It has long been acknowledged that pre-service Early Childhood teachers enter university with a notable lack of confidence, high levels of anxiety and an aversion to science and mathematics. Unless redressed during their time spent at university, such negative attitudes may ultimately influence the quality of science education these teachers offer to young children. This study considers the affective attitudes to science and science education of those people considered to be central to the education of young children.Specifically the study investigates the attitudes and backgrounds in science/ science education, of academics, pre-service and in-service teachers together with their attitudes towards teaching science to young children. The attitudes to science of a group of young children, aged between 4 and 8 years, were also investigated in the study. The potential links between the attitudes held by each group was of great interest to the researcher who considered the ways that academics promoted the teaching of science to young children, the factors influencing the willingness of pre-service and in-service teachers to present science to young children and the effect that teachers have on the responses of young children to science.The findings suggest that in contrast to the attitudes towards science of pre- and in-service teacher groups in the study, the young children and academics displayed attitudes such as interest, curiosity, confidence and enjoyment towards their experiences in science. There was a strong link between the memory of prior experiences in science and the present attitudes to science of the adult participants. The implications of the study are that science education in the early years will be enhanced if ways can be found to provide more positive science related experiences for pre-service and in-service teachers.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate early childhood lead teachers' perspectives of time out, including their attitudes and beliefs, and the practice of time out in their classrooms. The study sought to detail the practice of time out, to investigate teachers' perceptions of time out, and to gain further understanding into teachers' choices regarding time out use. These objectives were achieved with the use of a comprehensive, written survey directed to 151 lead preschool teachers at 18 randomly selected preschool programs within Hamilton County, Ohio. Written discipline policies from 9 preschool programs included in the survey sample were also analyzed as they related to the use of time out. Fifty completed surveys were returned representing a well-balanced sample of lead teachers across multiple demographic variables.Results indicated that 66% of teachers were using time out and there were not any distinguishable differences among the variables collected between those teachers who used time out and those who did not. Teachers' time out practices included verbal or visual warnings for children, discussion, and redirection. Teachers defined time out as an action, as a period of time, and as a place. 63% of teachers did not perceive time out as punishment; nonetheless 55% perceived that time out had the potential to be harmful to young children. The majority of teachers using time out did so because they perceived that the child learned through time out, but other teachers indicated that young children were not able to comprehend time out. Some teachers used time out due to the perceived social and emotional benefits for the child while other teachers perceived time out to be detrimental to children's social and emotional development. Teachers also indicated that they used time out to maintain control of children.Teachers who used time out were influenced by experience, education, program policies, and because time out is a form of discipline. Interestingly, these same factors influenced other teachers to not use time out. The majority of the teachers who chose not to use time out were influenced by other methods available for classroom or behavior management. / Department of Elementary Education

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / Department of Elementary Education

Hersh (1986) states, "One's conception of what mathematics is affects one's conception of how it should be presented. One's manner of presenting it is an indication of what one believes to be most essential in it." In this research study, three hundred ninety-seven urban early childhood teachers were given a survey that examined their attitudes toward mathematics and mathematics teaching, their views of mathematics, views of teaching mathematics, and views of children learning mathematics. The purpose of this study was to identify the attitudes and beliefs of early childhood teachers in two urban school districts to determine if mathematics reform efforts made a difference in teachers' attitudes and beliefs about mathematics and its teaching. Questionnaires were mailed directly to teachers in one school district and principals distributed questionnaires in the other. Summary scores were calculated for parts of the instrument. The researcher performed descriptive statistics, comparative analysis, and conducted frequency distributions, t-tests, ANOVA, and Pearson Correlations. Findings revealed that teachers with 30 or more years of teaching experience had more positive attitudes toward mathematics than teachers with 1-3 years of experience. African American teachers had more positive attitudes toward mathematics and its teaching than other ethnic groups. Teachers who held a minor or major in mathematics had more positive attitudes toward mathematics and its teaching than teachers without a minor or major in mathematics. Teachers in District-A favored constructivist learning while teachers in District-B favored rote learning. Both school districts' teachers favored the problem-solving approach to teaching mathematics. If instruction is to be transformed, reformers need to understand teachers' beliefs about mathematics. Beliefs, which are essential for teachers' development, seldom change without significant intervention (Lappan and Theule-Lubienski, 1994). Therefore, school districts must be informed about the changes necessary for the reform of mathematics teaching and identify and implement through staff developments and other measures what they perceive mathematics to be and how it should be taught.

