abstract: This small case study reviewed research literature and Arizona standards and assessments utilized in the early learning continuum, with a focus on holistic development, specifically in the areas of social-emotional development and approaches to learning skill development. This conversation has become especially prevalent in the state of Arizona in light of initiatives around school readiness, and policy changes reflected within the state. Much has yet to be determined concerning how the systems approach works in Arizona local education agencies, specifically the depth, consistency, and approach in which nonacademic areas of social-emotional development and approaches to learning skills are addressed in the Arizona standards, local practices and classrooms, and preschool and kindergarten assessments. The study included a content analysis, conducted as a word count, of standards and assessments, as well as a small case study of including high academic achieving district (including semi-structured interviews and classroom observations). Through the data analysis, it was affirmed a culture of learning, reflecting social-emotional development and approaches to learning skill development was created within this Local Education Agency. Three categories (environment, individual, and decision making) emerged as a way to describe this culture through a theoretical perspective of sociocultural theory. The study offers an opportunity for discussion of social-emotional development and approaches to learning skill development, connecting to a high academically achieving district, and makes recommendations for policy, practice and further research. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Curriculum and Instruction 2015

abstract: The statement that all children will learn, grow, and develop to realize their full potential referenced continuously by educators seems to have little impact on schools in numerous school districts across the country. The Early Childhood Education programs continue to dwindle down and are the first to be cut from the budget, such as the pre-school/Early Childhood programs in each school. Administrators and policymakers tend to focus on the latter years instead of the early childhood years which are from pre-natal to eight. There have been few research studies on early childhood education in regard to family unit activities. Research does say that parents who are active in their child’s learning and school activities are positively associated with learning and school outcomes. Many parents take matters into their own hands and have started to prepare their children for school readiness and are not leaving it to the school system. This topic is the focus of this research: How parents get involved and what kinds of activities they do with their children to prepare them for school life. Twenty-five questions with sub questions were compiled in a survey that was administered to a sample of parents in three schools in the Gallup McKinley County School District located in Gallup, New Mexico, a small community with a population of 21,678 and over 100 diverse cultures. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Administration and Supervision 2016

Social kompetens handlar bland annat om att samspela med andra, skaffa sig vänner och lösa konflikter, men också om att uppnå egna sociala mål. Social kompetens är en viktig faktor för hälsa och utveckling under barndomen men även för framgång inom olika livsområden senare i livet. Syftet med denna studie var därför att undersöka hur social kompetens uppfattas och främjas i förskolan, samt att göra en jämförelse mellan åren 2004 och 2017 gällande uppfattningar och metoder. Studien byggde på 20 intervjuer med förskollärare. Resultatet visade att social kompetens beskrevs inom ramen för tre begrepp: interaktion, konformitet och självhävdelse. Metoderna som användes var aktiv närvaro, inkluderande grupper, spegling samt strukturerade övningar. Resultatet indikerade att medvetenheten om social kompetens har ökat och arbetsmetoderna utvecklats sedan 2004. Studien bidrar till att skapa en bild av hur man arbetar i förskolan för att främja barns sociala kompetens, och inbjuder till liknande studier.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of teenage motherhood on the school readiness, literacy skills, and parental involvement of children participating in the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) early intervention program, as well as make recommendations for optimal outcomes. Study children were participants in HIPPY at five diverse, urban school districts. Using a mixed method design, this study examined the results of quantitative measures of children's school readiness, literacy skills, and parent involvement along with qualitative data collected through mothers' responses to two, open-ended questions related to their satisfaction with HIPPY. According to results of independent samples t-test, mean scores on school readiness and parent involvement measures were not statistically significantly different for the children of teenage mothers and the children of traditional age mothers. However, there were moderate effect sizes for parent involvement and physical development indicating some practical significance. Chi-square results of literacy skills indicated that the children of teenage mothers were almost twice as likely [c2 (1, N = 36) = 4.21, p < .05] to have literacy skills that were "not on grade level" according to scores on the TPRI/Tejas. Descriptive discriminant analysis (DDA) indicated that the multivariate relationship of the four parent involvement variables statistically significantly contributed to whether children born to teenage mothers had literacy skills on grade-level, but it was not significant for the children of traditional-age mothers. DDA analysis conducted on the school readiness variables did not yield any significant results. In addition, odds ratios conducted between literacy level and each of the parent involvement and school readiness variables indicated an increased probability of a child's literacy skills being on grade level when scores were high, but these increases were not statistically significant. While there were differences in literacy skills, teen mothers indicated, through their responses to two, open-ended questions, their desire to for more support for their children in this area.

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / Several studies concur that children from a disadvantaged background are as prepared for formal schooling, compared to their advantaged peers who have access to attend good quality pre-schools. This is particularly true regarding the literature aimed at understanding the challenges that impede school readiness of Foundation Phase learners and the consequences of poor school readiness on learner’s school performance. The overall aim of the study was to explore Foundation Phase teachers’ experiences and perceptions of the challenges that impede school readiness.

