Magister Educationis - MEd / This study investigated the factors that impacted positively or militated against the implementation of a learning support programme (ISP) in grade R classes at two primary schools located in the same poor socio-economic area within the Cape Metropole of the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Learner Support Teachers used this programme to enhance learning in grade R and was called an Intervention Support Programme (ISP). The purpose of the ISP was to improve the school readiness skills of the Grade R learners in four domains: language development, gross and fine motor skills, auditory perceptual skills and visual perception. The study followed a qualitative research approach and was guided by a case study research design. The sample comprised both designers as well as implementers of the ISP who were school-based as well as education district-based officials to explore their views and/or experiences of the ISP. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews after all ethical protocols were followed. The data was analysed using a thematic approach. The findings highlighted, that despite the learners experiencing barriers to learning, they improved by participating in the ISP. The study identified the following factors that facilitated the successful implementation of the ISP: the grade R teachers and LSTs’ work experience and qualifications, their positive attitudes and commitment towards teaching, the designers, implementers and grade one teachers’ positive views about the ISP, the constant review of the ISP, and adapting the ISP to suit local learning and teaching contexts of the schools. The study also identified the following factors that militated against the successful implementation of the ISP: the non- involvement of the ISP implementers (grade R teachers and LSTs) in the input and design of the ISP, the nonalignment of the school curriculum (CAPS) with the ISP, the manner in which ISP leaners were selected, time constraints regarding the delivery of the curriculum, the non- or under-involvement of parents and the community in their children’s schooling, the non-involvement of principals in the ISP and the unrealistic expectations of the district- based officials with regard to the ISP. The study also makes recommendations about how the ISP could be improved to enhance its effectiveness.

More than one in four children under age 6 in the United State are children of immigrants, and the majority of these children are Asian and Hispanic. Despite this, there have been few studies on the early development of young children of immigrants. In particular, although healthy development in the early years of life is important in helping children get ready for school, little is known about school readiness among children in immigrant families. Therefore, this study examines school readiness among children of Asian and Hispanic immigrant mothers, with particular attention to two important characteristics of immigrant families: maternal language use and use of preschool. This study is composed of five chapters, starting with Chapter 1 that introduces the background and purpose of this study. Chapter 2 reviews the theoretical backgrounds for the association between maternal language use and the development of young children in immigrant families, and then for the role of preschool in children's school readiness. Using a nationally representative sample of children of Asian and Hispanic immigrant mothers from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), Chapters 3 and 4 examine whether maternal language use is associated with school readiness and whether preschool plays a protective role in promoting school readiness, respectively. Finally, Chapter 5 concludes by summarizing the findings and providing implications for theory and methodology, future research, and social work and policy. In Chapter 3, this study finds generally advantages of maternal use of English and bilingualism for children's cognitive development at kindergarten entry in both Asian and Hispanic groups. It also finds, compared to children of home language Asian mothers, higher levels of pro-social behavior among those of English dominant and bilingual Asian mothers, but also higher levels of behavior problems among those of English dominant Asian mothers. Furthermore, in additional analyses, this study finds that longer residency in the U.S. is associated with higher levels of approaches to learning for children of bilingual Asian mothers and lower levels of behavior problems for children of bilingual Hispanic mothers. In Chapter 4, this study finds that attending preschool (mostly prekindergarten or other center-based care) is associated with better academic school readiness at kindergarten entry among children of Asian immigrant mothers, but not children of Hispanic immigrant mothers. This study also finds higher levels of behavior problems and lower levels of approaches to learning among children in Head Start compared to those in parental care in both Asian and Hispanic groups. In addition, this study finds beneficial associations between preschool and academic school readiness at the year of participation among children of both Asian and Hispanic immigrant mothers, but these beneficial associations do not hold up at kindergarten entry among children of Hispanic mothers, while such associations are still found at kindergarten entry among children of Asian mothers. This study also finds more pronounced beneficial influences of preschool on academic school readiness at the year of participation among children of mothers who speak their home language in both Asian and Hispanic groups, but such more pronounced benefits are gone at kindergarten entry in both groups.

The implementation of SM is considered an important criterion that influences the accomplishment of business performance and achieves competitive advantage. However, there is a limitation in SM research concerning the implementation of SM strategy and the selection of suitable SM platform for business. Therefore, the investigation and analysis conducted in this study provide an understanding of the application of SM in business by examining the implementation process and the selection of SM platform. Accordingly, a SM strategy framework was developed for a practical implementation of business which includes three stage-process. This empirical research context includes two field investigations in relations to the views and experience of the SM personnel who participated in this study. Both investigation phases were analysed using thematic analysis with respect to the interpretive qualitative analysis approach. The research revealed that companies do follow directly or indirectly some base guidelines in employing SM but do not have a strategic implementation process in carrying out this activity as described in the framework presented. Also, companies are required to consider selecting a suitable SM platform for business which leads to added value to the holistic strategically implemented process. The analysis of the SM strategy framework revealed that an alignment of SM strategy and business strategy could be established through strategic implementation. The implementation process of SM strategy would require company's readiness as described in the framework to ensure successful SM integration to support in achieving business goals. This research provides in-depth knowledge of how the implementation process can be conducted in stages and the application of this technological innovation. The results of the analysis of the framework indicated that companies establish a presence on platforms where their customers are located. Leading to further investigation in the second phase where Practice theory is employed. Revealing an in-depth understanding on how platform evaluation can be carried out by examining the actual act of enacting the selection process, understanding the routine and considering the individuals involved in shaping and implementing platform evaluation in the company. Therefore, the findings can be used by managers or key SM personnel to implement SM strategy efficiently to improve business performance and applied by researchers for further evaluation and analysis of this process.