Two theoretical models were examined based on the contributions of preservice teachers' personal teaching efficacy, ethnic causal attributions, past teaching, and international interaction experiences to their behaviors toward international children in multicultural small group activity sessions. Path analytic results revealed that for both models, these variables together did not significantly predict the positive or negative behavior of preservice teachers. T-tests, applied to positive and negative behaviors indicated that these behaviors varied significantly based on the child's gender and classroom activity type. Aspects of gender and activity type were included in an additional exploratory analysis of 16 path models. Only six were significant, although even these did not explain a large percentage of the variance associated with preservice teachers' behaviors. Personal teaching efficacy had a significant direct positive impact on the frequency and quality of positive behaviors displayed by preservice teachers toward international girls during unstructured table activities. However, the ethnic attribution variable of locus of causality had a significant direct positive impact on the frequency and quality of positive behaviors displayed by preservice teachers toward international boys during structured storytime activities. In addition, teacher preparation level and past international interaction experience had a significant direct negative impact on the frequency and quality of negative behaviors, respectively displayed by preservice teachers toward international boys during unstructured table activities. Finally, among these significant path models (a) teacher preparation level and past international interaction experiences made significant direct positive impacts on the causal attribution variables of locus of causality and stability; (b) the causal attribution variable of stability had a significant direct negative impact on controllability, and (c) the significant path coefficients between personal teaching efficacy and the causal attribution variable of stability were positive, while those associated with controllability were negative. In a secondary analysis, differences between preservice teachers' behaviors toward international and U.S. children as a result of children' s ethnicity, gender, age, socioeconomic status, and involvement in different types of small group activities were examined, applying a multivariate analysis of variance. Positive behaviors displayed by preservice teachers were significantly lower for international than for U.S. children, while the converse was true for negative behaviors. In addition, both positive and negative behaviors displayed toward girls were significantly lower than for boys. Preservice teachers also displayed significantly more negative behaviors toward children during structured storytime than unstructured table activities. Overall, however, preservice teachers exhibited more positive than negative behaviors toward both international and U.S. children. / Graduation date: 1993

A cross-case approach was employed to examine early childhood teachers’ perspectives on quality of early childhood programs and how they embed those perspectives in their daily classroom practices. Questions explored teachers’ education levels, years of experience, and the ways in which their individual perspectives are manifested in the classroom. Three early childhood teachers were interviewed and observed, each with a different level of education: Child Development Associate (CDA)certification, associate’s degree in early childhood education, and bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. Each teacher worked in a licensed, nationally accredited program that is rated at the highest level of the Indiana quality rating system, Paths to QUALITY (Level 4). Qualitative methods were used, including analysis of teacher surveys and interview transcriptions, as well as CLASS observations. Results indicated that the three teachers held similar perspectives on the importance of professional development, but they differed on the preferable way to obtain professional development: college education versus in-service training. There was a clear divergence among the teachers regarding the importance of a college degree in relation to manifestations of quality in the classroom. While the three teacher agreed that there is a lack of respect associated with their profession, they did not agree on the reasons behind this lack of respect. Likewise, all three voiced a need for increased support in their roles, but they had varying ideas of what that support should entail. The three teachers also varied in their understanding of the global concept of quality, specifically in regard to the National Association for the Education of Young Children accreditation and the quality rating system. While the teachers holding associate’s and bachelor’s degrees displayed similar quality implementations, the teacher with a CDA was not observed to apply the same level of quality practices. This study has implications for practice and for future research. In order to meet professional development needs that can ensure quality practices, teacher education programs and non-formal training agencies need to provide early childhood teachers with professional development opportunities that help them advance their knowledge and link theories to application in the classroom. Opportunities should focus on personal factors and meet the individuality of the early childhood teacher. Policy makers and state administrators need to value the role of the early childhood teacher by providing a classification system that links qualifications to salaries and positions. Compensation initiatives for early childhood teachers should be brought into discussion and linked to the quality rating system’s children and dollars received per program. There is a necessity for future research into the perspectives of early childhood teachers in a cross-case study with teachers who hold an early childhood education/child development bachelor’s degree. Such future investigation may indicate additional similarities or differences in beliefs on quality in early childhood education and could illuminate potential methods for ensuring that teachers are able to provide the level of quality that is called for. / Department of Elementary Education

Standardized tests are being administered to young children in greater numbers in recent years than ever before. Many more important educational decisions about children are being based on the results of these tests. This practice continues to escalate despite early childhood professional organizations' calls for a ban of standardized testing for children eight years of age and younger. Many early childhood educators have become dissatisfied with multiple-choice testing as a measure of student learning and are increasingly using various forms of alternative assessment to replace the more traditional testing formats. Teachers seem to be caught in the middle of the controversy between standardized testing and alternative assessment. This research examined what early childhood educators in one north Texas school district believe about assessment of young children and what assessment methods they report using in their classrooms, as well as factors which influence those beliefs and practices. The sample for this study was 84 teachers who taught prekindergarten through third grade. An eight-page questionnaire provided quantitative data and interviews and the researcher's journal provided qualitative data.

The first purpose of this study was to develop and validate the Inventory of Opinions About Persons with Disabilities (IOPD). The IOPD was developed to collect preservice early childhood educators’self-report data related to inclusion. A total of 332 participants enrolled in graduate programs in a college of education served as the validation sample. After validation and revision of the IOPD, the researcher used the instrument to investigate preservice early childhood educators’ beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge about students with disabilities and their inclusion in general education classrooms. Data were collected from 172 participants from 10 universities in Texas during their student teaching/final intern semesters. This research demonstrated that an instrument, the IOPD, could be developed to effectively measure preservice early childhood educators’ beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge about the inclusion of children with disabilities in their classrooms. The participants reported positive self-perceptions (mean = 2.0388) about their beliefs and attitudes toward inclusion. However, the participants reported less positive attitudes about training (mean = -.09884). Discriminant function analyses indicated a negligible statistical effect for type of program (professional development school or traditional) and a statistically significant effect for preferred classroom setting (non-inclusive, special education, inclusive). Further research with the same participants or similar cohorts at one and three years of inservice teaching could broaden the scope of knowledge regarding early childhood teachers’ opinions about inclusion and students with disabilities. In addition, including procedures for gathering qualitative data with the Inventory of Opinions About Persons With Disabilities might provide more specific information about individual beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge about inclusion.