The purpose of this non-experimental research study carried out in Shanghai, China, was to examine parents’ perceived parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive) and parental involvement (home-based involvement, school-based involvement, and home-school conferencing) in relationship to children’s overall school readiness among third-year kindergarten children (5-6 years olds). In addition, this study investigated how, if at all, the use of various parenting styles moderated the effects of parental involvement on children’s development of school readiness, while controlling for child gender and household income. Three hundred and twenty ( N =320) parents and 22 teachers of third year kindergarten children from four kindergartens in two districts of Shanghai participated in this study. Each parent participant completed a parenting survey consisting of three parts: demographic information, the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ) and the Family Involvement Questionnaire(FIQ). The teachers completed the Early Development Instrument (EDI), a school readiness assessment for each child which covers five development domains: physical health and well-being, language and cognition, social competence, emotional maturity, and communication and general knowledge. The results of this study indicated that authoritative parenting was positively correlated to children’s school readiness, and authoritarian parenting and permissive parenting were negatively correlated to children’s school readiness. Only authoritative parenting had a significant unique influence on children’s overall school readiness skills while controlling for child’s gender and monthly household income. In addition, although all three types of parental involvement were positively related to children’s school readiness score, only home-based involvement had a significant unique influence on children’s school readiness while controlling for child’s gender and monthly household income. Controlling for child’s gender, and family income, authoritative parenting moderated the effects of school-based involvement and home-school conferencing on children’s school readiness skills. Specifically, the effects of school-based involvement and home-school conferencing were enhanced in the context of high authoritative parenting style. In contrast, the effects of school-based involvement and home-school conferencing were decreased in the context of low authoritative parenting style.

No description available.

Executive functioning (EF) facilitates a wide range of purposeful actions and plays a significant role in adaptive functioning. Despite considerable variability in EF, little is known about the factors underlying individual differences in EF in early childhood. The aims of the present research were to explore the genetic and environmental influences on individual differences in EF and the factors underlying the relations between EF and developmentally-significant outcomes. The sample comprised 209 4-year-old twin pairs (79 monozygotic, 130 dizygotic). EF was assessed with the NIH Toolbox: Early Childhood Cognitive Battery, a computerized battery of multidimensional measures. Both observers and parents provided ratings of temperament and parents evaluated behavior problems. School readiness was assessed with a standardized test of basic skills. Model-fitting procedures revealed that variability in set-shifting and inhibitory control could be attributed to both genetic (i.e., 36% and 46%, respectively) and nonshared environmental (i.e., 64% and 54%, respectively) influences. A moderate phenotypic association (r=.30) was found between set-shifting and inhibitory control. Multivariate behavioral genetic models revealed that approximately 85% of the genetic effects on inhibitory control covaried with set-shifting. Set-shifting and inhibitory control were associated with observer-rated task orientation (rs= .29 and .26, respectively) and school readiness (rs= .33 and .34, respectively). Both task orientation and school readiness were heritable (h2= 28% and 82%, respectively) and the correlations between both set-shifting and inhibitory control and these outcomes were due to common genetic influences. Parent-rated temperament was not associated with EF, but a related construct, effortful control, was inversely related to hyperactivity and externalizing behavior problems (rs= -.46 and -.41, respectively). Genetic and environmental factors underlie these associations. These findings indicate that both facets of EF share common genetic underpinnings and that these effects also underlie their associations with developmental outcomes. The present study contributes novel information about the etiology of early EF, with implications for cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral development, and ultimately, prevention and intervention efforts.

There are certain ways of reading to young children that are more effective than others in increasing language, vocabulary, and building early literacy skills. Dialogic reading is a method to enhance shared book reading by providing a context for dialogue and interaction between the adult and the child. Dialogic reading has been shown to have positive effects on young childrens’ early literacy and language skills. Thus far, parents and teachers have used these techniques in the home and school in one-on-one or small group settings. However, results have been variable due to inconsistent implementation. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of implementing dialogic reading techniques in a preschool setting via cross age tutoring by fifth grade students. Students in preschool and fifth grade were recruited from a school in Eastern Maryland. Fifth graders served as tutors and were trained to use dialogic reading techniques with preschool students in the same school. The tutoring dyads met three times a week for 30 minutes for 8 weeks. Preschoolers’ receptive and expressive language skills as well as their readiness to begin school were assessed before and after the intervention, and fifth grader’s attitudes towards reading prior to and after the intervention were measured. Data on the preschool students were analyzed using an Analysis of Covariance and the results indicated significant changes in receptive, expressive and school readiness in comparison to the control group with medium to large effect sizes (.402 - .640). Furthermore, data on tutor attitudes toward reading were analyzed using two-sample paired t-tests. Results revealed an increase in positive attitudes toward recreational reading, with an effect size of .653, and an increase in general reading attitudes with an effect size of .421. Finally, teachers reported observable differences in their students and expressed interest in continuing this project. Fifth graders maintained adequate treatment integrity and felt positive about their experiences. Preschoolers reported positive experiences in reading with their tutors. Further interpretation of results, implications for practice, and future directions are discussed.

No description available.