy and were unfamiliar with the associated verbiage, most had a strong grasp of andragogy and used andragogical principles to drive the development and presentation of their training materials. The 3 main themes that emerged were (a) lack of training/background in andragogy, (b) training strategies employed, and (c) training design. Findings from this study provide an original contribution to the limited existing research on the professional development of early childhood educators and expand the existing body of research on andragogy. This study contributes to social change by revealing that trainers may benefit from formal andragogical training, which may then improve the education provided by ECE teachers to young children.

Some children have difficulty communicating due to a lack of age-appropriate language and social skills. Researchers have explored how music and language share features that shape language processing. The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological analysis was to explore the experiences of caregivers of preschool children who participated in a music-based program and to understand their perspectives related to children's language and social skill development. Learning style and sensory integration processing theories were used as framework to provide foundations of skills in this study. Research questions addressed caregivers' choices related to this program for their children, their experiences of their children's participation in the program, and how the caregivers perceive their children's language and social skills change as they participated in the program. Data from 8 participants were collected using narrative journals and interviews and were analyzed by identifying relationships and themes. Identified themes included the importance of choice of quality music program, improved language skills, improved social skills, and improvement in other areas. Caregivers reported that their children's language and social skills developed in the early weeks of participation in The Listening Program. Primary recommendations included providing opportunities to educate other parents and professionals about the benefits of music-based programs. Contributions to positive social change include the value of music-based programs as a complementary technique to aid language and social skill development in preschool aged children, and that children who participate become more effective communicators and interact more appropriately with others.

The Use of Reflective Practices in Applying Strategies Learned Through Professional Development in Social Studies Instruction. Montra L. Rogers, 2016: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education. ERIC Descriptors: Reflective Teaching, Educational Strategies, Professional Development, Theory Practice Relationship, Social Studies. This applied dissertation examined how middle school social studies teachers in a large urban school district in Texas described and documented their process of self-reflection as they integrated instructional strategies learned in professional training into their social studies courses. The study further explored how social studies teachers perceived reflective practice as an element of professional development and how a reflective practice model such as reflective journaling helped middle school teachers document their process of self-reflection as they applied new strategies to their instructional approaches. The researcher explored the teachers’ actions through the concept of organization learning theory, conducted face-to-face interviews, and analyzed documents, observation notes, and journal responses to uncover the processes, practices, and perceptions of middle school social studies teachers. This study’s findings revealed that, to implement strategies learned during professional development training, participants incorporated newly learned practices into their existing practices and routines. These practices or routines included creating resources and sharing and collaborating with peers. In addition, social studies teachers documented their process of integrating the QSSSA (Question, Stem, Signal, Share, Assess) conversation strategy into their instructional approach by planning lessons that facilitated the use of the newly learned strategy, implementing said lesson, and assessing student learning. Finally, the study’s findings confirmed that professional learning experiences that include elements of reflective practices, such as professional learning communities, provided middle school teachers a greater sense of self-efficacy as they worked to integrate the QSSSA conversation strategy into their instructional routines. Furthermore, a reflective practice model such as journaling provided teachers an avenue to consider both their own practice and the individual needs of their students.

A phenomenological approach was used to identify contributing factors and common trends related teacher attrition by conducting interviews with teachers who decided to exit a North Carolina School District located in Western North Carolina. A qualitative approach allowed the researcher to gain valuable insight into the decision-making process of the 15 research participants. Data collection involved conducting one on one telephone interviews with participants by asking a series of open-ended questions that allowed for probing and follow-up questions. Analysis of researcher notes, evaluation of textual data produced by interviews, and observations allowed the qualitative investigator to identify emerging themes and patterns to answer the research questions. Family, spouse, job opportunity, money, and relocation were identified as contributing factors in the decision-making process of research participants to leave the North Carolina School district. Suggestions for future research include researchers working with school districts to develop an exit interview in the form of a quantitative research design to identify emerging themes and patterns related to teacher attrition. This will allow for the quick collection of data, and researchers will be able to conduct statistical analysis in a timely manner.

I create a diploma thesis with a combination of quantitative and qualitative research, which examines the process of integrating children into the environment of kindergartens. In this work, I comprehensively find out how the kindergarten team participates in the process of inclusion of socially disadvantaged children. In the theoretical part I characterize social pedagogy and groups of socially disadvantaged children, including the legislative definition. I mention documents relating to pre-school education and mention counseling services that serve teachers, parents and children in the field of social disadvantage. I divide the practical part into two phases of research. For the first phase of the empirical part, I choose quantitative research, where I find out by the method of a questionnaire survey, general information of teachers in the given issue, basic orientation in school documents and different methods of work. In the second phase of the practical part, in the form of qualitative research, I create unstructured interviews. Through the interview, I supplement the information obtained from the questionnaire survey and obtain comprehensive data on the process of integrating socially disadvantaged children into kindergarten. By setting the main goals of the diploma thesis, I find out the...

