Abstract/Notes: Multiage programming is a school reform option used throughout the United States. Much of the current literature focuses on the short-term benefits of multiage programs, particularly at the elementary level, with little consideration for long-term effects or for what might happen to students once they leave the multiage classroom and enter middle school. While there has been significant research that generalizes the transition experience of the general population of students, there has been limited research conducted on this transition experience for this specific population, the multiage elementary student. The purpose of this simultaneous, mixed methods study was to provide an in-depth examination of the transition effects on students who transition from multiage elementary classrooms to traditional single-grade classrooms at the middle school. In this study, eight students who had previously attended multiage elementary classrooms were given the Piers-Harris 2 Children's Self Concept Scale at three points, fall, winter, and spring during their first year in middle school to assess the students' social and emotional well-being during the transition. Students were also administered a middle school transition questionnaire to identify what procedural, academic, or social issues were of concern to them. Students were interviewed about their transitional experiences. In the analysis of the data showed that the students' overall sense of self and self-esteem improved over the course of the transitional year. Student concerns with procedures, academics, and social life decreased over the course of the year. The following major categories emerged from the interviews: (a) adjusting to the structure of middle school, (b) adjusting to new academic demands, (c) managing relationships with teachers and peers, and (d) changing sense of self. The findings have implications for middle level educators, multiage classroom elementary educators and for parents.

Language: English

Published: Chicago, Illinois, 2012

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: Since early childhood programs were first introduced in the United States in the 1820s, early childhood professionals have been aware that teaching and caring for young children involves establishing relationships with their families. This study is a historical examination of the relationships between early childhood programs and parents. The study considered the political, social, and economic factors that have influenced the development of relationships between parents and early childhood programs, including: infant schools; kindergarten; laboratory schools; nursery schools; Montessori programs; day nurseries and child care; and Head Start. The study showed that the history of parent involvement in early childhood programs is essentially the history of early childhood programs. Since the 1820s, early childhood professionals have provided ample literary evidence of how parents were expected to be involved in early childhood programs, and how these expectations were communicated to them. Literary evidence was the basis for this study. Evidence used in the study included: autobiographies, journals, recollections, and letters of key participants; manuals of early childhood practice; proceedings from meetings and conferences; publications from government agencies; articles and commentaries from professional journals and popular magazines; theoretical and practical works by leaders in the field; research studies; textbooks; and childrearing advice books. The history of early childhood programs reveals a wide range of attempts to bring parents and early childhood programs together. At various times and in various contexts, these attempts have been called parent cooperation, parent education, parent participation, parent involvement, and teacher-parent partnership. Throughout most of the history of early childhood programs, parents were cast in the role of learner. More recently, the ideal relationship between parents and early childhood professionals has been characterized as that of a partnership. The various terms that have been used to describe the relationships between parents and early childhood programs were examined through the course of this study, as were the assumptions and beliefs that have influenced the interpretation of these terms.

Language: English

Published: Boston, Massachusetts, 1999

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of my study was to analyze a public school prekindergarten Montessori bilingual program via the investigation of 2nd grade reading achievement scores on a Spanish and an English norm-referenced test between two groups of students: those who had participated in a prekindergarten Montessori bilingual program and those who had participated in a prekindergarten traditional bilingual program. Additionally, my study investigated the perspective of my own personal experience as a leader, as well as the perspective of two other leaders' perspectives on implementing a prekindergarten Montessori bilingual program. The population included in this study was 450 2nd grade students enrolled in a large urban school district in southeast Texas. The prekindergarten Montessori bilingual students were the experimental group, while the prekindergarten traditional bilingual program composed the control group. To answer the first research question, two administrators were interviewed. I, as the researcher, described my perspective as a leader regarding the implementation of a prekindergarten Montessori bilingual program, as well as responses from other school leaders. To answer the second research question, a random sample of 200 students was selected from the population of 450 students who had taken the Aprenda and ITBS tests for 2nd grade and were enrolled during the 2000-2001 school year. For research question one the following themes emerged from this study: (a) program implementation, (b) Montessori training, (c) learning environment, (d) curriculum expectations, and (e) sustaining the Montessori program. For research question two, in Spanish reading the results of the independent t-test indicated that the children who had participated in the Montessori bilingual program significantly outscored the children in a traditional bilingual prekindergarten program on the Spanish reading subtest of the Aprenda. In English Reading, the results of the independent t-test indicated that the children who had participated in a Montessori bilingual program and who had continued through 2nd grade in a transitional bilingual program significantly outscored the children in a traditional bilingual prekindergarten program and who had continued through second grade in an English as a second language program on the English reading subtest of the ITBS.

Language: English

Published: Huntsville, Texas, 2002

Language: English

Language: English

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this study was to identify competencies for the professional component of a program for preparing nursery school teachers in Guyana. It incorporated a definition of the purposes of the national Nursery Education Program in Guyana and a definition of the behaviors associated with teaching in the nursery schools through: (1) A review of the literature encompassing programs for young children; roles of teachers in programs for young children; competencies for teachers of young children and competency-based teacher education. (2) The development of an interview schedule to gather data about the purposes of nursery schools and the behaviors associated with teaching in the nursery schools in Guyana. (3) Use of the interview schedule to conduct personal interviews with uncertified teachers, certified teachers, supervisors, parents and lecturers attached to the Nursery Education Program in Guyana. (4) Content analysis of the responses to the interview questions. The data indicated that the respondents were aware of the purposes of nursery schools and what constitutes effective teaching in these schools. The information generated through the analysis provided the basis for the formulation of competencies for nursery school teachers in Guyana. The identified competencies are overarching; stated as behaviors to be demonstrated by certified nursery school teachers; and are categorized under the goals of the Guyana Nursery Education Program.

Language: English

Published: New York City, New York, 1982

Language: English

Language: English