The problem addressed in this study is whether children from lower SES homes would benefit in their reading and verbal skills through interaction with computer software that reads to them. If the verbal abilities and reading skills of a child increase as a result of an adult reading to him or her, would interactive storybook software provide similar results? / The rationale is twofold: (1) It has been demonstrated that one-to-one storybook read-aloud increases the literary skills of the child, but the teacher:student ratio in the kindergarten classroom and the time allotted weekly to the teacher to reach individual students limits this interaction; (2) Computer technology and highly interactive storybook software that reads to children are being introduced into the classrooms that allow children to actively participate in the reading process. / The major hypotheses are: (1) Interactive storybook software will facilitate the emergent storybook reading behaviors of kindergarten children from lower SES homes; (2) Interactive storybook software will increase the verbal abilities of these same children. / Subjects were randomly selected after a determination of SES was made. The design was a pretest-posttest control group design, using pretest scores from the Verbal Scale of the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (1972) and Sulzby's Observation of Emergent Storybook Reading (1985) as covariates with posttest scores from the same instruments. The treatment took place in public school kindergarten classrooms equipped with CD ROM and MS-DOS hardware. The schools are located in a district in northern Florida. Each subject in the treatment group worked with the software three times a week for seven weeks. Storybook software was provided by Discis Knowledge Research, Inc. / The results of the study indicate that the software is significant in increasing the verbal abilities of children when they use it for 42 minutes a week for at least seven weeks. There were no significant results for emergent reading behaviors. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-11, Section: A, page: 4270. / Major Professor: Charles Hall Wolfgang. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

The purpose of the study was to examine the pilot year of the TOTES (Take Out Teaching Experiences for Students) Program to determine if student performance had improved as evidenced by a decrease of retention rate from the previous year, to ascertain whether parent involvement had occurred, and to identify areas for program improvement. The program was critiqued through current research and theory, interviews and observations, and through monitoring factors related to student achievement and parent involvement activities. / The research design was the embedded single case study. Decision Oriented Educational Research was the quantitative procedure used. Techniques were employed to help insure researcher impartiality and credibility of findings. / It was found that children whose parents were involved in TOTES were more successful academically and attendance was higher than students from the previous year. Both findings corresponded with current literature. Data concerning conduct and identification of special needs of children were slightly different from anticipated. Parents were active participants in the educational process and modeled the importance of education for children. Parents perceived educators as caring, knowledgeable teachers. Some components of the program facilitated parental involvement and were slated to be continued. Others were modified slightly or eliminated. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-11, Section: A, page: 4226. / Major Professor: Hollie Thomas. / Thesis (Ed.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

Thesis advisor: Karen Rosen / Thesis advisor: Daniel Bowles / Transgender individuals in the twenty-first century face stigmatization across the globe. Discrimination contributes to the development of early life stress (ELS), and this may lead to depression, anxiety, and social and developmental problems as individuals enter adulthood. Suicide rates in transgender populations in Western countries peak above 41%, compared to 4.6% in the general population (Haas, Rodgers, & Herman, 2014). Though medical and social efforts to treat suicide in the community are being developed, existing measures have been unable to effect significant change regarding these disproportionately-high suicide rates. Some parts of the world are drawing ahead of others in this respect. As one of the most gay-friendly countries in the world (Rand, 2013), for example, Germany is making progress medically and legally, including recently having introduced a third gender option into legal documents and opened new discussions on depathologizing transgender identity in medical care. Germany has been able to build on its early history as the first country to publicly tolerate and provide healthcare to transgender individuals. This has fostered transgender activism from the postwar period to today and may contribute to lowered suicide rates among transgender Germans. This thesis aims to use Germany’s early history of transgender rights to contextualize the state of the transgender population there today. Using an analysis of existing literature, it looks at the effects of stigmatization on suicide rates in the transgender population. Positive and negative aspects of Germany’s LGBTQ+ and transgender culture are evaluated for their impact on neurological development and the perpetuation of suicidal behavior. The thesis concludes with proposals for improved social, legal, and medical practices regarding transgender health in Germany, with a particular focus on the development of cultural understanding of transgender identity. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2018. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Psychology. / Discipline: German Studies.