The purpose of the newly implemented Transitional Kindergarten program in California is to provide an additional year of early childhood education to young students in order to prepare them for school (American Institutes for Research, 2012). The implementation of Transitional Kindergarten into California’s public school districts was executed quickly without clear guidelines or training for teachers. The resultant gap in understanding Transitional Kindergarten’s goals is an educational issue that needs to be addressed. Until standards and guidelines are finalized for Transitional Kindergarten programs, California’s school districts decide how to implement their programs. The purpose of this research study was to examine the extent to which Transitional Kindergarten teachers perceive they are prepared to teach in a Transitional Kindergarten Classroom and to identify resources, support for, and professional development teachers in TK believe they need. The following research questions guided the study: 1. To what extent do participants perceive they are prepared to teach in a Transitional Kindergarten class? 2. To what extent does the level of perceived preparedness correlate to the participants’ years of experience, type of district, or Pre-school teaching experience? 3. What resources, support, and professional development opportunities do participants believe they need from their school district to teach in a Transitional Kindergarten class? Through an analysis of a quantitative survey, the conclusion of this study confirmed that Early Childhood Education knowledge is desired by Transitional Kindergarten teachers. The researcher contacted forty-five Transitional Kindergarten teachers within San Joaquin County and seventeen teachers participated. The study found that the additional support desired by Transitional Kindergarten teachers are: 1) teachers aides/assistants, 2) help with assessments, and 3) a more clear message about what Transitional Kindergarten curriculum should cover. It is recommended by the researcher based on the results that districts provide clarity about the expectations of TK to all stakeholders, create an implementation guide, and clear standards for all TK teachers.

As state-funded Pre-K programs in elementary schools continue to grow, elementary principals are increasingly responsible for supporting, supervising, and leading these programs. Therefore, examining elementary principals' early childhood leadership competencies and the factors influencing them may help understand and improve their experiences as early childhood education (ECE) leaders. This explanatory sequential mixed methods study examined the ECE leadership of Tennessee public elementary school principals in two phases. In the quantitative phase, statewide surveys were used to collect data from 67 principals. The survey comprised 51 items assessing nine ECE leadership competencies, synthesized from statements of leading ECE and elementary education organizations. The survey's face and content validity were established, and its construct validity was confirmed through exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Items within each subscale were highly correlated, with coefficients ranging from 0.6 to 0.9. Besides, reliability was assessed using Cronbach's α, which ranged from .815 to .939. The quantitative findings revealed that public elementary principals may lack ECE backgrounds. Moreover, most public elementary principals were responsible for state-funded Pre-K programs, but their responsibilities differed widely. Furthermore, public elementary principals may need varying levels of support and development in ECE leadership competencies. The inferential analysis found that receiving ECE content or experience during principal training may not significantly influence their perceived need for these competencies. However, receiving professional development opportunities focused on leading ECE programs may impact certain aspects of their perceived need. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants from the first phase. The qualitative findings identified two themes. The first theme consisted of factors that support ECE leadership competencies and experiences. The second theme included factors needed to enhance principals' ECE leadership competencies and experiences. Both quantitative and qualitative results were integrated to explain the quantitative results. The study implications, limitations, and future research areas were then discussed. This study adds to the ongoing efforts to bridge the gap between ECE and elementary education. It highlights the significance of supporting elementary principals in becoming competent ECE leaders who can enhance the quality of state-funded Pre-K programs and sustain their positive impacts through the following grades.

Despite the rapid proliferation of assistive technology implementation, studies have revealed that a number of professionals that provide assistive technology services do not have adequate competencies to recommend and deliver assistive technologies in school settings. The purpose of the study was to examine the competencies of assistive technology specialists in Florida K-12 public schools, and identify training opportunities that may have helped them achieve professional competence in the evaluation and provision of assistive technology devices and services across AT service providers from different preparations. The study applied quantitative and qualitative methods to determine answers to the following six research questions: (1) to what extent does the perceived level of AT knowledge differ among AT specialists from different occupations in the Florida public school setting, (2) to what extent does the perceived level of AT skills differ among AT specialists from different occupations in the Florida public school setting, (3) what are the AT specialists’ perceptions about their AT knowledge and skill levels, (4) what common competency sets are needed for the AT specialist, regardless of their occupational role, (5) what are the training opportunities among AT specialists from different occupations in the Florida public schools setting, and (6) what type of training opportunities are essential among AT specialists from different occupations in the Florida school setting. In order to gather data of breadth and depth, the researcher disseminated an online survey, which 39 AT providers from the five Florida school regions completed. Interviews were conducted with seven of the survey respondents to triangulate interview data with the survey data. Results suggested that assistive technology specialists possess different levels of assistive technology knowledge and skills. Assistive technology specialists from different professional backgrounds and years of experience identified a lack of competence in several areas where they currently provide AT services. Assistive technology specialists should seek continuous in-service training to increase their assistive technology knowledge in the evaluation and recommendation of AT equipment and services for students with special needs in schools. This training is vital to meet their students’ assistive technology needs and legislation requirements for assistive technology services for students with disabilities. Recommendations for the improvement of assistive technology professional practice in schools are included in the study.