There are five developmental areas: gross motor, fine motor, communication, adaptive behavior, and social-emotional. If social-emotional skills are delayed, all other developmental areas are negatively impacted. Preschool-aged students are incapable of kindergarten readiness if they have a delay in social-emotional development as it impacts their…

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of kindergarten teachers concerning the skills that demonstrate the five components of readiness as organized by the National Education Goals Panel (NEGP) and to identify which skills kindergarten teachers believe are most important for students to be successful. In November 2023, 136…

Many kindergarten teachers are feeling the effects of standard-based education. The problem is that it is unknown whether teachers implement mandated state standards in a developmentally appropriate way. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to investigate kindergarten teachers' perspectives on implementing standards in a developmentally…

This research recognized the current perception of preschool ministry and First Sarasota Baptist Church in Sarasota, Florida. In order to motivate and equip members to contribute to the spiritual formation of children ages two to six, an eight-week training course was developed for forty participants. Their progress was determined using a pre-test…

This dissertation investigates the actual versus perceived knowledge of oral language development strategies among early years teachers in international schools. Employing Prestwich's (2012) "Teacher's Knowledge of Oral Language Development" (TKOLD) survey, it assesses teachers' knowledge in critical areas such as promoting extended…

This dissertation in practice will focus on gaining insights into the relationship between money spent on professional development and the Standards Assessment Inventory Scores. The Standards Assessment Inventory is an assessment tool aligned with the Standards of Professional Learning that provides insight into the perceptions of professional…

To determine the impact of an administrator's decision on student placement in kindergarten classrooms, teachers were asked to share their perceptions on how that decision impacted their ability to deliver instruction and follow the district scope and sequence, as well as how that decision impacts student academic achievement and social and…

Early and explicit vocabulary instruction is one important way teachers can support early readers for later reading comprehension success (Duncan et al., 2007; Marulis & Neuman, 2010; Neuman & Dwyer, 2011; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), 2000); however, some observations indicate that early childhood and…

The study explored teachers' perceptions of how district provided prekindergarten influences academic and social emotional school readiness for first grade students in a low socioeconomic school district in Southern Arkansas. Piaget's "Theory of Cognitive Development" and "Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development" were the…

Crises are inevitable and can have a direct or indirect impact on the social-emotional well-being of all involved. The COVID-19 pandemic has proven itself to be a crisis that resulted in both direct and secondary trauma. It had an effect not only on staff and students but also on school leaders, who were significantly affected either by the…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how parents and teachers described their perceptions of parent engagement strategies (Epstein's six types of involvement) in pre-kindergarten classrooms to support the social-emotional competence (SEC) of pre-kindergarten students. Fifteen participants located in a Southeastern U.S.…

Evidence has suggested that preschool and kindergarten experiences affect the cognitive and social-emotion development of language-minority students (LMS). This quantitative study aims to illustrate the LMS' preschool and kindergarten experience by investigating the preschool and kindergarten experience, family environment, and school environment.…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive case study was to focus on teachers' perceptions regarding professional development training for early childhood education. The problem addressed in this study was the inadequate amount of professional development training available for early childhood teachers to address children with challenging…

All in-service teachers in PK-12 public school systems must participate in professional development sessions. Professional development can negatively affect many teachers but serves an essential purpose in improving education. Social learning theories can help shape practical professional development sessions. This quantitative study focused on…

The consequences of trauma and chronic toxic stress on young children's social and neurobiological developments are numerous and well-documented in the literature (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2020; Jimenez et al., 2016; Sciaraffa et al., 2018; Statman-Weil, 2015; Zeng et al., 2019). Children exposed to trauma during early…