Thesis advisor: Susan Bruce / The acquisition of vocabulary is an important aspect of young children's development that may impact their later literacy skills (National Reading Panel, 2000; Cunningham and Stanovitch, 1997). Deaf children who are American Sign Language users, however, often have smaller vocabularies and lower literacy levels than their hearing peers (Lederberg and Prezbindowski, 2001; Schirmer and McGough, 2005). Despite the importance of teaching vocabulary for young deaf children, there are very few investigations on this important topic (Luckner and Cooke, 2010). This study examines the nature of vocabulary instruction by four early childhood teachers of deaf children (TODs) from two classrooms through a qualitative collective case study. Findings indicated that the Four-Part Vocabulary Program (Graves, 2006) could account for the nature of vocabulary in these classrooms; however, within this framework TODs used qualitatively different language strategies to address the unique aspects of teaching a visual language. Furthermore, there was interplay of teacher knowledge about learners, curricula, and pedagogy that informed their instructional planning and decision-making. Implications of this study include the varying roles of teacher knowledge, experience, and evidence in guiding ASL vocabulary instruction for TODs. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Thesis advisor: Patrick Proctor / How children understand reading and who they are as readers comprises children’s reading identities. Reading identities can have very real effects on the reading outcomes of children, and may support the development of foundational reading skills and the process of learning to read (McCarthey & Moje, 2002). Despite the potential importance of reading identities to early reading, research on young dual language learners (DLLs) comprises only a small portion of the overall research on reading identities (Castro, 2014; Moje & Luke, 2009). This study explored the potential interplay between early reading, reading identities, and bilingualism to describe and understand how DLLs in prekindergarten classrooms understood reading and who they were as readers. Ten DLLs ages 4-5 participated in this study. Participants came from two prekindergarten classrooms in a public elementary school. The study design foregrounded child-centered methods that accessed children’s ways of constructing meaning through talk, activity, art, and play. Data collection processes included reading and drawing-based interviews with children, observations of children, interviews with teachers, a questionnaire for parents, and classroom observations. Findings from the study show how young children are actively constructing ideas about reading, language, and who they are as readers as they learn to read. Case portraits show the various ways that reading identities were constructed, taken-up, and expressed by the participants. These portraits show how reading identities emerge early, vary across children, are connected to context, and have varying connections to children’s bilingualism. A cross-case analysis identified four dimensions of reading identities: concept of reading, performance, self-awareness, and context. These dimensions are integrated into an emergent conceptual model of reading identities. Together, the data suggest that social, cognitive, and linguistic factors play a combined role in the early emergence of reading identities in young DLLs. The study points to the potential of new theory and child-centered research methods for considering the interrelationship between early literacy, bilingualism, and identity in young children. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Um problema importante na heveicultura é o seu longo período de imaturidade. A explotação precoce pode reduzi-lo, porém, o seu efeito a longo prazo não é bem conhecido. O objetivo do presente estudo foi de investigar a factibilidade da explotação precoce da seringueira e avaliar diferentes sistemas de explotação. Foram explotadas árvores com perímetro do tronco entre 36 e 41 cm e sua produção e crescimento comparados com daqueles em plantas sem explotação. Quando todas as plantas do experimento atingiram perímetro de tronco de aproximadamente 45 cm, foram explotadas pelo sistema convencional 1/2S d/3 6d/7 10m/y ET 2.5% La/Pa 1/1 5/y. O delineamento experimental adotado foi inteiramente casualizado, com uma planta por parcela. O experimento 1 foi conduzido em Nhandeara-SP, com 25 repectições por tratamento, durante 17 meses de explotação precoce e três anos de explotação convencional. Os sistemas de explotação precoce foram: tratamento 1, 1/4S d/3 6d/7 10m/y ET 2.5% La/Pa 1/1 5/y, sangria matinal; tratamento 2, 1/2S d/7 6d/7 10m/y ET 2.5% La/Pa 1/1 5/y, sangria matinal; tratamento 3, 1/2S d/7 6d/7 10m/y ET 