This study examined 180 matched pretest/posttest surveys of kindergarten teachers' perceptions of the transition children experienced upon kindergarten entry. Investigations of changes in the percentages of children perceived as not being ready for kindergarten and percentages of children who were rated as having had a very successful, moderately successful, or difficult transition from the pretest to the posttest were conducted. Additionally, changes in teachers' developmentally appropriate beliefs and practices from the beginning of the school year (pretest) to the end of the school year (posttest) were explored. Further analyses were conducted to find differences and associations between teacher and classroom demographics and changes from pretest to posttest. Teachers' developmentally appropriate beliefs were statistically significantly higher at the beginning of the school year (pretest) as compared to the end of the school year (posttest). Conversely, teachers' developmentally appropriate practices were statistically significantly higher at the end of the school year (posttest) when compared to the beginning of the school year (pretest). Even with the increase in teachers' developmentally appropriate practices at the end of the year, consistent with previous research, teacher's beliefs were found to be more developmentally appropriate than their reported practices. Study findings indicated that teachers reported a significantly higher percentage of children as having had a difficult transition at the beginning of the school year when compared to the end. At the beginning of the year, teachers rated 21.9% of children as having had a difficult transition, compared to 17.4% of children at the end of the school year. Some teachers reported 100% of the children in their class had a difficult transition at both the beginning and end of the school year. Overall, just under 60% of children were perceived as having some problems with kindergarten entry. Findings also indicated that teachers reported a significantly higher percentage of children were not ready for kindergarten entry at the beginning of the school year than at the end of the school year. Teachers perceived 27% of children were not ready for kindergarten at the beginning of the school year, with 22.4% of children rated as not ready at the end of the school year. Again, some teachers perceived 100% of their children as not being ready at both the beginning and end of the school year. Limitations, implications, and suggestions for future research were discussed.

The quality of early childhood education and care programs greatly impacts children’s development and well being. The classroom environment, program content and approach and early childhood educators’ characteristics are some of the elements that influence quality and thus have effects on young children’s development. Past research has indicated that early childhood education and care programs in Quebec have received on average low/minimal or mediocre ratings of quality and were also found to lack developmentally appropriate play materials (Drouin, Bigras, Fournier, Desrosiers, & Bernard, 2004; Goelman et al., 2006; Japel, Tremblay, & Cote, 2005). The present study set out to explore elements that may influence the quality of child care classrooms in the province of Quebec. Early childhood educators’ knowledge and developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) were examined to determine the relationship between these elements. Early childhood educators’ knowledge of developmental milestones (KDM) and knowledge of appropriate play materials (KPM) were found to be weak but educators reported strong developmentally appropriate beliefs (BDAP) and practices (PDAP). Results demonstrated positive correlations between early childhood educators’ declarative knowledge of developmental milestones (KDM), knowledge of appropriate play materials (KPM) and their beliefs and practices of developmentally appropriate practice (BDAP and PDAP). Educators’ levels of declarative KDM were positively correlated with their level of declarative KPM. In addition, educators’ BDAP was positively correlated with their level of declarative KPM, but their reported DAP was not linked to their level of KDM. Implications for the field of ECEC as well as early childhood education programs in CEGEPs and Universities in Quebec and across Canada are discussed in light of the study’s findings and limitations.

The quality of early childhood education and care programs greatly impacts children’s development and well being. The classroom environment, program content and approach and early childhood educators’ characteristics are some of the elements that influence quality and thus have effects on young children’s development. Past research has indicated that early childhood education and care programs in Quebec have received on average low/minimal or mediocre ratings of quality and were also found to lack developmentally appropriate play materials (Drouin, Bigras, Fournier, Desrosiers, & Bernard, 2004; Goelman et al., 2006; Japel, Tremblay, & Cote, 2005). The present study set out to explore elements that may influence the quality of child care classrooms in the province of Quebec. Early childhood educators’ knowledge and developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) were examined to determine the relationship between these elements. Early childhood educators’ knowledge of developmental milestones (KDM) and knowledge of appropriate play materials (KPM) were found to be weak but educators reported strong developmentally appropriate beliefs (BDAP) and practices (PDAP). Results demonstrated positive correlations between early childhood educators’ declarative knowledge of developmental milestones (KDM), knowledge of appropriate play materials (KPM) and their beliefs and practices of developmentally appropriate practice (BDAP and PDAP). Educators’ levels of declarative KDM were positively correlated with their level of declarative KPM. In addition, educators’ BDAP was positively correlated with their level of declarative KPM, but their reported DAP was not linked to their level of KDM. Implications for the field of ECEC as well as early childhood education programs in CEGEPs and Universities in Quebec and across Canada are discussed in light of the study’s findings and limitations.

