The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether students in a kindergarten/first-grade multiage class achieve at a different level than students enrolled in a traditional kindergarten or first-grade class in a selected primary school in East Tennessee. The question of the interaction between gender and type of instruction was also analyzed. The causal comparative quantitative research method was used to analyze data differentiating between students enrolled in multiage and traditional classes, retrospectively. A t-test was used to determine the level of performance the students demonstrated on the BRIGANCE K Screen at the beginning of the study. The number of mastered first-grade reading skills and mathematics skills, the score on the system-wide first-grade reading test and mathematics test, and gender interaction with type of instruction in each area were analyzed using ANCOVAs. Statistically significant results (pBRIGANCE 1 Screen(ANCOVA). In 1998, the combined males scored significantly higher than the combined females. In 1999, multiage males had significantly higher means than traditional males. ANCOVA results showed statistically significant difference in the number of mastered reading skills of the multiage students in 1998 as well as with the combination of all three years. The multiage mean was the higher of the two groups all three years. For the number of mastered mathematics skills, ANCOVA results showed a statistically significant difference in 1999 with the multiage scores higher than the traditional group. ANCOVA results showed no significant difference between the groups on the standardized reading and mathematics tests analyzed. Findings indicate that kindergarten students may benefit from kindergarten classes in a multiage setting, and that first-grade students may benefit from multiage settings in mastering skills in reading and mathematics but that benefit is not necessarily demonstrated by standardized test scores.

This dissertation is a teacher research study of the ways that young children author themselves by negotiating teacher authority in the context of their dialogue journals. The study detailed herein attempts to discover some of the ways in which young children negotiate teacher authority within the context of a dialogue journal.I collaborated with four second grade students in my multiage classroom who agreed to allow me to analyze the entries in their dialogue journals. We engaged in written dialogue in the context of their journals over two years, from when they were first graders in my multiage class until they left my class at the end of second grade.As a participant observer I used a form of discourse analysis called textual analysis, as mediated by Deborah Tannen's (2005, 2007) work in conversational analysis to unpack the negotiation of teacher authority revealed by the written interactions that took place in the context of the dialogue journals. This study explores the role that the children's personalities, textual competence and relationship with me as their teacher played in shaping their willingness and ability to negotiate teacher authority. It also explores the role my attitudes and actions had in fostering or hindering that negotiation.Implications include the use of ethnographic portraiture to establish context in teacher research, the importance of establishing routines that foster independence in classroom assignments, creating an atmosphere that encourages ownership of the activity in question, the necessity for the teacher to interact with the students in ways that allow them to control the conversation in their dialogue journals, and the importance of periodically reviewing the entire journals to counteract the myopic effect of reading only one journal entry per day. This last is important because when reading only one journal entry at a time it is possible to misinterpret the students' intent, lose sight of context or misinterpret the extent to which the students are engaged in writing in their dialogue journals.

The purpose of this study was to compare reading and math academic achievement scores of a cohort of students who had experienced mixed-age (two-grade span) and multiage (three-grade span) configurations, in a selected nongraded elementary school located in East Tennessee. Student attitude toward school, gender and socioeconomic status were also analyzed. The causal-comparative quantitative approach, along with convenience sampling, was the foundation for this study. Academic achievement normal curve equivalency (NCE) scores from the TerraNova Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills for the 1997-2000 academic years and survey results from the Attitude Toward School Inventory (Meier, 1973) given in the concluding year (2000) were analyzed using ANOVA, ANCOVA and t-tests to determine which configuration produced better results for students. Statistically significant results (p=. 05) were found indicating that the multiage students performed better in reading achievement during the 1997 and 1998 years (ANOVA). ANCOVA results indicated multiage configuration to be statistically significant in 2000 when controlling for prior reading achievement. ANOVA results proved to be statistically significant in math for the multiage configuration in 1998. NCE mean scores in reading and math were higher, some significantly higher, for all four years 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000 for those students in the multiage (three-grade span) configuration. No statistically significant differences were found in configurations regarding attitude toward school, however in all subtest areas the multiage (three-grade span) students mean scores were higher than the mixed-age (two-grade span) students scores. Findings include a stronger case for multiage (three-grade span) configuration when planning a nongraded developmentally appropriate elementary program.

