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

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Education, Early Childhood

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 25
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    An Investigation of Early Literacy Outcomes by Socio-Economic Status and Race/Ethnicity
    (2010) Worthington, Kelly Lane; 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 early literacy outcomes of children prior to school entry and describe the magnitude of outcome and experiential differences by socio-economic status (SES) and racial/ethnic groups. In addition, I examined the extent to which SES, race/ethnicity, child, home, and early care/education factors and experiences explained early literacy outcomes. My study was an extension of research conducted by Lee and Burkam (2002) about early literacy outcomes at kindergarten entry. I used the full sample data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), a study of a nationally representative sample of children in the United States. The results of this study show large gaps in the 48-month early literacy scores when examined by SES and a wide variation in child experiences prior to school entry. The findings suggest a need for specific and targeted consideration of group outcomes when revising, creating, and funding federal early childhood policies that are designed to improve group early literacy outcomes prior to school entry.
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    IDEA Part C referrals, determination of eligibility, and services recommended for infants and toddlers affected by illegal substances: A policy implementation study
    (2010) Williams, Asha-Lateef; McLaughlin, Margaret J.; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part C requires early intervention programs to develop procedures for ensuring the referral of infants and toddlers who are affected by illegal substance abuse to Part C services. There are no approved regulations for implementing Part C under IDEA 2004. This study utilized the Part C Online Database for a Mid-Atlantic state to describe the data from a large urban jurisdiction during the period of 2003-2009 that pertains to infants and toddlers affected by illegal substance abuse. The following research questions guided the investigation: What were the reasons, counts, and trends over time for referrals to the local ITP for infants and toddlers who were documented to be exposed to and/or affected by illegal substance abuse? What were the reasons, counts, and trends over time for determination of eligibility for Part C services for infants and toddlers who were documented to be exposed to and/or affected by illegal substance abuse? What were the reasons, counts, and trends over time for services recommended for infants and toddlers who were documented to be exposed to and/or affected by illegal substance abuse? Analyses included examination of frequencies, percentages, chi squares with phi adjustment for associations, and trends. Results indicate that though the total number of referred infants and toddlers steadily increased from 1,426 in 03-04 to 1,833 in 08-09, referrals for infants and toddlers referred to Part C for reasons related to substance abuse peaked in 04-05 (13.95%), then steadily declined to a low of 2.73% of total referrals in 08-09. Reasons for referral related to substance abuse were significantly associated with referrals due to delayed and atypical development in communication and motor skills. Over 60% of infants and toddlers who were referred for reasons related to substance abuse had services listed on their IFSPs, as did over 96% of infants and toddlers who were determined eligible due to the high probability condition effects of intrauterine drug exposure. For infants and toddlers who were referred for reasons related to substance abuse, significantly associated services included special instruction, occupational therapy, speech/language therapy, and family counseling/training.
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    The Maternal Role in Promoting Emotional Competence: Predicting Head Start Mothers' Expressiveness, Perceived Role, and Receptivity to Support
    (2010) Edwards, Nicole Megan; Lieber, Joan A.; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Guided by Bioecological Systems Theory and Schema Theory, I investigated mothers' perceptions regarding the emotional development of their preschool children. Researchers acknowledge mothers' contributing role in influencing children's behavioral displays of emotion, but there is a dearth in the literature on mothers' emotion-related behaviors, beliefs, and needs. In my quantitative study, I collected self-report data from a mid-Atlantic, low-income, urban sample of Head Start mothers (n = 114) and assessed which child, mother, and/or community-based factors may predict the probability of mothers being high in negative expressiveness, low in positive expressiveness, not strongly supportive of the literature in their perceived role in emotional development, and not highly receptive to parent-focused support. I pretested my devised Perceived Role and Receptivity to Support measure and conducted interviewer-administered interviews (using my devised measure, the Parenting Stress Scale, the Early Childhood Behavior Problem Screening Scale, and the Self-Expressiveness in the Family Questionnaire). Results supported only a few instances of group uniformity, with mostly group variability in Head Start mothers' emotion-related behaviors, beliefs and needs. Further, logistic regression analyses suggested: (1) mothers are likely to be high in negative expressiveness when raising a preschooler with a combination of internalizing and externalizing behaviors, high in parenting stress, and obtaining at least an Associate's degree; (2) mothers are predicted to be less positive in expressiveness when raising a preschooler with a delay, not having had any child in the family receive specialized services, raising only one child, dropping out of high school, and not having received advice from Head Start staff; (3) mothers are predicted to be less supportive of the purported role of mothers in the literature when raising only one child and not having received behavior advice from Head Start staff; (4) mothers are predicted to be lower in receptiveness to parent-focused support when raising a preschooler with no perceived behavior concerns, anticipating maladaptive behaviors to improve with age, raising only one child, dropping out of high school, and having had fewer outreach efforts in the past. I discuss implications for research and practice, including how results may inform early screening and parenting intervention initiatives.