The purpose of the study was to observe pre-kindergarten through second-grade public school classrooms, specifically noting child-centered and teacher-directed pedagogical approaches, by simultaneously examining: student behavior and activity structure, teacher instructional orientation and rationale, and overall classroom environment. The quantitative study built upon the work of Pianta, examining classroom instruction and its effect on student engagement and educational quality; however, unlike previous studies, researchers in the current study observed the nature of activity structure and various student demographic variables. Additionally, dissimilar to prior classroom observation studies, which typically included an overwhelming percentage of White students, Hispanic and African American students comprised a large percentage of the sample. And because policy-makers have called for more research-based information on classroom instruction in the early childhood setting, an additional contribution is the use of systematic observation and analysis of young learners’ experiences within their classrooms. The multi-faceted approach to classroom observation yielded one critical result: Little to no variation existed in the activities in which young children were engaged in their classrooms, nor in the instructional practices utilized by their early childhood teachers. Accordingly, the study revealed few differences in student behavior and teacher practices by student sex, student ethnicity, grade-level, English language proficiency, and/or economic status. Instruction in these classrooms was almost entirely standardized; however, three statistically significant findings showed that: (a) students taught by teachers rated as having a higher developmentally appropriate instructional practices (DAIP) score were more likely to be on-task and less likely to be off-task; (b) students taught by teachers with a higher DAIP score were significantly more likely to be working kinesthetically, answering teacher-posed questions, and freely exploring; and (c) students taught by teachers with a lower DAIP score were significantly more likely to be distracted and/or not engaging in activity. Study findings were significant, as, despite research showing the unfavorable effects that highly teacher-centered, scripted classrooms have on young students’ engagement and subsequent learning outcomes, students continue to be taught in the same way—one in which reaching a designated test score appears to be the singular, ultimate objective.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationships among preschool teachers&rsquo / and preschoolers&rsquo / parents&rsquo / developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) and developmentally inappropriate practice (DIP) beliefs in relation to parental involvement attitudes and perceived parental involvement barriers. To reach to the purposes of the study, data were collected from 279 teachers and 589 parents via a demographic information questionnaire and two main data collection instruments. The demographic information questionnaire aimed to obtain information about the participant&rsquo / s gender, age and educational level. In order to collect information from teachers and parents regarding their beliefs about developmentally appropriate practice / Teachers&rsquo / Beliefs Scale (TBS) (Burts et al., 2000) and the parent adaptation of the scale, Parents&rsquo / Beliefs Scale (Yen, 2008) were used. To ascertain parents&rsquo / and teachers&rsquo / attitudes and the barriers on parental involvement, the School and Family Partnerships Questionnaire (Epstein &amp / Salinas, 1993) was used. The investigation of the relationship between the teachers&rsquo / and parents&rsquo / DAP and DIP beliefs in relation to their parent involvement attitudes (PIA), parent involvement barriers (PIB) revealed significant results. The findings of the study revealed that both the teachers&rsquo / and parents&rsquo / PIA and PIB made significant contributions to their DAP and DIP beliefs. As found in the current study, the interaction between the teachers and parents should be increased to help children develop in the most appropriate way. In order to increase this relationship, a detailed focus on the parental involvement paradigm should be undertaken.

The quality of early childhood education and care programs greatly impacts children’s development and well being. The classroom environment, program content and approach and early childhood educators’ characteristics are some of the elements that influence quality and thus have effects on young children’s development. Past research has indicated that early childhood education and care programs in Quebec have received on average low/minimal or mediocre ratings of quality and were also found to lack developmentally appropriate play materials (Drouin, Bigras, Fournier, Desrosiers, & Bernard, 2004; Goelman et al., 2006; Japel, Tremblay, & Cote, 2005). The present study set out to explore elements that may influence the quality of child care classrooms in the province of Quebec. Early childhood educators’ knowledge and developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) were examined to determine the relationship between these elements. Early childhood educators’ knowledge of developmental milestones (KDM) and knowledge of appropriate play materials (KPM) were found to be weak but educators reported strong developmentally appropriate beliefs (BDAP) and practices (PDAP). Results demonstrated positive correlations between early childhood educators’ declarative knowledge of developmental milestones (KDM), knowledge of appropriate play materials (KPM) and their beliefs and practices of developmentally appropriate practice (BDAP and PDAP). Educators’ levels of declarative KDM were positively correlated with their level of declarative KPM. In addition, educators’ BDAP was positively correlated with their level of declarative KPM, but their reported DAP was not linked to their level of KDM. Implications for the field of ECEC as well as early childhood education programs in CEGEPs and Universities in Quebec and across Canada are discussed in light of the study’s findings and limitations.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Educational Leadership, 2004. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 202-231).