2.5% La/Pa 1/1 5/y, sangria vespertina; tratamento 4 6PI 70x1 d/2 6d/7 10m/y ET 5% Ga 1/1 10/y, sangria matinal. No experimento 2, conduzido em Rio Claro-SP, com 20 repetições, durante um ano de explotação precoce e um ano de convencional, repetiu-se o tratamento 1. As produções obtidas no experimento 1, na fase de explotação precoce, foram similares entre os tratamentos 1, 2 e 4, com aproximadamente 1,2 kg de borracha por árvore, porém significativamente menor no tratamento 3, com aproximadamente 0,9 kg por árvore. Durante o mesmo período as produções em g por árvore por sangria foram maiores no tratamento 2 (22,6 g) e 3 (18,82 g), do que no tratamento 1 (14,41 g) e 4 (8,97 g), diminuindo com o aumento da frequencia de sangria. A produção acumulada, nos 4,5 anos de explotação precoce e convencional, foi maior no tratamento 1 (7,92 kg) do que no controle (5,95 kg). Os outros tratamentos de explotação precoce tiveram um resultado intermediário. O incremento do perímetro do tronco durante a fase precoce foi significativamente menor nos tratamentos 3 e 4, em comparação com os outros tratamentos e o controle. Entretanto, durante a fase convencional, o incremento de perímetro de tronco de todos os tratamentos foi comparável ao do controle. O índice de colheita teve valores similares em todos os sistemas de explotação precoce, porém o tratamento 1 resultou em um valor para o \"fator de perda de biomassa\" (k) muito menor do que o dos outros tratamentos (entre 0,109 e 0,1794). No experimento 2, a produção obtida durante a explotação precoce foi de aproximadamente 0,85 kg por árvore. Durante o mesmo período, a produção por árvore por corte foi de 13,31 g e comparável com aquela do experimento 1. As produções obtidas durante o primeiro ano de explotação convencional no tratamento 1 (1,52 kg) e no controle (1,15 kg) foram bastante similares àquelas dos mesmos tratamentos no experimento 1, respectivamente, 1,53 kg e 1,08 kg. Durante as fases precoce e convencional, o incremento de perímetro de tronco foi igual no tratamento 1 e no controle. O coeficiente de colheita no tratamento 1 foi similar àquele observado no experimento 1, enquanto que o \"fator de perda de biomassa\" (k) foi maior. As principais conclusões foram: 1. O sistema de explotação precoce do tratamento 1 possibilita uma produção prévia de borracha, a níveis satisfatórios, mantendo um crescimento adequado das plantas. Pela sua capacidade, em ambientes diferentes, de produção precoce sem prejuízo permanente para as plantas, pode ser recomendado para uso em seringais comerciais. 2. Os sistemas de explotação precoce dos tratamentos 2, 3 e 4 possibilitam uma produção prévia de borracha, a níveis satisfatórios, porém reduzem o crescimento das plantas. / One major problem of rubber cultivation is the long immature period. Premature exploitation may reduce it, however, its long term effects are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of premature exploitation of rubber, and evaluate different exploitation systems. Trees of about 36 to 41 cm of girth were tapped with premature exploitation systems, and their yield and growth were compared to untapped control trees. When all experimental trees reached approximately 45 cm of girth, they were converted to conventional tapping 1/2S d/3 6d/7 10m/y ET 2.5% La/Pa 1/1 5/y. The experiments were arranged in a complete randomized design, with one tree per plot. Experiment 1 was carried out in Nhandeara-SP, with 25 replications for each treatment, during 17 months of premature and three years of conventional exploitation. The premature systems included: treatment 1, 1/4S d/3 6d/7 10m/y ET 2.5% La/Pa 1/1 5/y, morning tapping; treatment 2, 1/2S d/7 6d/7 10m/y ET 2.5% La/Pa 1/1 5/y, morning tapping; treatment 3, 1/2S d/7 6d/7 10m/y ET 2.5% La/Pa 1/1 5/y, afternoon tapping; treatment 4 6PI 70x1 d/2 6d/7 10m/y ET 5% Ga 1/1 10/y, morning tapping. In experiment 2, carried out in Rio Claro-SP, with 20 replications, during one year of premature and one year of conventional tapping, treatment 1 was repeated. In experiment 1, yield obtained during premature exploitation, was similar between treatment 1, 2 and 4, with about 1.2 kg of rubber per tree, but significantly lower in treatment 3 with approximately 0.9 kg per tree. During the same period, yield in terms of g per tree per tapping, was higher in treatment 2 (22.6 g) and 3 (18.82 g), than in treatment 1 (14.41 g) and 4 (8.97 g), declining with increased tapping frequency. Cumulative yield obtained over 4,5 years of premature and conventional exploitation was higher in treatment 1 (7.92 kg) than in the control (5.95 kg). The other treatments with premature exploitation had an intermediate result. The girth increment during premature phase was significantly lower in treatment 3 and 4, compared to other treatments and control. However, during