The need for construction to change its traditional working practices has been repeatedly expressed in government, industry, and academic publications. The Internet has been a major catalyst for change in most industry sectors, including the construction sector. The implementation of Internet-based technologies, such as ecommerce for achieving business targets, bring about changes in an organisation, its current practices, systems, processes and workflows. It is therefore important to evaluate the business process implications of adopting e-commerce in construction organisations. This was the focus of this study. The early stages of the research established the possible benefits, barriers, and drivers for the adoption of e-commerce technologies within construction. This was done by conducting an industry-wide survey that explored attitudes, current usage, barriers and enablers of IT and e-commerce within the UK construction sector. Survey results indicated that the exact benefits of using e-commerce within the construction industry were not known and more needed to be done to establish the effects of incorporating e-commerce applications into construction business processes and to demonstrate the opportunities of e-commerce for construction. To address this need a typical business process model that used the principles of business process re-engineering and demonstrated opportunities for e-commerce, was developed. Using this model it was possible to illustrate how, with the use of ecommerce applications, different members of the construction supply chain could derive business benefits and overcome traditional process inefficiencies. In order to effectively adopt e-commerce technologies in construction, companies may have to reengineer their current working methods, which could lead to a step change in current work practices. To facilitate such a step change it was essential to study and document the impact of specific e-commerce applications on their current end-user business processes. Case studies were conducted for this purpose. The case study findings showed that the end-user companies had accrued several business benefits from using e-commerce tools. Issues related to management buy-in and organisational culture were the main barriers to the wider use of e-commerce within the construction industry. The case studies and earlier findings indicated that e-commerce is 'here to stay' and it will not be long before it becomes an industry norm. Taking this into account, construction companies who are currently using, and those who have yet to use, e-commerce tools need to take measures to successfully adopt and benefit from these tools. It is important for companies that seek to adopt ecommerce to assess their 'e-readiness' for adopting e-commerce tools to ensure a productive and beneficial implementation of these tools. To address this need an ereadiness model for construction organisations and a prototype application, VERDICT, that assess e-readiness were developed and implemented. The model is based on the premise that for any company to be e-ready, its management, people, process and technology have to be e-ready in order to derive maximum business benefits. The research findings indicate that the use of e-commerce is still in its infancy within the construction industry. The current use of e-commerce has resulted in process automation, however, there is no evidence of process re-engineering. Such practices, although beneficial in the short-term, can have long-term implications in that the end-users are not necessarily making full use of the technology and hence not deriving full benefits from it. The model and e-readiness assessment prototype developed as part of this study will enable construction organisations to successfully adopt e-commerce and exploit its potential.

From the author’s work as an educational psychologist in a Scottish local authority and her initial literature review, concerns were raised by her colleagues and local education authority about delaying school entry of children with additional support needs. This study aimed to: explore how the decision making process for delaying school entry operated; develop and trial a methodology to capture the children’s perspective and explore the experiences of the children and their families in nursery and during their first year of school. A qualitative case study approach was used to explore the decision making process for six children and their families and the experiences of five children and their families. Techniques from the mosaic methodology (Clark and Moss, 2001) were adapted to capture the children’s voices. The study revealed that participants held different models of school readiness, in line with other international research, and this influenced their decision to retain. Participants reported a range of positive and negative outcomes of delayed school entry and identified factors that had been supportive in managing the children’s transitions. Children’s perspectives were captured and often offered a unique insight into the children’s views. At the end of the children’s first year in primary school four parents were still happy with their decision to delay school entry but one parent regretted her decision. In conclusion it is suggested that a more interactionist (Meisels, 1998) approach to school readiness should be taken when supporting the transition from nursery to school. A moderated system should be developed to support the decision making process for delaying school entry, with an inbuilt process to follow up longer-term outcomes for the children and families concerned. The methodology developed for gathering children’s views offered a way for children with additional support needs to express their own views and take an active role at this important transition point. There is potential to develop this methodology further to ensure that children’s voices are heard in this first universal educational transition.

