Search Results

open access

African-American Parents' Nutritional Habits: Implications for the Prevention of Early Childhood Obesity.

Description: This research study addressed the nutritional beliefs and habits of African-American parents of children aged 3 to 6 years old. Both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were employed. Quantitative data was collected via the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire as well as a demographic questionnaire. Qualitative data was collected from oral interviews conducted by the researcher. Seventy-five parents or guardians participated in the study. Findings for the research ques… more
Date: August 2009
Creator: Anderson, Andraya D.
open access

African Refugee Parents' Involvement in Their Children's Schools: Barriers and Recommendations for Improvement

Description: The purpose of this study was to examine involvement of African refugee parents in the education of their elementary school children. The setting of the study was Northern and Southern Texas. African refugee parents and their children's teachers completed written surveys and also participated in interviews. In the study's mixed-method design, quantitative measures provided data about parent involvement at home, parent involvement at school, frequency of parent-teacher contact, quality of pare… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Githembe, Purity Kanini

An Analysis of EC-4 Pre-Service Teacher Perceptions of Knowledge and Use of Classroom Discipline Techniques

Description: The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of pre-service Texas Wesleyan University teachers' knowledge and use of classroom discipline techniques. The study was conducted to obtain data utilized for the evaluation of the research questions. A non-experimental, mixed research design using survey methodology was used. Part one of the Allen Classroom and Discipline Management Instrument (ACDMI) consisted of demographic information: current position, ethnicity, level of education, g… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: May 2006
Creator: Short, Selena Gutierrez
open access

Attitudes of American and Korean Early Childhood Educators Regarding Programs for Gifted/Talented Young Children.

Description: The purpose of this research was to study the attitudes of Korean and American early childhood educators concerning gifted children and programs aimed specifically at meeting their needs. The study examined general attitudes towards giftedness and gifted education programs and factors that might affect those attitudes. The study also examined desirable environments for young gifted children. Twenty-item questionnaires were developed and logically divided into six sections (identification, teac… more
Date: December 2001
Creator: Song, Kyu-Woon
open access

Children of Teenage Mothers: School Readiness Outcomes and Predictors of School Success.

Description: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of teenage motherhood on the school readiness, literacy skills, and parental involvement of children participating in the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) early intervention program, as well as make recommendations for optimal outcomes. Study children were participants in HIPPY at five diverse, urban school districts. Using a mixed method design, this study examined the results of quantitative measures of children… more
Date: August 2008
Creator: Brown, Amber L.
open access

Children's Spiritual Development: Analysis of Program Practices and Recommendations for Early Childhood Professionals.

Description: The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which faith-based preschools promote spiritual development in preschoolers. The participants in the study were faith-based early childhood teachers and administrators from seven states. Early childhood professionals representing 11 Christian faith traditions completed written surveys or online surveys. A total of 201 faith-based educators completed the survey; 20 respondents participated in semi-structured interviews. The concurrent trian… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Myers, Joyce Eady
open access

A Comparison Study of the Experiences of Educators and Non-Educators in Promoting Reading and Reading Related Skills of their Own Preschool Children

Description: The rationale for this study was to evaluate the home literacy environments of educators and non-educators to investigate whether educators provide "richer" home environments than non-educator mothers. This research explores the mothers' perceptions of their children, views of reading, methods of promoting a positive reading environment, dealing with personal demands and emotions, and their expectations related to promoting reading. The participants in the study are 2 elementary school teacher… more
Date: December 2005
Creator: Fitzpatrick, Tamecca S.
open access

Decision Making Factors in Child Caregiver Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect

Description: This study investigated decision making factors used by child caregivers to identify suspected child abuse and neglect and collected data on caregiver training in the recognition and reporting of suspected child abuse and neglect. Data was collected in July 1999 in fourteen north Texas childcare programs. One hundred twenty three teaching and administrative staff completed a survey based on Jacobson, A., Glass, J. and Ruggiere, P. (1998). Five teachers and five administrators chosen for conven… more
Date: May 2000
Creator: Hagen, Carol Kellerman
open access

Development of a proposed toddler caregiver training program for South Korea.

