Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item Anxiety and Anxiety-Coping in Children's Picture Books(2023) Hui, Janisa; Wang, Cixin; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The contribution of this study is to provide an understanding of how picture books educate young children on the common experiences of anxiety. This qualitative study used thematic analysis to analyze 82 English children’s picture books for infants and young toddlers (0 to 5 years old) that were published in 2020. Picture books in this sample portray anxiety in a way that match with the clinical knowledge of childhood anxiety in terms of characterization and signs of anxiety. This study identified five major themes of anxiety-eliciting situations, namely schools, bad things happen, being alone, health and diversity. The findings of this study also include themes and patterns of coping strategies that were used by the protagonists; finding comfort, inhibiting emotions, solving problems, recognizing and expressing emotions and culturally-related strategies are the five themes that summarize the coping strategies found in this sample. Across all types of anxiety-eliciting situations, finding comfort is the most frequently presented coping strategy. This study holds implications for caregivers, teachers and clinicians, through which they can have an idea of how anxiety is presented in some recently published children’s picture books in their use of the books for educational or clinical purposes. Publishers may also take reference on the gaps noted in this study to diversify the content of anxiety-related picture books.Item The Student Perspective on Maryland's Associate of Arts in Teaching Degree(2019) Weisburger, Anita Hawner; Valli, Linda R; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation study investigated the student perspective on Maryland’s Early Childhood Education/Special Education Associate of Arts in Teaching (AAT) degree: the factors that affected their experience, especially with the transfer process, and whether their experiences differed by institution. Using a conceptual framework of social constructionism, viewpoints were gathered through focus groups and individual interviews of 18 community college students in their final semester before transferring to a Maryland university to complete their BA and teaching certification. In addition to focus groups and student interviews, this investigation included interviews with program coordinators, discussions with state administrators, observations of state meetings, and a review of program and state/local policy documents. This study made contributions around issues of diversity, the Praxis Core Exam, online courses in ECE, and as the first study of the student perspective across multiple two-year institutions. It reports that participants had positive feedback about their teacher education programs but agreed on the need for more practical experience, especially regarding special education content. A clear concern about online coursework in ECE was also expressed. Factors affecting the student experience included misadvising and confusion around transfer that continued after moving to university programs. Administrators and faculty also acknowledged a number of challenges associated with advising, programming and implementation. Students highlighted differences between institutions but noted that most issues could be resolved through better communication, collaboration, and coordination. This analysis of the student perspective provides a clearer picture of the obstacles and advancements experienced by preservice teachers pursuing an AAT in ECE/SpEd. Since student voices were largely absent from the research on the AAT, this study is useful to two-year programs working to improve retention and transfer, as well as universities working to support transfer students. More research is needed on internet-based classes in teacher education as well as proactive advising (a preemptive approach to working with students). Further investigation of individual programs, coordination, mandatory advising, and mentor programs is also warranted. Given the complexity of the transfer process, especially in EC programs, further research is needed beyond Maryland on the student experience and on potential solutions offered here.Item Socialization practices in low-income immigrants and their young children: A qualitative approach(2011) Aldoney Ramirez, Daniela; Cabrera, Natasha J.; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Latinos are the largest ethnic group in the U.S., yet little is known about how these families socialize their children to function in the U.S. Based on ecocultural theory, this study utilized focus groups interviews with 28 parents to explore the socialization practices of low-income Latino immigrant parents with their young children. Findings from this study suggest that parents model their expectations/values according to environmental demands developing diverse strategies to combine what they view to be Latino and American values. Research results also indicate that participating parents cope with the challenges in socializing their children by being optimistic and highly investing time and resources on their children. This study provides a basis for generating hypotheses to be tested with larger datasets; identifying areas that policies and programs might develop to support effective parenting in Latino immigrant families; and, informing the development of culturally sensitive measures to evaluate Latino parenting.Item Evaluating Which Classroom and Student Variables in an Early Childhood Program Best Predict