the conventional phase, girth increment of all treatments was comparable to the control. Harvest index values were similar in all premature exploitation systems, but treatment 1 resulted in a much lower value (0.019) for the \'factor of biomass loss\' (k) than the other treatments (0.109 to 0.1794). In experiment 2, yield obtained during premature exploitation in treatment 1 was approximately 0.85 kg per tree. During the same period, yield per tree per tapping was 13.31 g thus comparable to that in experiment 1. Yields obtained during the first year of conventional exploitation in treatment 1 (1.52 kg) and in control (1.15 kg) were very similar to the yields in those treatments in experiment 1, respectively 1.53 kg and 1.08 kg. During premature and conventional phases girth increment was equal in treatment 1 and control. Harvest index in treatment 1 was similar to that in experiment 1, whereas the \'factor of biomass loss\' (k) was higher (0.098). The main conclusions were: 1. The premature exploitation system of treatment 1 gives a reasonable yield and maintains appropriate tree growth. Because its capacity, in different environments, to antecipate yield without permanent damage to the trees, this system may be recommended for use in commercial rubber plantations. 2. The premature exploitation systems of treatments 2, 3 and 4 give reasonable yield, but cause growth retardation.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand, describe, and make meaning of the experiences of early childhood educators of young foster care students. The researcher examined the experiences of teachers regarding the attachment behaviors of their foster care students. This study also sought to explore how early childhood teachers implement their curriculum and how they design their classroom environment to meet the needs of young foster care children. Data collection and analysis included 20 questionnaires and 20 face-to-face semistructured interviews. Data analysis consisted of a three step process. The first step began by reading interviews through a holistic approach. During this step, the researcher read the entire transcript as a whole before digging deeper. The second step in coding was a selective reading. In this step, the researcher read through each transcript by finding key words and/or phrases. The third step in the coding process was a detailed reading. The researcher read the text word-by-word. This step aided the researcher in finding those words that captured the phenomenon of the teachers. The researcher found three major overarching themes: social and emotional behaviors, triad relationship, and classroom accommodations. This study revealed three main themes: attachment-related behaviors of social and emotional development, teacher relationship strategies with student and caregiver, and classroom curricular and environmental adjustments. Within all three of these themes was an underlying theme of a teacher-as-mother perceived attachment from the teachers. The teacher-as-mother perceived attachment was embedded in the experiences of the teachers. It is recommended that this main theme be explored in future research. The experiences of the teachers were completely based on their experiences in this study. The way they intervened on behalf of their foster care students did not appear to relate to any professional development or training; it was entirely based on their experiences. It is recommended that the arena of early childhood would benefit immensely with a course, training, or professional development in learning about the foster care system and dealing with young children in foster care. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The sexualization of girls is an ongoing issue that has garnered much attention in recent years, with one contributing factor, media, becoming an ever-increasing part of children’s lives. This study explored four questions: How do mothers and teachers perceive the media’s influence on young girls’ identity development? To what extent do these caregivers engage young girls in analyzing media messages? What observed behaviors of 4-year old girls indicate media’s influence? and What are caregivers interpretations and responses to these behaviors? Analyzing the perceptions of mothers and female teachers of 4-year old girls contributes to a better understanding of how girls are influenced, both by caregivers’ actions and by media consumed. Twelve mothers and female early childhood teachers from three South Florida preschools were interviewed to better understand how girls are influenced by media, and to gain a more holistic perspective of the potential impact of media on young girls’ behaviors and their emerging understanding of what it means to be a girl today. The findings indicate that mothers and female teachers perceive media to be