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Eric.ed.gov – Children’s Outcomes and Classroom Quality from Pre-K through Kindergarten: Findings from Year 2 of Georgia’s Pre-K Longitudinal Study. Executive Summary

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This executive summary presents results from a study that began in 2013-2014, and involves a longitudinal design to follow a sample of 1,169 children (139 Spanish-speaking DLLs) who attended 199 randomly-selected Georgia’s Pre-K classrooms. These findings focus on results from the second year of the study, which included 1,034 of these children (118 Spanish-speaking DLLs) who were attending kindergarten. Researchers conducted individual child assessments near the beginning and end of pre-k and kindergarten to examine growth in children’s skills, as well as factors associated with greater growth. The assessment measures covered multiple domains of learning, including language, literacy, math, and general knowledge, and teacher ratings of behavior skills. For the DLL subsample, assessments were conducted in both English and Spanish using parallel measures. Researchers also conducted observations… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Early Childhood: Child, Teacher, Parent

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The field of early childhood holds promising keys to unlocking many of the mysteries in learning. Educators in the field, given the right tools, have the potential to have a profound impact on the long-term success of their students. The design of this curriculum comes directly out of the incredible possibilities set in motion while exploring this field. Early childhood programs have three essential components or learners. Primary learners are the child, the parent(s) and the teacher. In order to best serve the child, early childhood programs must not only focus on the curriculum and programmatic issues, but must also spend time training staff and providing learning opportunities for parents. Successful early childhood programs aim to employ the most effective resources available to meet the needs of… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Social Skills and Problem Behaviors as Mediators of the Relationship between Behavioral Self-Regulation and Academic Achievement

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Early behavioral self-regulation is an important predictor of the skills children need to be successful in school. However, little is known about the mechanism(s) through which self-regulation affects academic achievement. The current study investigates the possibility that two aspects of children’s social func- tioning, social skills and problem behaviors, mediate the relationship between preschool self-regulation and literacy and math achievement. Additionally, we investigated whether the meditational processes differed for boys and girls. We expected that better self-regulation would help children to interact well with others (social skills) and minimize impulsive or aggressive (problem) behaviors. Positive interac- tions with others and few problem behaviors were expected to relate to gains in achievement as learning takes place within a social context. Preschool-aged children (n = 118) were tested with… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Development of Curricula, Teacher Supports, and Assessments for Pre-Kindergarten Mathematics and Science

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The “MTP-Math/Science” curricula specifically target the teaching and learning of children at risk of early school failure, a population for whom achievement gaps in mathematics and science are visible even in Pre-K years. “MTP-Math” is based on Focal Areas defined by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) (2006) for Pre-K through the 8th grade and developmental trajectories for Mathematics from Pre-K to grade two advanced by Clements (2004), and further focused through a review of state Pre-Kindergarten standards. In the authors’ earlier research with the “MTP” model to support language and literacy (Pianta, Mashburn, Luckner, Myers, & Kilday, 2008), the “MTP” teacher professional development program improved the quality of classroom interactions that Pre-K students experience, which in turn, promoted children’s development of language and literacy… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Early Childhood Turkish Children’s Attitudes toward Science

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purpose of the study was to examine and describe the attitudes of Turkish early childhood children in science. This study explored the causal factors that influence children’s attitudes toward science such as teachers’ years of teaching experiences, frequency of teaching science in a week, and teachers’ teaching style. Turkish children (N=44) who live in the United States and engage in early childhood classroom involved into the study. Preschool teachers who had Turkish children in their classroom completed a survey for giving information about their Turkish children experiences in their science teaching activities. The Child’s Attitude Toward Science (CATS) survey which was developed by researchers was used while collecting data. The results showed that Turkish children have positive attitudes towards science especially in Life Science Topics. The… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Visual Arts and the Teaching of the Mathematical Concepts of Shape and Space in Grade R Classrooms

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This article addresses the need for research in the areas of Grade R curriculum and pedagogy, Grade R teacher professional development, and early years mathematics teaching. More specifically, it responds to the need for teacher professional development in Grade R mathematics teaching of the geometric concepts of space and shape. The article describes a study about teachers’ understanding of how visual arts can be used as pedagogical modality. The study was prompted by the findings of a ‘Maths and Science through Arts and Culture Curriculum’ intervention undertaken with Grade R teachers enrolled for a Bachelor of Education (Foundation Phase) degree at a South African university. Post-intervention, teachers’ classroom practices did not change, and they were not using visual arts to teach mathematical concepts. The lessons learned from… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Examining the Validity of Behavioral Self-Regulation Tools in Predicting Preschoolers’ Academic Achievement

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The current study investigated the predictive utility among teacher-rated, observed, and directly assessed behavioral self-regulation skills to academic achievement in preschoolers. Specifically, this study compared how a teacher report, the Child Behavior Rating Scale, an observer report, the Observed Child Engagement Scale, and a direct assessment, the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task, relate to early math and literacy skills. The sample consisted of 247 children from 31 preschool classrooms. Trained research assistants observed a subsample of 104 children. Results indicated significant, positive relationships for teacher-rated and directly assessed behavioral self-regulation for early math and literacy skills. Teacher ratings were the strongest predictors of literacy, and the direct assessment emerged as the strongest predictor of math. Observed behavioral self-regulation was not significantly related to either academic domain. Discussion focuses on domain… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Implementing STEAM in the Early Childhood Classroom

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) education has received growing attention over the past decade, primarily within the middle and high school levels. This article focuses on the need for STEAM education at the early childhood level. Preschool children have a natural disposition toward science with their sense of curiosity and creativity. This ethnographic research involved professional development for 50 in-service preschool teachers in an urban high-needs area of the northeastern United States. The researcher explored how providing hands-on professional development, consistent support, and rich resources for STEAM lesson implementation into the early childhood curriculum would impact the dispositions, self-efficacy, and rate of implementation for teachers. The study also involved observation of the reception of STEAM instruction by preschool children. Data was collected through pre and… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – A Toolbox for Supporting Early Number Learning in Play: Moving beyond “How Many”?

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This paper explores the ways preschool teachers orchestrate instructional environments to promote mathematical play related to early number and, how they intervene during play to promote children’s engagement with early number. We highlight these practices to identify resources for the growing numbers of early childhood teachers. This is important as many prospective and practicing teachers do not have access to the knowledge of teaching that supports young children’s math learning because of the constraints of mathematics methods courses and the dearth of research on early childhood mathematics in mathematic education journals — particularly in-depth attention to early number and teaching mathematics in play. [For the complete proceedings, see ED583989.] Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – A Survey: Quality Practices. NCEDL Spotlights, No. 10.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This report summarizes findings from a national survey of 1,902 teachers of preschoolers regarding the extent to which they are able to engage in the educational practices they endorse. Teachers were given a list of 21 practices and asked to rate the extent to which each practice happened in their classroom and the extent to which they would want the practice to occur in a “perfect world.” Findings indicate few discrepancies between reported practices and beliefs. There were significant differences in the extent to which teachers from various types of programs endorsed group-centered beliefs, that is, those that encourage all children to engage in the same activities at the same time and at the same pace. Teachers in public schools, Head Start centers, and other non-profit centers… Continue Reading