Student Language and Literacy Achievement(2011) Carlis, Lydia Janeva; Silverman, Rebecca D; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Sufficient evidence exists that early intervention for students at-risk of school failure may prevent reading difficulties. In addition, research has identified several teacher, classroom, and student variables that correlate with students' academic progress in language and literacy domains. This research aimed to expand on existing research by analyzing the relationships between teacher and peer characteristics and language and literacy achievement, and change in achievement, for 431 three and four-year old children attending three Early Reading First funded public charter school programs in 29 Washington, DC classrooms. Four research questions were posed to answer the following: What are the peer and teacher variables that predict achievement, or change in achievement, on norm- or criterion-referenced language and literacy measures for children enrolled in a federally supported universal preschool program? Two-level hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was conducted with students nested in classrooms. Results from the HLM indicate that peer and teacher characteristics helped predict three and four-year olds' achievement on nationally normed standardized language and literacy assessments. Peer and teacher characteristics also predicted achievement and change in achievement on curriculum-based measures of language and literacy development. These findings expand the research on teacher and peer characteristics predictive of student language and literacy achievement. Implications from these findings, strengths and limitations of this dissertation research, and future research directions are discussed.Item Learning How to Navigate U.S. Society with Young Children: Experiences of Immigrant Mothers Utilizing Early Childhood Care and Education(2011) Vesely, Colleen Kirkwood; Roy, Kevin M; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Nearly one in four children in the United States are children of immigrants (Fortuny, Hernandez, & Chaudry, 2010), and these children are the fastest growing segment of children in the country (U.S. Census, 2000 as cited in Matthews & Ewen, 2006b). Given this growth, grounded in Berry's (1997) acculturation framework and ecocultural theory (Weisner, 1997) , this study investigated the lived experiences of immigrant mothers with young children as these mothers adjusted to being parents in the U.S. An ethnographic approach was utilized to explore the experiences of 41 immigrant mothers living in Washington, DC and Virginia who were engaged with the ECCE system. Consequently, in-depth interviews as well as observations were conducted with immigrant mothers living in northern Virginia and Washington, DC, hailing from both Latin America (n= 22) and Africa (n=19). Data were analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach in which three waves of coding were conducted: open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. The findings from this study indicate that mothers' immigration stories, including, their reasons for coming to a new host society, their journey and finally, adjustment to life in the new country, shaped their expectations of parenting in the U.S. Mothers' in this study negotiated parenting ideas and practices from the U.S. and their home countries to create a new social framework for parenting in the U.S. that was distinct from parenting in their COOs and the U.S. Finally, a process model emerged from the data reflecting these immigrant mothers' navigation of the ECCE system. It illustrated that mothers drew upon a variety of social, organizational, and geographic connections to find ECCE, sometimes faced obstacles to securing ECCE, and ultimately were able to develop important social capital as a result of utilizing ECCE. The findings from this study will provide practitioners, policy makers, and researchers with a greater understanding of how immigrant families with young children adjust to life in the U.S., experience parenting, and how they navigate the U.S. ECCE system. This knowledge will contribute to creating the most effective programs, policies, and studies to support immigrant families.Item The Relationship Between Temperament and Emotion Understanding in Preschoolers: An Examination of the Influence of Emotionality, Self-Regulation, and Attention(2010) Genova-Latham, Maria de los Angeles; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined the links between temperament and emotion understanding in preschoolers. Temperamental facets of emotionality, attention, and self-regulation were utilized. Emotion understanding is the ability to identify feelings based on facial expressions, behaviors, or situations. Historically, temperamental variables and emotion understanding have been poorly defined, impacting the clarity of research findings. The Structured Temperament Interview (STI) measured facets of temperament and the Emotion Comprehension Test examined emotion understanding. Both measures offer clear definitions of their associated constructs. Additionally, principal components analyses were run on STI dimensions. Correlational analyses were run on the STI and Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ), an established measure of temperament, to further determine the STI's utility as a measure of temperament. Results, though mixed, suggest that components of Attention and Emotionality from the STI explain a great deal of the variance in ECT scale scores.Item Influences of School, Classroom, and Teacher Characteristics on Children's School