The purpose of this study was to explore the differences between Reading/Language achievement gains of students in multi-age classrooms to the Reading/Language achievement gains of their peers in traditional, single-age classrooms. The causal-comparative quantitative approach to exploring cause-and-effect relationships was employed in this study. In this study, the effect of multi-age grouping and single age grouping was analyzed and compared using TCAP Reading/Language raw gain scores. Raw gain scores were used to determine the amount of progress children make from one year to the next regardless of their level of achievement. Findings in this study were mixed. Some significant differences were found in favor of single-age classrooms. However, the calculation of effect size showed no practical significance. Significance was also revealed in favor of males over females in both single-age and multi-age classrooms; although, effect size indicated only a small to moderate practical significance exists. This study provides an overview of the history of American educational structures. It might be helpful for the educational community in evaluating one dimension of the effectiveness of multi-age groupings. Teachers and administrators could benefit from the comparisons made in this study and as a result make better decisions regarding the delivery of instruction and the structuring of school classrooms.

The purpose of the research documented in this thesis is to investigate how one particular approach to groupings in one primary school, commonly referred to as multi-age, enables and constrains the practices and actions of its individual teachers. This study is located in a literature that examines the potential that beliefs and belief systems offer for understanding how teachers make sense of, and respond to particular educational contexts. It will be of particular interest to the community of scholars who are investigating the uptake of curriculum innovations in the classrooms of individual practitioners. The philosophical framework underpinning multi-age schooling is significantly different from that operating within the traditional lock-step system. The conventional school organisation has the child move through a predetermined curriculum at a fixed pace, whereas multi-age classes require that teachers focus on needs-based teaching, thus adapting the curriculum to suit the individual student. As a result of this shift in emphasis, it has been common for teachers in multi-age schools to experience dilemmas caused by the dissonance between their own and the school’s assumptions about teaching, learning, knowledge and social relations. However, this clash of individuals’ beliefs and mandated practices is an under-researched area of scholarship particularly within multi-age settings, and is thus the focus of the present research. A framework based on the construct of beliefs and belief systems was used for understanding the personal and idiosyncratic nature of a teacher’s practice. Such a framework proposes that beliefs can be classified in terms of personal assumptions about self, relationships, knowledge, change and teaching and learning. These classifications, rather than being discrete dimensions acting in isolation, tend to be organised into a coherent and interdependent belief system or orientation. The notion of orientation was found to be a suitable framework within which to investigate the interplay between beliefs and practices over a two year period in one school context that is likely to provide challenges and opportunities for professional growth and development. Because the study focused upon the beliefs and practices of six teachers in a multi-age setting, elements of a qualitative approach to research were employed. The research design adopted for this study is grounded in an interpretative approach which looks for culturally derived and historically situated interpretations of the social world. Within this framework a case-study approach to research was used so as to reveal the interplay between the teachers’ beliefs and practices. The study found that the concept of orientations provides a suitable framework for understanding the personal and idiosyncratic nature of a teacher’s beliefs and practices. It was evident that beliefs about self, relationships, knowledge and change were highly significant in shaping the essential nature of teachers’ orientations. It was found that a summary label, based on these four beliefs, could be used to define the thematic nature of each teacher’s orientation. These recognisably different labels demonstrated that each teacher’s four beliefs were not just a pattern, but also a thematically defined pattern. It was also found that whilst some beliefs are thematically central other beliefs are not inherently thematic but are influenced in thematically derived ways. It was the configuration of these core/secondary beliefs that highlighted the importance of investigating belief combinations rather than discrete belief dimensions when attempting to understand the teacher as a person. It was also concluded that the teachers’ orientations in this study structured their practice in a way that was personal and internally consistent, indicating the dynamic coupling of beliefs and practices. It was clear that individual orientations, shaped by core beliefs, framed the challenges