Due to globalisation and rapid technological change, today's educators need to help students develop multi-literacy competencies to enable them to function successfully in our culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) and increasingly connected global and digital society. A qualitative, longitudinal case study attempted to uncover the…

Innovation in pedagogy by technology integration in kindergarten classroom has always been a challenge for most teachers. This design-based research aimed to explore the feasibility of using Augmented Reality (AR) technology in early art education with a focus on the gains and pains of this innovation. A case study was conducted in a typical…

The purpose of this study is to portray kindergarten teachers' developmentally appropriate practices in order to authenticate the essential component of play. Recently, student achievement has been the primary focus in Early Childhood Education, and play is seen as an action that precludes academic learning. This is a qualitative study of…

For over 100 years, retention has been an intervention used with students who are not performing at expected levels. Despite the lack of evidence that retention is an effective means of improving academic outcomes, retention continues to be used today. Response to Intervention (RTI) is a strategy to provide support to struggling students in an…

Success for All (SFA), one of the best-known school reform models, aims to improve the reading skills of all children but is especially directed at schools that serve large numbers of students from low-income families. First implemented in 1987, SFA combines a challenging reading program, whole-school reform elements, and an emphasis on continuous…

This research study investigated the at-home literacy behaviors and experiences of young children before and during their kindergarten year. Research has shown that the frequency and quality of at-home literacy experiences can either hinder or hamper children as their formal schooling begins (Fletcher, Cross, Tanney, Schneider, & Finch, 2008;…

The purpose of this longitudinal case study was to develop a process and structure for adopting and leading critical school reform initiatives within a rural North Dakota pre-kindergarten through fourth grade elementary school. Elementary principals can use this process and structure to benefit staff, and ultimately, to improve student academic…

The purpose of this researcher was to develop an understanding of how parents are involved in their special education child's learning and to explore possible differences in parental engagement across age or grade levels (kindergarten through fifth grade) and cultural backgrounds. This researcher focused on Hispanic/Latino, Asian, and African…

In 2011, a small Midwestern school district referred an increasing number of 2nd-4th grade students, with reading problems due to phonetic and phonological awareness deficits, to the district's intervention team. Framed in Shulman's pedagogical content knowledge model and the International Dyslexia Association's phonological deficit theory of…

First implemented in 1987, Success for All (SFA) is one of the best-known and most thoroughly evaluated school reform models. It combines three basic elements: (1) Reading instruction that emphasizes phonics for beginning readers and comprehension for students at all levels, and that is characterized by a highly structured curriculum, an emphasis…

The purpose of this research was to study a sociocognitive "student/parent/peer authoring community" called Traveling Books (TBks) in kindergarten and second grade in a public elementary school setting. TBks are teacher-made vehicles for involving parents in peer-based literacy environments. The study was based on Epstein's theory that…

In our graduate programs in early childhood education, we model constructivist practice in the belief that teachers are better able to understand and implement constructivist principles having experienced them in their work. In this practice we attempt to be explicit about constructivist practice in our program and in elementary classrooms. As we…