Researchers have known for several years that when a child is reading below proficiency by the end of third grade, it is likely the child will continue to struggle learning to read through the child's academic career (Dickinson & Porche, 2011; Wasik & Hindman, 2011). Yet, the problem of children falling below third grade reading…

Since the 1990s, despite numerous educational initiatives designed to support student reading success, a large percentage of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students have performed below standard in statewide standardized reading tests. This fact points to a need in further examining how teachers provide CLD students with early…

Until recently, many early childhood educators, particularly those in nontraditional preschool spaces, leaned on a color-evasive approach to their work, largely ignoring systemic racism and bias, claiming love and acceptance of all children in their care. While well-intentioned, these practices left young children to construct their own…

The purpose of this qualitative, multiple case study was to explore the utilization of music to teach phonics in kindergarten at four elementary schools in northwest Ohio. The theory guiding this study was the schema theory as it explains how individuals are able to recognize patterns previously learned, organize those patterns, and then use those…

This qualitative case study focused on how school leaders' understandings of (dis)ability were implicated in decision-making and affected student (dis)enrollment in Florida's Voluntary Prekindergarten Program (VPK). More specifically it explored how leaders in private VPK programs invoked conceptions of normality, and subsequently abnormality,…

Emergent bilinguals account for a quarter of the approximately 70 million children under age 18 in the US (Esterline & Batalova, 2022). The question of how to serve these children best in educational settings has been contested. A substantial body of research has documented effective practices to promote bilingual development in dual language…

The effective delivery of interactive read-alouds to young children fosters language and literacy development. Such development is attainable only when students can read proficiently and on grade level, starting from pre-k and kindergarten. The effectiveness of read-alouds is highly dependent on how teachers interact with their students during the…

Decades of research have shown how play is a major vehicle for young children's development and learning. However, since the 1990's with greater emphasis on higher academic standards and accountability in the U.S. educational system, kindergarten teachers felt pressured to reduce or eliminate play for more didactic instruction and mandated…

In the United States, early childhood educators are expected to follow the trend to enforce academic curriculum for preschoolers. This effort diminishes the value of play in the young developmental years of children. The purpose of this study was to explore the type of activities and strategies that promote development of language and literacy…

Naturalistic behavioral interventions increase the acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of child social communication skills among children with developmental delays (DD). Teaching Assistants (TAs) are ideal interventionists for delivering social communication interventions because of the significant amount of time they spend working…

Agency is regarded as the fundamental construct in second language (L2) learning. Despite the importance, agency has not been fully investigated in children's L2 learning. Moreover, there are predominant dichotomous views of agency, such as conformity and resistance. To gain an understanding of the complex concept of agency, this study asked two…

Head Start (HS) is a nationally known program for young children and continues to serve the most vulnerable children and families. HS teachers are required to have a minimum degree status and a certain number of Professional Development (PD) hours. However, teachers continue to struggle with preparedness and effectiveness. The problem is that HS…

The purposes of this study were to examine how Social Justice Education (SJE) was envisioned and enacted at an elite school and to examine what the experiences of the school's early childhood teachers were as they participated in professional development (PD) programming around SJE. Through embedded case study methodology, the researcher analyzed…

An initiative to coordinate early learning programs across a major city in the Midwestern United States was undertaken in 2013. The opinions of teachers regarding effects on instruction and children were not included in the development and implementation of the program. This omission is important because multiple scholars have pointed to the…

Early childhood education has recently been heralded as the cornerstone of a brighter future for the United States, playing an important role in the healthy development of our youngest children (Perry, 2015; Bornfreund, 2015). However, the teachers of these children face multiple challenges in the profession, including unlivable wages, low morale…