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The purpose of this study was to examine the parent involvement attitudes and practices of early care and education teachers. A sample of 171 early care and education teachers rated the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with 25 statements regarding general attitudes of parent involvement, as well as family and teacher and/or center obligations in creating family-school partnerships. Teachers were also asked to indicate the frequency in which they engaged in 9 specified activities that could be used to engage families in their young child's education. The surveyed teachers were from 31 early care and education centers that were participants in a quality improvement initiative designed to improve the school readiness of the children they serve. Fifteen of the 31 centers received additional services from a family engagement specialist, who worked to increase parent involvement at the centers and to strengthen family-school partnerships. Results indicated that, overall, the teachers reported positive views about parent involvement and the families they served. They recognized the benefits of family-school partnerships for young children. The teachers reported feeling that it was an important part of their job to involve all families and that all families had strengths and abilities that could be used to help their children get ready for kindergarten. Modest differences were found in the responses between teachers who had received assistance from family engagement specialists and those who had not, with teachers who were part of the intervention indicating stronger support from their directors and center and being more likely to talk to families about concerns. All of the teachers surveyed reported using a wide variety of strategies to engage families, with teachers in the intervention group using parent workshops and newsletters more often that the non-intervention group. Slight but significant differences were found on some of the survey questions related to teacher characteristics, such as hours worked at the center per week and age of children taught. With increased emphasis being placed on quality improvement in early care and education, it is important to know how those being asked to implement possibly new and demanding changes in practice feel about and respond to what is being asked of them. Efforts to support them should be effective and responsive to their current views and practices. / School Psychology

The reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) in 1997 increased educational standards and accountability for the education of students with disabilities. Specifically, the amendments of IDEA 1997 were directed at improving the results for all children served in Part B (early childhood special education) and Part C (early intervention). IDEA 1997 required that states develop a plan, including transition policy, procedures and practices to create a smooth transition from Part C (early intervention) to Part B (early childhood special education) services. IDEA 1997 also required that parents, school administrators, service coordinators, and special educators be involved in the transition process. In 2004, IDEA 1997 was amended and is now known as IDEA 2004. Among the many amendments of this legislation are increased emphasis on early intervention services and transition. This suggests that the transition process from Part C to Part B should be revisited by all agencies involved to ensure that smooth transitions occur. Few studies have addressed the transition process and no studies were found that looked comprehensively at the transition process among parents, administrators, and other service providers. The purpose of this study was to better understand the facilitators and inhibitors to successful transitions through the perceptions of all stakeholders involved in the process using three case studies. Major findings indicate that factors that may interfere with a smooth successful transition process include: (1) parents’ concerns about services, (2) confusion about meetings, and (3) lack of information, while factors that facilitate a successful transition include: (1) meaningful involvement and communication among all parents and school representatives and (2) having adequate information for decision-making. The findings reveal that although the school system was in compliance with the transition process, there were clear areas for improvement. / Ed. D.

Research and interest in trauma-informed pedagogy have grown substantially. Trauma-informed pedagogy includes knowledge of trauma symptoms, associated behaviors, and environmental and instructional trauma-informed strategies. Various scales measure attitudes and experiences with trauma-informed practices; however, the literature suggests a lack of validated tests measuring teachers' knowledge of trauma. Reliable and valid tests measuring knowledge are critical when determining the professional development needs of both pre-service and in-service teachers. This multi-phase study aimed to fulfill this need by creating the Teachers’ Knowledge of Trauma (TKOT) test. With the guidance of literature and qualitative data from eight early childhood professional peers, a 50-item test was created to measure teachers' knowledge of trauma. Draft 1 of the TKOT was evaluated by a team of 14 trauma experts providing both quantitative and qualitative analysis, which was used for further refinement, resulting in a 33-item test (Draft 2). Draft 2 included collecting quantitative and qualitative data from 20 pre-testing participants, resulting in a 34-item test (Draft 3). A total of 429 survey administration participants completed Draft 3 of the TKOT, providing quantitative data for reliability testing (Cronbach's α = .78) and item reduction analyses. The Rasch model analysis was used, resulting in a calculated variance of residual value of .46, supporting the one dimension, or one factor, model for the TKOT. The item reduction analyses conducted with the data from the 429 survey administration participants narrowed the TKOT to a final 25-item version (Draft 4). Draft 4 of the TKOT demonstrated a Cronbach's α of .77, rating the test as acceptable. Future research will include further item analysis, tests of dimensionality conducted with the recruitment of another sample with the hope of more diversity in race and gender among pre-service and in-service students, and continued reliability and validity testing. These next steps are predicted to result in a well-developed and validated final version of the TKOT that will serve as an open-source tool for schools and universities to identify gaps in trauma-informed learning.