and possibilities that the multi-age ethos offered in varied and personal ways. In addition, the study found that the patterns of, and reasons for, change were complex and therefore it is unlikely that professional in-service will succeed if based on only one of the models of change proposed in the literature. The teachers in this study did not experience dilemmas as dichotomous situations but rather as complex and interrelated challenges to their whole belief system. Not all the teachers in this study approached the challenge of change in the same way. It was evident that individuals had constructed their own narrative for the need to change, and that this orientation tended to dominate the self-improvement agenda. Finally, this study demonstrated that not only the educational consequences of an innovation need to be taken into account, but also how well it is implemented in each classroom, and how compatible each teacher’s orientation is with the ethos underpinning the innovation.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:39:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2621.pdf: 519743 bytes, checksum: 27854e7c9b7207e600ebb306fa90d3fb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-08-28 / This dissertation presents a study of the formulation and implementation of Schooling Public Policies for children from 0 to 6 years old in the institutions for pre-school education in the city of Campinas, in the interior of São Paulo state from 2001 to 2008. During this period, among other actions, two projects are highlighted which had as their objectives although in one of them this was not explicit the increase in the number of vacancies in local kindergartens and pre-schools and the consequent decrease in the number of children in the waiting lists. The first one implemented from 2001 to 2004, during the petista government of the mayor Antônio da Costa Santos, known as Toninho (murdered in 2001) and after continued by the mayor Izalene Tiene (Campinas vice-mayor who took office after the death of Mayor Antônio da Costa Santos), was called Multi-age Pre-School and based its organization on the grouping of children according to their approximate age. Children used to be divided according to the same age before that. The second project, started in the first pedetista period of government of the mayor Dr. Hélio de Oliveira Santos, from 2005 to 2008, called Naves-Mãe concentrates its attendance in the building of new educational units by the local government and their management by non-governmental institutions through public-private partnerships. These two projects represent two different kinds of public policies that are presented in this dissertation. One of them aimed at enhancing the hole of the local Government in the pre-school education policies as the main responsible actor for the creation, maintenance and vacancies organization in public local institutions for pre-school education and the other which undertook the State s function as the manager of educational policies through public-private partnerships aiming at decreasing the lack of vacancies in preschools in the city of Campinas. This discussion intends to be the base of a search for alternatives of a better and higher attendance in the local children s education. / Este trabalho apresenta um estudo sobre a formulação e implementação de Políticas Públicas voltadas para o atendimento às crianças de 0 a 6 anos em instituições de educação infantil na cidade de Campinas, interior do Estado de São Paulo, no período de 2001 a 2008. Neste período, dentre outras ações, destacaram-se dois projetos que tiveram como objetivo (mesmo que em um deles isso não tenha ficado explícito) o aumento do número de vagas em creches e pré-escolas municipais e a consequente diminuição do número de crianças em listas de espera por este atendimento. O primeiro deles, implementado no período de 2001 a 2004, durante a gestão petista do Prefeito Antônio da Costa Santos, conhecido por Toninho (assassinado em 2001) e posteriormente pela Prefeita Izalene Tiene (vice-prefeita de Campinas que assumiu a prefeitura após a morte do Prefeito Antônio da Costa Santos), chamado de Agrupamentos Multietários baseava uma nova organização no atendimento às crianças, antes divididas em turmas com mesma idade, e que passaram a ser divididas em turmas com idades aproximadas. O segundo projeto, iniciado na primeira gestão pedetista do Prefeito Dr. Hélio de Oliveira Santos, de 2005 a 2008, denominado Naves-Mãe se concentra em construções de unidades escolares pelo governo municipal e gerenciadas por entidades não-governamentais, através de parcerias público-privadas. Estes dois projetos demonstram dois tipos de políticas diferenciadas (uma que buscava fortalecer o papel do Governo municipal nas políticas de educação infantil enquanto principal responsável pela criação, manutenção e organização das vagas em equipamentos municipais de educação infantil públicos municipais e outra que entendia a função do Estado como gerenciador das políticas através de parceiras com entidades sem fins lucrativos para a diminuição do déficit de vagas em educação infantil no município de Campinas) que são apresentadas neste trabalho e que, a partir desta discussão, pretende servir de base para a busca de outras alternativas para possibilitar um maior e melhor atendimento na educação infantil municipal.