Description: Based on the survey results of 150 South Korea toddler caregivers about training needs, I developed a relationship-based approach for a toddler caregiver training program. The training program was modified using suggestions provided by 6 South Korean professors, who were asked to review the program. Survey findings revealed that: (a) All participants (toddler caregivers) perceived that it is necessary for caregivers to attend training. However, most (72.2%) found that it was difficult to attend… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Kim, So-Yeon
open access

Developmentally Appropriate Beliefs and Practices of Public and Private Kindergarten Teachers in the United States and Taiwan

Description: The purposes of the present study are to: (a) describe the beliefs and practices of the US and Taiwan (TW) public and private kindergarten teachers regarding developmentally appropriate practice (DAP), (b) examine the group differences between the four groups of teachers, and (c) identify the salient factors related to the variability of developmentally appropriate beliefs and practice in these teachers. Three hundred and fifty-seven kindergarten teachers participated in the study. The group si… more
Date: December 2007
Creator: Liu, Huei-Chun
open access

Direct and Indirect Effects of Parenting Style with Child Temperament, Parent-Child Relationship, and Family Functioning on Child Social Competence in the Chinese Culture: Testing the Latent Models

Description: Interactional and contextual models have been conceptually proposed in understanding parental influences on children. Yet, empirical model testing has been limited. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the direct and indirect effects of parenting style on child social competence using structural equation modeling in a sample of 544 Chinese families with 6-9 years old children, mainly singleton, residing in Nanjing, China. Five latent models were tested: (a) the direct model … more
Date: May 2007
Creator: Xu, Changkuan
open access

Educating Young Children with Autism in Inclusive Classrooms in Thailand

Description: This study investigated what constitutes a teaching curriculum for students with autism in inclusive classrooms in Thailand. The researcher employed 3 qualitative methods: semi-structured interviews, document analysis of curricula and lesson plans, and nonparticipant observations. Six schools were selected as the sites. Participants for interview included 6 principals and 24 teachers. The researcher observed one inclusive classroom for each of the 6 selected schools. The study concentrated on … more
Date: May 2008
Creator: Onbun-uea, Angkhana
open access

Effectiveness of a Web-based Course in Facilitating the Integration of Technology Into Early Childhood Curricula.

Description: Although technology is available and used in early childhood classrooms, little is known about what early childhood teachers believe about the use of technology and how technology is integrated into early childhood curricula. This study was designed to (a) determine the beliefs of early childhood teachers about technology integration into early childhood curricula and (b) describe the extent to which early childhood teachers integrate technology in their early childhood curricula. The participa… more
Date: December 2007
Creator: Graham, Leticia

The Effects of a Computer-mediated Intervention on "At-risk" Preschool Students' Receptive Vocabulary and Computer Literacy Skills.

Description: This study examined the effects of a computer-mediated intervention on "at-risk" preschool students' receptive vocabulary development, computer-literacy skills, and enthusiasm for leaning. Twenty-two preschool-aged children attending an urban primary public school and participating in government subsidized school lunch program participated in the study. A pretest/posttest control-group design and case-study participant observations were used for data collection. Students were assigned to one of… more
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Date: December 2003
Creator: Alman, Lourdes Fraga
open access

The Effects of a Therapeutic Play Intervention on Hispanic Students' Reading Achievement, Self-Concept, and Behavior

Description: This study employed a pretest/posttest control group design to investigate the achievement of second grade Hispanic students from a predominantly low socio-economic school in a large metropolitan city. The thirty Hispanic students with the lowest scores on the Gates MacGinitie Reading Test were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n =15) or the control group (n=15). The treatment consisted of 16, 30-minute sessions of play intervention--2 times per week for 8 weeks. The providers of pla… more
Date: December 2000
Creator: Lopez, Helen Trevino
open access

Effects of Background Music on Preschoolers' Attention.

Description: Background music is often used in preschool classrooms with the belief that music makes children smarter and increases attention. The purpose of this study was to determine if background music increased children's focused attention during play activities. Focused attention occurs when children maintain attention to a task regardless of distractions. This quasiexperimental study investigated background music and play in a laboratory setting. I videotaped individual children during play with mat… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Dartt, Kevin Maurine
open access

Exploring Team Performance as an Independent Variable: Can Performance Predict Resource Allocation?

