This qualitative phenomenological case study explored the lived experiences of a purposive sample of 20 current and past early education teachers who have experience in assessing children through observational assessment. The purpose of this study was to determine if bias affects the documentation of observational assessment and the implementation…

Self-regulation emerges throughout early childhood, and predicts later success in socially and cognitively challenging situations. Vygotsky proposed that symbols, particularly words, serve as mental tools to be used in service of self-regulation. Cross-sectional research indicates a positive but inconsistent association between language and…

This study focuses on the development of face recognition in typically developing preschool- and school-aged children (aged 5 to 15 years old, "n" = 611, 336 girls). Social predictors include sex differences and own-sex bias. At younger ages, the development of face recognition was rapid and became more gradual as the age increased up…

This article describes how early years practitioners working in different settings, with different experiences and qualifications, can work and learn together. It is a small-scale case study of an eight-month project, with a grass-roots approach, involving early years settings within the reach area of an inner-London Children's Centre. The data…

The purpose of this study is to examine preschool preservice teachers' subject matter knowledge (SMK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of basic geometric shapes. The study employed case study method in order to investigate preschool preservice teachers' SMK and PCK on geometric shapes in actual classroom environment and to describe the…

With dual language learners falling behind their same-age peers at the beginning of kindergarten, understanding how school experiences can enhance language learning is critical. This study demonstrates how play among preschool-aged children can foster English language learning. Using an ethnographic approach, one classroom composed of two teachers…

Two experiments examined the effects of phonotactic probability and neighborhood density on word learning by 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children. Nonwords orthogonally varying in probability and density were taught with learning and retention measured via picture naming. Experiment 1 used a within story probability/across story density exposure…

Engagement in game design tasks can help preservice teachers develop pedagogical and technical skills for teaching and promoting critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Through the design process, preservice teachers not only exercise critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, but also learn about an instructional method to support their…

This "Patterns of Practice: Case Studies of Early Childhood Education & Family Engagement in Community Schools" report updates the community school case studies through a description of ongoing developments in Cincinnati, OH; Evansville, IN; Multnomah County, OR; and Tulsa, OK and adds to that knowledge base of early learning and…

Research has demonstrated the impact of early oral language development on a child's later reading comprehension. Additionally, research has suggested that teachers' knowledge of effective practices in literacy plays an important role in students' ability to learn to read. The problem is that preschool teachers' knowledge of…

Environmental degradation, childhood obesity, and aggression of youth are societal problems that appear unconnected. However, their cause (and possible solution) may be linked to a common experience--the amount and quality of time spent in the natural world. Environment based education, significant life experience research, and studies involving…

Current studies on language and literacy in hearing children have pointed to face-to-face linguistic interaction as one crucial factor in the emergence of literacy. Studies that explored the language and literacy of preschool children, both in the their homes and in school, have found that the kind of talk and the quality of talk that transpires…

This article adds to the existing body of data that demonstrates how the use of in-depth case studies that include social episode analysis can deepen the teaching students' and researchers' understanding of the perceptions and skills needed for Classroom Management (CM). In this article, CM is defined as a meta-skill that integrates cognitive…

This qualitative case study examines the nature of a dual language preschool teacher's instructional practices and extratextual talk during shared-book reading practices with two different genres of books in Spanish and English. Specifically, I explore the interpersonal, ideational, and textual features of one teacher's talk in English- and…

The political emphasis on early education speaks of growing expectations for equal access and the need to ensure quality--by way of standard accountability measures--on behalf of all young children. A central element in the improvement of early education focuses on teacher quality. In this article we examine and discuss the challenges related to…