Two groups of students were compared to determine the impact of early intervention at the Early Childhood School on academic outcomes in later elementary school years for both math and reading. Students who were determined to be disadvantaged in some way, either by income, limited English proficiency, or having been identified as needing specialized instruction and who attended an early intervention program, prior to kindergarten, were compared to a similar group who did not attend the intervention program. Scores on district level assessments in math and reading were tracked for both groups of students through the third grade. Scores on high stakes standardized testing of the students in third grade were also analyzed. Results indicated that students in the control group outperformed students in the treatment group on the majority of district level assessments. However, the opposite was true for high stakes testing where the treatment group outperformed the control group on a consistent basis. These results were consistent, regardless of the nature of the disadvantage. Students who attended the prekindergarten program at the Early Childhood School had higher scores on the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exam than disadvantaged students who did not attend. Since this was not the case for district level assessments, it is recommended that the district revisit their local assessments and testing administration practices. It is also recommended that this cohort of students continue to be studied to see of the outcomes last beyond the third grade.

<p> The early childhood administrator is tasked with overseeing all operations within the early childhood program. Operational functions include functions traditionally associated with education including the design and implementation of curriculum, creating and maintaining the learning environment, and ensuring the health and safety of children enrolled in the program. The administrator of the early childhood program is also tasked with other functions including human resource functions, budgeting, as well as income and cost management. Additionally, the administrator should be an advocate within public policy concerning early childhood education. Research has acknowledged the functions associated with the early childhood administrator role. In 1992, Paula Jorde-Bloom named the early childhood administrator as the &ldquo;Gatekeeper of Quality&rdquo;. Since then, research has supported that establishing and maintaining quality is yet another responsibility of the early childhood administrator. The current study examined the role of the administrator, particularly the preparation that the administrator receives, in an effort to determine the impact that the administrator has on the quality of the program. A sample (n = 224) was pulled from early childhood administrators in Mississippi. The preparation received by these administrators, including formal education and additional training, was measured and regression analysis with Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale Revised (ECERS-R) scores measuring quality of the early childhood program regressed with an aggregated early childhood administration preparation variable to determine if administration preparation could predict overall quality within the early childhood program. As the literature indicated that fiscal management practices also fall under the scope of responsibilities of the administrator, fiscal management preparation was isolated and regression analysis with ECERS-R scores was conducted to determine if fiscal management preparation could predict overall quality within the early childhood program as well. The study found that administration preparation was a significant predictor of quality. However, preparation specific to fiscal management knowledge was not found to be a predictor of overall quality. Practical implications and suggestions for future research are addressed.</p>

This thesis traces how the drinking house was used by writers of early modern English drama to try to make sense of the period’s culture of exchange. Organised around an examination of five plays, the project focuses on the way in which playwrights engaged with and examined notions of credit, circulation, and the commercialisation of hospitality. By offering close readings through the lens of the drinking house, I make fresh interpretations of the plays. Moreover, I seek to demonstrate the wider literary tradition dealing with this space that, to some extent, has been neglected. With this in mind, I also draw on other popular texts from the period, such as ballads, jest books and rogue pamphlets, which establish certain conventions and narratives that emerge in the drama. In Shakespeare’s 1 Henry IV and 2 Henry IV, the reckoning – or tavern bill – is used as an emblem through which Hal negotiates his moral and economic redemption, in the face of Falstaff’s threat to the wider network of credit established in the tavern space. Dekker and Webster’s Westward Ho also stages credit as both a productive and unpredictable force. In the context of its Brentford location, the drinking house in that play is presented as a transformative space that allows for the possibilities of an alternative economic model. Irrepressible forces of commercialism define the Light Heart in Jonson’s The New Inn; forces that effect character transformations and champion a fluid economy in contrast with landed-estate living. In Brome’s The Demoiselle, these conventions are upended, and the commercialism of the New Ordinary is dispensed with in favour of a more settled economy. The thesis testifies to the investment writers made in the drinking house as a dramatic space and as a space to be dramatised, a space through which the possibilities and energies of exchange were staged.