Readiness(2010) McCallan, Stacy A.; Jones Harden, Brenda; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)A number of factors contribute to the school readiness of children, including child and family characteristics, neighborhood residence, and early care and education experiences. Early skills are the foundation for later school and life success. The current study examines the influence of school composition, classroom quality, and teacher preparation on kindergarten children's school readiness using data originally collected as part of an evaluation of a school readiness intervention. Children's academic school readiness was predicted by teachers' preparation in child development. Children had fewer problem behaviors when their teachers were more highly educated and specialized in child development and, surprisingly, when they attended schools with higher concentrations of low-income students. Child race was the only variable significantly related to children's social skills. These results suggest that teachers play an important role in children's development of foundational skills, and provide support for specific and targeted professional development around early childhood education.Item An Investigation of the Characteristics and School Readiness of Children with Disabilities who Attend Head Start Programs(2010) Smith, Amy Falk; McLaughlin, Margaret J; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics and school readiness of children with disabilities who attend Head Start programs, as well as the characteristics of the programs they attend and the school districts in which they receive special education. In addition, a second purpose was to determine whether there are differences in these characteristics of children who attend Head Start programs and those who attend other early childhood education programs. I used data from the Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study, a study of a nationally representative sample of preschool children with disabilities. I used a subsample of the data to compare the characteristics and school readiness of children with disabilities who attended Head Start to those who attended other early childhood education programs using chi-squares, analysis of variance, and ordinary least squares regression analyses. The results suggest that there is no difference in the school readiness of children with disabilities who attended Head Start and those who attend programs in elementary schools. However, in comparison to children who attended other programs, children with developmental delays who attended Head Start had more advanced receptive language skills and those with other disabilities had less advanced pre-reading skills. Additionally, the results of this study show that there is some variation in the characteristics of children with disabilities who attend Head Start and those who attend other programs. Children who attended Head Start were more likely to be Black or Hispanic and from low socioeconomic families. They were also less likely to have disabilities other than speech impairments or developmental delays and, on average, received fewer special education services. Finally, children who attended Head Start were more likely to be from rural school districts and districts with higher rates of poverty. These findings indicate that children with disabilities who attend Head Start programs face additional risk factors that are associated with poor school readiness and emphasize the need to ensure that the programs provide services that are adequate to meet the needs of the diverse population they serve and to prepare those children for the onset of formal schooling.Item The Impact of Parenting Practices and Early Childhood Curricula on Children's Academic Achievement and Social Competence(2006-06-05) kessenich, anne; Hofferth, Sandra; Koblinsky, Sally; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Current research highlights the importance of early social competence for later academic success. Nevertheless, despite that documented importance, the emphasis in both policy and practice has been on academic achievement in early learning curricula. The proposed research had three objectives: 1) to understand how parenting behaviors toward children in kindergarten influence their academic achievement in third grade, 2) to understand how curriculum in kindergarten influences academic achievement in third grade, and 3) to ascertain whether social competence mediates the relationship between parenting factors in kindergarten and academic achievement in third grade and curriculum factors in kindergarten and academic achievement in the third grade. Data are drawn for the period 1998-2003 from an existing data set, the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) and analyzed using multiple regression analyses. After controlling for background characteristics and academic achievement in kindergarten, these analyses revealed that the presence of spanking in kindergarten was significantly related to academic achievement in third grade. The presence of spanking in kindergarten was also related to children's learning related skills in third grade. Spanking and higher levels of warmth in kindergarten were related to children's interpersonal skills in third grade. Curriculum in kindergarten was unrelated to third grade academic achievement, social competence, and behavior problems. Social competence in third grade was related to academic achievement in third grade, while behavior problems were not. Finally, social competence mediated the relationship between spanking in kindergarten and academic achievement in third grade.