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    State Efforts to Collect Child Outcomes Data for the Part B-619 and Part C Programs Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
    (2010) Gupta, Sarika Sarpatwari; Lieber, Joan; McLaughlin, Margaret; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The Part B-619 and Part C Programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provide preschool special education and early intervention services, respectively, to children with disabilities birth through age 5. Recent requirements in IDEA require states to monitor the implementation of these programs through a series of indicators, one of which focuses on the outcomes that infants, toddlers, and preschoolers make as a result of program participation. Known commonly as child outcomes, these data will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the Part B-619 and Part C programs. The purpose of this investigation was to determine how Part B-619 and Part C programs are collecting high-quality child outcomes data, what barriers these programs are facing in this collection, and how programs are addressing these barriers. Telephone interviews were used to gather descriptive information from a national sample of Part B-619 and Part C coordinators. The clarity and scope of the interview was improved through Dillman's (2000) pretest procedures. The final interview consisted of open-ended questions and was standardized to elicit consistent information from each respondent (Patton, 1990). The results of the study showed that state Part B-619 and Part C programs used similar methods to support the accurate and reliable collection of child outcomes data. Most frequently noted methods included training, a statewide measurement approach, and data review. Despite these methods, 18 types of barriers emerged from collection efforts. Barriers primarily pertained to data quality and the transmission of child outcomes data from local programs to the state. States chose to address barriers through the methods used to support high-quality collection efforts, most notably training and the use of communication and collaboration. Findings suggest that states have established a structure to coordinate the collection of child outcomes data statewide. These efforts focused primarily on improving the quality of these data. Barriers related to the quality of the data emerged despite these efforts, which further indicate the need for ongoing support to sustain high-quality collection efforts. These findings emphasize the importance of training and continuous monitoring to ensure the quality of child outcomes data in statewide collection efforts.
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    AN ANALYSIS OF THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF PARENT/CHILD READING UTTERANCES WHILE READING DIFFERENT GENRES
    (2010) Becker, Cynthia Ann; Slater, Wayne H.; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this study was to investigate how different genres affect the quality and quantity of parent/child reading utterances. I analyzed the reading utterances of parent/child dyads with preschool aged child while reading informational and narrative books contributing to this line of research by systematically selecting books based on scholarly criteria to minimize variability within and between genres. I invited families whose children attended preschool at a private school to participate in this study. On a weekly basis, over a six week period, participating families selected an informational book and a narrative book to be read. Each newly selected book was read at least once during that week. Each reading was audio-taped and tapes were transcribed, coded, and analyzed. Results indicate that genre affects both the quality and quantity of parents' and children's reading utterances. Both parents and children generated more total utterances and comprehension related utterances when reading informational books than when reading narrative books. Two parents demonstrated a marked increase in their use of comprehension related utterances while reading informational books than when reading narrative books. Four of the six children demonstrated a marked increase in their use of comprehension related utterances while being read informational books compared to narrative books. I then conducted a more fine-grained analysis to examine the parents' and children's reading utterances while reading specific informational books and specific narrative books. Regardless of genre, the type of book being read affected the number of utterances generated by the parents and children differently. The children demonstrated a preference for narrative books over informational books. Finally, I found that three themes, supported with vignettes, emerged from the data: Lost Opportunities, Grasped Opportunities, and Influences on Reading Behaviors. All three emergent themes addressed parent/child interactions and the affect they had on the reading sessions.
