Expectations for accountability have led policy makers to create standards designed to educate children to their highest potential. In addition to k-12 standards, the Commonwealth of Virginia created Foundation Blocks for a state-sponsored preschool program called the Virginia Preschool Initiative. This study included assessment of Virginia's Foundation Blocks for Early Learning: Comprehensive Standards for Four-Year-Olds as they relate to theories of Piaget, Vygotsky, and Rogoff. This assessment included play, scaffolded instruction, emergent literacy, and spatial reasoning. The Foundation Blocks were examined to determine how they were interpreted and implemented by preschool classroom teachers. Using a case-study format, four volunteer teachers participated in three days of classroom observations, be interviewed, and complete a survey. Evidence showed that the standards were theoretically based, and the participating teachers' pedagogy included play, emergent literacy, and spatial reasoning. Scaffolded instruction was not observed. There were concerns about teachers' low expectations and low-level questioning techniques. / Ph. D.

This thesis explores the creation of the Virginia’s War Memorial Carillon in relation to the persistent significance of the Civil War in Virginia. By focusing on the debates about Virginia’s War Memorial Library, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and Carillon, this thesis reconstructs the sentiments and historical legacy that shaped the multitude of decisions leading to the creation of Virginia’s World War memorial. Virginia seriously considered two other proposals for war memorials—the War Memorial Library and the Virginia Tomb of the Unknown Soldier—before ultimately constructing the War Memorial Carillon. Concerns for appropriateness and residual attachments to the Lost Cause of the Civil War inform the debates about the best memorial to represent Virginia and honor the soldiers, sailors, marines, and women from Virginia who fought in the World War.