Description: Encouraging positive work team growth depends on, in part, the form and availability of organizational resources and support. Support systems have been found to be important for work team health and survival. However, managers are challenged to make resource decisions while working within company budgetary restraints. Previous research has indicated a positive relationship exists between teams provided with appropriate resources and support, and increased team performance. This study extended p… more
Date: December 2007
Creator: Lopez, Nicolette P.
open access

Gottshall Early Reading Intervention: A phonics based approach to enhance the achievement of low performing, rural, first grade boys.

Description: Learning to read is critical for quality of life and success in our society. Children who cannot read well face unsuccessful educational careers and limited job choices. Recently, policy makers and educators have made progress toward increasing the reading achievement of America's children. Still up to 60% of boys who live in poverty cannot read or read two years below grade level. In this experimental study, I designed and examined the effects of the Gottshall Early Reading Intervention (GERI)… more
Date: December 2007
Creator: Gottshall, Dorothy Lee

The Great Debate continued: Does daily writing in kindergarten lead to invented spelling and reading?

Description: Many children in the United States cannot read on level by fourth grade. Traditionally, teachers have delayed reading instruction until first grade. However, involving children sooner in literary activities may provide skills needed to enable them to read on grade level. The purpose for this study was to determine the extent to which daily writing in kindergarten influences the development of invented spelling and learning to read. Five teachers modeled writing with 78 kindergarten children who… more
Access: Restricted to the UNT Community Members at a UNT Libraries Location.
Date: May 2003
Creator: Pierce, Laura Boehl
open access

Growing in Favor with God: Young Children's Spiritual Development and Implications for Christian Education

Description: Experts do not agree on the definition of spiritual development although positive spiritual development benefits society in many ways. Without agreement on the definition of spiritual development and a common understanding of spiritual development, parents, teachers, and pastors who are entrusted with the task of fostering positive spiritual development in Christian settings face the challenges of determining what spiritual development is (definition), the desired goals (culmination) of spiritu… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Thomson, Donna R.
open access

Incarcerated mothers in Cuenca, Ecuador: Perceptions of their environment and the impact it has on the lives of their young children and their education.

Description: The number of children whose mothers are incarcerated is increasing around the world. Educators of young children are faced with new challenges in their classrooms as they work with these children during their formative years for social-emotional development. The purpose of this qualitative study was to interview the mothers, in order to gain their perspective on how they feel their incarceration has affected their relationship with their children; how they believed it would affect their childr… more
Date: May 2008
Creator: McBride, Rachel L.
open access

An Investigation into the Effects of Long-term Staff Development on Teacher Perceptions and Reading Achievement on Young Children

Description: The effectiveness of long-term staff development (Reading Academy Project-RAP) on students' reading scores on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test was examined to determine if teachers transferred newly learned teaching strategies into practice and changed their beliefs about reading instruction. In a four-year cohort longitudinal study in an East Texas rural community, the effects of long-term staff development on third grade students' TAAS test reading scores, teacher practices… more
Date: May 2003
Creator: Boatman, Vikki

Juvenile Justice Sentencing: Are There Alternatives?

Description: Research indicates that states have implemented juvenile justice reforms to enact harsher punishments, to transfer greater numbers and younger juvenile offenders to adult criminal court, and to restrict discretion of the juvenile court judges. Social science studies have found that harsher punishments, transfers to adult criminal court and other measures do not work, but that comprehensive approaches which address the numerous major factors contributing to juvenile offending have been successfu… more
Access: Restricted to UNT Community Members. Login required if off-campus.
Date: December 2000
Creator: Youngblood, Michelle K.
open access

Mass media in the writing process of English as a second language kindergarteners: A case study examination

Description: Mass media such as television, video players, video games, compact disks, and the computers are commonplace in current American culture. For English as a Second Language children, television may be the only source of English in the home serving as models of grammar, syntax, story structure. An investigation was made using English as a Second Language (ESL) kindergarteners, the classroom writing center, participant-observation, teacher as researcher, and case study methodology to investigate the… more
Date: August 2001
Creator: Melton, Janet Moody
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