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    Starting Our Day the Room 119 Way: A Qualitative Study of an Elementary Classroom Community and its Alternative to Traditional Morning Work
    (2009) Domire, Aimee; Selden, Steven; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This study explores the experiences of multicultural, Title I second-grade students as they experience a daily "Soft Landing," the time and space set aside for the first thirty minutes each morning for students to make choices about what activities to engage in. The portraiture methodology as outlined by Lawrence-Lightfoot and Davis (1997) establishes the framework for this narrative inquiry. I address four questions: What is "Soft Landing;" How do students choose to use their "Soft Landing" time and how do these choices change over time; What does "Soft Landing" mean to students; What have I learned about myself as a teacher during "Soft Landing?" By observing and interviewing nine second-grade students over three months, I learn that when children are in charge of their own learning and thinking, they actually know how to structure their academic lives without waiting for someone else to do it for them.
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    Illustrated Conversations: A Phenomenological Study of Listening to the Voices of Kindergartners
    (2009) Dean, Michele Ann; Hultgren, Francine; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This study explores the voices of kindergartners engaged in illustrated conversations. Max van Manen's methodology for hermeneutic phenomenological research provides a framework for the study, and the philosophical writings of Heidegger, Noddings, Bakhtin, van Manen, and Palmer guide the interpretations of how we come to be with young children through dialogue. Illustrated conversations, a process whereby the child writes his/her thoughts and drawings in a journal and then engages meaning-making with the teacher during a tape recorded dialogue, creates spaces for a teacher and student to have personal conversations about their lifeworlds. Using their own voices as the essential pathway winding through the experience, the study explores how the sixteen kindergarten children sense the spirit of home, explored the freedom to imagine their own ideas, acknowledged their identity, and developed relationships with others by engaging in illustrated conversation. Their wondrous voices echo their sense of home and family as they defined, and redefined, their identity through friendships with the researcher and peers. The silent conversations bring forth further meaning, uncovering how space and time with young children help them better hear their own voices and the voices of others. True listening becomes a part of pedagogy. Canvassed drawings and written thoughts, springboards for ideas, propel the conversations forward while also revealing how without voice, the meaning of the pictures and thoughts fell silent in the seeking of self. Children's voices--heard in dialogue, paused or silenced in between, and engraved on paper--connect pathways leading to self-identity. Truly listening to young children is a reflective experience that illuminates the voices and languages of young children. This study uncovers how listening to and reflecting upon the stories young children choose to tell in tactful and reciprocal conversation is pedagogy worth exploring. The study suggests that illustrated conversations can support teachers in balancing the new curriculum mandates being required in kindergarten classrooms with engaging and meaningful interactions that uncover the cognitive, language, and social/emotional development of children. Through illustrated conversation, teachers are able to hear and support the hundred languages of children.
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    LATIN AMERICAN COMING OF AGE NARRATIVES: A SYMBOLIC AND PHYSOANALITICAL READING
    (2009) Roman, Ruth; Aguilar-Mora, Jorge; Spanish Language and Literature; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Childhood is a disquieting age subsequent to the inexorable exile from love. After being banned from the only boundless union of love it will ever experience, the child sets upon a relentless journey to invent her/himself. Thus, the child surmounts its first creative challenge by transposing feelings of sorrow and loss; its first self silhouette is forged from the hardships of grief. The child assimilates its loss through symbolization, and in doing so, s/he begins her/his irreversible pursuit of identity and self-definition. This dissertation explores eight Latin American childhood narratives. The child protagonists of these stories reconstruct their world, so as to insert themselves in it. In order to achieve this, they must construct a first identity or façade through which they access their own narratives. The initial chapter focuses on three Andean boys who trial test schoolboy demeanors in and out of the school's enclosure: Timoleón Coloma (Ecuador, 1888) by Carlos Tobar; Gran Señor y Rajadiablos (Chile, 1948) by Eduardo Barrios; Los Ríos Profundos (Perú, 1957) by José María Arguedas. The second chapter explores the paternal home where three girls rehearse appearances and social behaviors: Ifigenia (Venezuela, 1924) by Teresa De la Parra; Balún Canán (México, 1967) by Rosario Castellanos; La Madriguera (Argentina, 1996) by Tununa Mercado. The third and last chapter visits the fictional childhood of two Cuban poets. We witness the dawn of imagery creativity in the poetic identity of two Caribbean boys: Paradiso (Cuba, 1966) by José Lezama Lima and Celestino antes del Alma (Cuba, 1967) by Reinaldo Arenas. Furthermore, each of these initial attempts at cohesive identity thrive in transition, not only because of the nature of their childhood passage but also because of the volatile social and historical landscapes these eight novels depict. After examining the different identity constructions in childhood, the following questions can be answered: with what symbolic resources do Latin American children elaborate their first identities? Who are their role models? What symbolic processes activate when confronted with threatening events? In order to answer these questions this dissertation draws insights from the disciplines of psychoanalysis and symbolic anthropology, especially from the assertions of Jacques Lacan, Melanie Klein, Gilbert Durand and Gastón Bachelard.