Every year, millions of preschool-age children make the transition into kindergarten. This transition from preschool to kindergarten can be difficult for children who have not mastered the basic school readiness skills involved in a successful transition. Although school readiness is broadly defined and involves several basic skills, the present study focuses on the specific contribution of cognitive self-regulation and early literacy skills. The present study examined the effects of preschool progress in cognitive self-regulation and early literacy skills on kindergarten readiness using descriptives, Pearson correlations, analysis of variance, and multilevel growth modeling. Three research questions are described and utilized. Research question 1 examined the growth in early literacy and cognitive self-regulation skills across the preschool year, research question 2 examined the relationship between early literacy and cognitive self-regulation skills, and research question 3 examined differences in student skills across three sites. Participants included preschool students, ages 4 to 5, from three different school districts. Early literacy and cognitive self-regulation data were collected at the beginning, middle and end of the preschool year. Overall, results yield a better understanding of the relationship between early literacy and cognitive self-regulation skills in preschool students and how community-level factors affect these skills in order to better support early intervention in preschools. More specifically, results of the first research question indicated that students made growth in both early literacy skills and cognitive self-regulation skills across the preschool year, and scores in the beginning of the preschool year were significantly correlated with scores at the end of the preschool year. Results of the second research question indicated a strong relationship between early literacy skills and cognitive self-regulation across the preschool year, and results of the third research question highlighted differences in growth rates across sites. Possible mediating variables are described in the discussion. Limitations of the study and future research directions are discussed.

The increase in the number of parents who decide not to enroll their children into a formal kindergarten once they become of age has triggered questions of what impacts readiness. The act of redshirting has doubled since 1980. Redshirting is simply delaying a child’s entry into kindergarten by 1 year after they become age eligible to enroll. Parents want to make sure that with high stakes testing, a more demanding curriculum, and an increase in rigorous standards that their children are ready to start kindergarten with the best opportunity for success. The purpose of this study was to examine how preschool and kindergarten teachers perceive age, gender, prior preschool experience, and socioeconomic status impact a child’s readiness for kindergarten upon school entry. The study was also an examination of perceptions of preschool and kindergarten teachers as to whether or not readiness can be determined by a readiness test. The design method chosen for this study was nonexperimental quantitative. Teachers responded to an online survey. The survey was distributed via email to preschool and kindergarten teachers who were employed in 2 rural east Tennessee counties. This study included the responses of 46 participants who chose to respond to the survey.

Public school kindergarten programs have become increasingly more academic and have educators debating about what skills best serve children in kindergarten that will prepare them for later academic achievement. The Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) is a screening instrument used in Virginia to assess kindergarten students and students in grades 1 through 3. Kindergarten teachers want to make sure that with the more demanding curriculum, and increase in rigorous standards, that students enter kindergarten ready to learn. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between students’ kindergarten PALS scores and first grade PALS scores in a southwestern Virginia school district. This study involved kindergarten and first grade students. The study reviewed their readiness skills required for kindergarten and later academic achievement. The study also examined preschool experience, birth order, and birthdays when students entered kindergarten. In addition, the study included students who were redshirted or held out of school for a year before enrolling in kindergarten. The results showed the Spring PALS scores of kindergarten students and the Spring PALS scores of first grade students are significant indicators of academic achievement for language arts literacy. The results can potentially assist in identifying the skills needed for students to be successful when they begin kindergarten. The relationship between readiness in kindergarten PALS scores and first grade PALS scores appears to extend across students’ preschool experience, kindergarten entrance age, and birth order. Teachers, administrators, parents, policymakers, and legislators can make decisions that affect the curriculum and school readiness policies that will help students begin their educational career prepared to learn.

Thesis (M.Ed.) -- University of the North, 1978 / Refer to the document

Contextual stress has been associated with poor school readiness skills during early childhood. This study evaluated mechanisms by which parent’s exposure to poverty-related contextual stressors influence the acquisition of school readiness skills from child age 2 to 4 among 167 parent-child dyads. Parent report of contextual stress and observational measures of parenting quality were collected during the children’s 2-year-old assessment. Teacher reports and children’s scores on school readiness tasks were collected during the 4-year-old assessment. Two approaches were used to understand the process by which contextual stressors influences school readiness; the accumulation of stressors approach and the constellations of stressors approach. Using the accumulation of stressors approach, each indicator of contextual stress was identified as a stressor or non-stressor and the number of categories in which families experienced a stressor were summed. Results from separate structural equation models (SEM) indicated that the accumulation of stressors did not influence school readiness skills by way of positive parenting. The constellation of stressors approach considered how clusters of stressors may differentially impact children’s school readiness. Results of the Latent Class Analysis (LCA) revealed the presence of two risk profile groups that differed qualitatively, indicating that not all stressors are equal; the “low-stressor” group and the “multi-stressor” group. The multi-stressor group represented thirty-three percent of families (n= 55). When considering the influence of the multi-stressor group probability to each of the school readiness indicators, none of the path coefficients were statistically significant. Implications for research and intervention are discussed.