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No. of bitstreams: 2 Carolina Machado Castelli_Dissertacao.pdf: 5650738 bytes, checksum: a0d28d306e3b636f9651c947468aa182 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-01-28 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul - FAPERGS / Ao constatar a necessidade de estudos voltados às relações entre bebês e crianças de diferentes idades, bem como de sua maior promoção na escola infantil, esta pesquisa se propôs a investigar as relações estabelecidas entre bebês de uma turma de Berçário 2 e crianças mais velhas em uma escola de educação infantil. Também coube investigar em que tempos-espaços essas relações foram estabelecidas; que papéis os adultos desempenhavam frente a elas; que implicações as mesmas apontaram ao currículo da Educação Infantil; e que relações os bebês estabeleciam entre si. O referencial teórico do estudo abrangeu os Estudos da Criança, principalmente pelas contribuições da Sociologia da Infância, da Antropologia da Criança, da Psicologia Cultural e da História da Infância, além de autores da Filosofia e da Educação. Foram centrais o desenvolvimento da ideia de geração (FORQUIN, 2003; SARMENTO, 2005b) e de seus desdobramentos, a compreensão sobre as culturas infantis e seus eixos – interatividade, ludicidade, fantasia do real e reiteração (SARMENTO, 2003; 2004) e a desconstrução da neutralidade e da rigidez da noção de idade (ARIÈS, 1981; ROGOFF, 2005; LLORET, 1997). A geração dos dados, termo utilizado em consonância com Graue e Walsh (2003), foi realizada em uma escola de educação infantil filantrópica do município de Pelotas/RS e se deu, sobretudo, por meio de observações com registros escritos, fotográficos e, em especial, audiovisuais, além de conversas informais. A investigação, identificada com a etnografia, foi inspirada no que Erickson (1986) propõe como pesquisa interpretativa, sendo, como defende Mayall (2005), desenvolvida não sobre, mas com as crianças. As relações dos bebês e crianças mais velhas tiveram maior espaço dentro de um projeto proposto pela turma do Pré 1, mas também ocorreram com estas crianças e com as crianças das turmas dos Maternais 1 e 2 em ocasiões variadas (como no pátio e no refeitório). Por meio dos encontros, foi possível perceber: bebês e crianças mais velhas (re)elaborando suas culturas infantis, especialmente através de brincadeiras; bebês observando outros bebês e crianças mais velhas e participando junto a eles em situações de aprendizagem; bebês e crianças de outras idades iniciando amizades; a valorização dos bebês mais novos; e a enorme disponibilidade das crianças mais velhas em cuidar e dar carinho aos bebês. Todas essas possibilidades que emergiram dos encontros, juntamente com posturas docentes mais abertas a romper com a lógica escolar consolidada, ajudaram a destacar que, assim como aponta Rogoff (2005), as diferenças culturais decorrentes do envolvimento de crianças de idades/subgerações variadas são importantes para as relações sociais que as crianças desenvolvem, o que evidencia a necessidade de que sejam ampliados os tempos-espaços para a promoção de relações multietárias/intersubgeracionais na escola infantil. / Given the need for studies related to the relationship between babies and children of different ages, as well as its further promotion in early education centers, this research was developed to investigate the relations established between babies of a nursery classroom and older children in an early childhood school. This research also investigated in which space-time these relations were established; the adult roles played against them; what implications they pointed to the curriculum of Early Childhood Education; and what were the relations established between babies. The theoretical framework of this study covered the Childhood Studies, mostly from the contributions given by Sociology of Childhood, Anthropology of Children, Cultural Psychology and History of Childhood, apart from Philosophy’s and Education’s theorists. The development of the idea of generation and its consequences (FORQUIN, 2003; SARMENTO, 2005b), the understanding of the childhood cultures and their axles – interactivity, playfulness, fancy oh the real and reiteration (SARMENTO, 2003; 2004), and the deconstruction of neutrality and rigidity of the idea of age were the main basis for this dissertation. The data generation, term used in line with Graue and Walsh (2003), was held in a philanthropic early childhood school of Pelotas/RS and mainly occurred through observations with written records, photographic and, in particular, audiovisual, besides informal conversations. The research, identified with the ethnographic method, was inspired on what Erickson (1986) nominates as an interpretive research, and, as defensed by Mayall (2005), developed not on, but with children. The relationship between babies and older children had larger space within a project proposed by the Pre 1 class, but also occurred with these children and the children of the divisions of Maternal 1 and 2 in various occasions (as in the courtyard and in the lunch room). Through the meetings, it was possible to realize: older infants and children (re)developing their childhood cultures, especially through plays; babies observing other babies and older children and participating with them in learning situations; babies and children of other ages starting friendships; the valuation of younger babies; and the enormous availability of older children on taking care and giving affection to babies. All these possibilities that emerged from the meetings, along with teaching attitudes more open to breaking the consolidated school logic, helped to highlight that, as well as Rogoff (2005) indicates, cultural differences arising from the involvement of children of varied ages/subgenerations matter for social relationships that children develop, which highlights the need for extended space-time to promote multiage/intersubgenerational relations at early childhood centers.