The purposes of this study were (a) to examine early elementary grade teachers' developmentally appropriate beliefs and their teaching practices in public schools in Bangkok, (b) to explore the functioning of developmentally appropriate practice in the two chosen early elementary schools, and (c) to determine the factors that influence the teachers' implementation of developmentally appropriate practice in the selected early elementary schools. This study was a mixed-methods investigation, integrating two main phases: Phase One (survey method) and Phase Two (case studies). In the first phase, 335 early elementary grade teachers from 35 public schools in Bangkok were examined for their developmentally appropriate beliefs and teaching practices. Three surveys modified from Buchanan, Burts, Bidner, White, and Charlesworth (1998)--Teacher Demographic Questionnaire, Teacher Belief Scale (TBS), and Instructional Activity Scale (IAS)--were administered to the participating teachers. As the scores of the completed surveys were computed, two schools demonstrating the highest mean on Teacher Belief Scale (TBS) were chosen for the further case studies. In Phase Two, ten early elementary grade teachers from two selected schools were investigated. A case study design was employed to research the participating teachers' implementation of developmentally appropriate practice. Data sources included teacher interviews, classroom observations, and related document analyses. All collected data were coded and categorized in order to analyze the emergent themes and findings. Among the 335 teachers from 35 schools, the findings revealed that there was a significant difference of the teachers' developmentally appropriate beliefs; however, the results of data analyses showed that no significant difference of the teachers' developmentally appropriate teaching practices was found. The findings also suggested that there was a low positive correlation between the teachers' self-reported developmentally appropriate beliefs and teaching practices. The scores of the teachers' developmentally appropriate beliefs and teaching practices are varied across the classroom characteristics (i.e., grade levels taught, class size, and number of children with special needs) and the teacher characteristics (i.e., educational levels, majors/areas of expertise, years of graduation, and years of teaching experience). In the case studies, the observed teaching practices of the teachers from the two selected schools were not consistent with their reported developmentally appropriate beliefs and teaching practices. The teachers reported their partial application of developmentally appropriate practice. The factors that both supported and delayed the implementation included: the class-size of the classroom (number of students), parental involvement, and administrative systems. Also, the supporting factors were teachers' professional attitudes and the fact that teachers taught in self-contained classrooms, whereas the teachers' workload, the children's lack of readiness, and the limited school physical environment were noted as delaying factors. Recommendations for further research and practices are detailed.

It is well-known that meaningful differences in development exist among children, adolescents, and adults. However, to what extent do evaluators adapt their approach, designs, and methods to be responsive to a youth population? This study used an experimental simulation in which practicing evaluators designed an evaluation of a hypothetical tutoring program and were randomly assigned to the program serving children, adolescents, or young adults. Results indicate that evaluators were less likely to be participatory—both in the evaluation overall and in data collection—when the participants of the program were children than when they were adults. These findings suggest that evaluators, even those with experience conducting evaluations of youth programs, do not consider age as a meaningful cultural context and may need additional training in conducting developmentally appropriate evaluations.

The quality of early childhood education and care programs greatly impacts children’s development and well being. The classroom environment, program content and approach and early childhood educators’ characteristics are some of the elements that influence quality and thus have effects on young children’s development. Past research has indicated that early childhood education and care programs in Quebec have received on average low/minimal or mediocre ratings of quality and were also found to lack developmentally appropriate play materials (Drouin, Bigras, Fournier, Desrosiers, & Bernard, 2004; Goelman et al., 2006; Japel, Tremblay, & Cote, 2005). The present study set out to explore elements that may influence the quality of child care classrooms in the province of Quebec. Early childhood educators’ knowledge and developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) were examined to determine the relationship between these elements. Early childhood educators’ knowledge of developmental milestones (KDM) and knowledge of appropriate play materials (KPM) were found to be weak but educators reported strong developmentally appropriate beliefs (BDAP) and practices (PDAP). Results demonstrated positive correlations between early childhood educators’ declarative knowledge of developmental milestones (KDM), knowledge of appropriate play materials (KPM) and their beliefs and practices of developmentally appropriate practice (BDAP and PDAP). Educators’ levels of declarative KDM were positively correlated with their level of declarative KPM. In addition, educators’ BDAP was positively correlated with their level of declarative KPM, but their reported DAP was not linked to their level of KDM. Implications for the field of ECEC as well as early childhood education programs in CEGEPs and Universities in Quebec and across Canada are discussed in light of the study’s findings and limitations.