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    The Protective Role of Home Learning Activities in the Development of Head Start Children's School Readiness Skills: A Longitudinal Analysis of Learning Growth Rates from Preschool Through First Grade
    (2008-11-17) See, Heather M.; Klein, Elisa L.; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Children's early learning experiences in the home have a significant impact on their readiness for school and future academic success. However, children in poverty often lack a high-quality home learning environment, and consequently, are more likely than their economically advantaged peers to be at risk for failure in school. In this study, data were analyzed from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey of 1997 (FACES), a national longitudinal study of children and families participating in the federal Head Start program. A latent growth model estimated children's growth trajectories in vocabulary, numeracy, and writing skills from Head Start through first grade, and the influence of engagement in home learning activities on children's skills. On average, children demonstrated skills that scored significantly below national norms. By first grade, children caught up on basic numeracy skills; however, they persisted to demonstrate significantly weaker vocabulary skills and slightly weaker writing skills. Risk factors, such as low income-to-needs, low parent education, a non-English home language, and multiple children age five and under in the home, were associated with weaker skills. Children who entered Head Start with the weakest skills grew at a faster rate than children with stronger skills, thus demonstrating the greatest gains over time. Moreover, families engaged in various home learning activities with their children during Head Start. A factor analysis produced three activity factors: Academic Stimulation, Community Enrichment, and Family Entertainment. Academic Stimulation was associated with stronger vocabulary, numeracy, and writing skills, while Community Enrichment was not associated with child outcomes, and Family Entertainment was negatively associated with numeracy and writing skills. Engagement in activities varied by child and family characteristics. Families with low income-to-needs engaged in significantly fewer activities across all three factors. This study advances our knowledge of the significant influence of family income-to-needs on children's early learning experiences and their development of fundamental cognitive readiness skills. The results further substantiate the need for family intervention programs designed to improve the quality of low-income children's home learning environments. Additionally, the findings illustrate the utility of latent growth modeling in estimating children's school readiness trajectories.
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    The Influence of a School District's Early Childhood Education Policy on Urban Students' Academic Achievement Towards Advanced Class Placement
    (2008-08-18) Bartley, Alice P.; Johnson, Martin L.; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: THE INFLUENCE OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT'S EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION POLICY ON URBAN STUDENTS' ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT TOWARDS ADVANCED CLASS PLACEMENT Alice P. Bartley, Doctor of Philosophy, 2008 Dissertation Directed By: Professor Martin L. Johnson, College of Education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction Kindergarten is one of the most important years of schooling, as it builds the foundational skills needed for later learning. This study explored school district's early childhood education policy reform initiative specifically designed to accelerate the early learning of students in high-need Title I schools. The purpose of this study was to discover if the reform intervention influenced disadvantaged students' enrollment in advanced mathematics classes in grade six. Mathematics and reading assessment data at the second and fifth grades were examined to determine if the kindergarten intervention influenced students' achievement as they progressed through the elementary school years into middle school. This study focused on achievement gains, sustainability, reduction in special education placement, and increase in advanced mathematics classes. This longitudinal study included a sample of 9858 cases which were distributed among nine kindergarten cohort groups (three intervention cohorts and six comparison cohorts) for three consecutive years (one pre-intervention year and two intervention years). One-way analysis of variance, hierarchical regression, and logistic regression were used to analyze the dataset. The major findings of the study indicate the intervention cohorts of students demonstrated mean score gains in mathematics and reading when compared to the cohort group from the same population prior to the intervention. Mean score gains were also found when comparing the intervention cohorts to the six more economically advantaged comparison cohorts. The findings also indicate a reduction in special education enrollment and an increase in enrollment in advanced mathematics at the sixth grade level for the high-need Title I intervention cohorts. The findings of this study contribute to the very limited body of literature on accelerated early learning and later advanced class placement.