influential in the lives of girls, both in terms of general child development and young girls’ gender identity development. The participants are observing behaviors in their 4-year old girls that indicate media’s influence; these behaviors include sexualized dancing, attitude and language changes, and requests for sexualized clothing and beauty products. Although these mothers and teachers do not yet help girls analyze media messages, they do, however, engage in significant guidance as they interpret and respond to the observed behaviors. These findings reflect a need for media literacy education for parents and teachers, as well as comprehensive sexualization awareness and prevention education for children, parents, and teachers. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Traumatic events at birth may interfere with the organization and interpretation of multiple stimuli. The residual effects of these events influence infants for the rest of their lives. Subtle cues that infants use to communicate their inability to organize information are often misinterpreted. / This study was conducted at a regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) follow-up clinic to investigate the impact of a stressful birth on infants' performance. Infants between the adjusted ages of 91 and 240 days were observed during three tasks that required integrating multiple stimuli, (a) a task of spatial perception, (b) a task intermodal representation of speech, and (c) a contingency learning task. / Seven birth status variables (gestational age, birthweight, adjusted age, length of ventilation, 5-minute Apgar scores, parent education and income levels) compiled from hospital records were compared to seven performance variables (reach, vision, smile, fuss, attention, speech, and contingency). Multiple regression analyses were applied to the data. / Findings from the study indicate that (a) mechanically ventilated infants were more irritable than non-ventilated infants, (b) infants from lower income families were fussier than infants from higher income families, (c) lower birthweight infants were more successful on the visual task than higher birthweight infants, (d) 5-minute Apgar scores were more predictive of infants success than 1-minute scores on the visual task, (e) older infants were more accurate during the reaching task than younger infants. There were marginal relationships between higher parental educational level and attention and adjusted age and smiling. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-03, Section: A, page: 0882. / Major Professor: Pearl E. Tait. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

The purpose of this study was to identify and validate the work-related problems of public school prekindergarten teachers in Florida. The study was designed to answer three questions: (1) What problems are perceived to be most bothersome and occur most frequently? (2) What global areas of concern can be inferred from these teachers' perceptions of their problems? (3) Are there significant relationships between the problems reported by the teachers and (A) the age of the teacher? (B) S = sex of the teacher/ (C) years of teaching experience? (D) type of teacher certification? (E) highest degree earned? (F) number of students in the classroom? (G) length of the student day? and (H) geographic location of the school? / For problem generation, a state-side random sample of 55 teachers described their biggest problems. A jury of early childhood experts reduced the 432 descriptions to 111 individual problem statements. For problem validation, a second state-wide sample of 249 teachers rated the frequency of occurrence and the bothersomeness of the 111 problems. They also supplied specific demographic information. / The results identified 37 problems that occurred significantly more frequently than others and 36 problems that were significantly more bothersome. The 111 problems fell into eight global areas of concern, or factors. Those perceived to be of most concern were (1) Control and Discipline, (2) Parent Relationships and Home Conditions, and (3) Program. Other factors were identified as (4) Student Success, (5) Time, (6) Classroom Personnel, (7) Affiliation, and (8) Facilities. No significant relationships were found between the problems and the specific demographic variables, indicating that the teachers were perceiving the problems in similar manners. / Recommendations were made for the use of the results in planning preservice and inservice education for these teachers. Recommendations were also made for modifications in the prekindergarten program at the state and local levels. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-03, Section: A, page: 0801. / Major Professor: Charles H. Wolfgang. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.