Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Social work|Early childhood education|Developmental psychology'

The impact that preschool education has on children’s cognitive abilities as they prepare to enter kindergarten is a subject that is not widely researched. The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that are associated with cognitive development among preschool age children. This study was completed by conducting a quantitative study in which secondary data was obtained from an early education center Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) from the 2014–2015 preschool year. The results found that the participant’s age was positively associated with cognitive, language and literature, math and self and social development. The study also found that female participants had higher scores in the self and social developmental domain. Gender, ethnicity and home language were not significant to cognitive, English language and math development. Study findings have implications for social and behavioral sciences. The findings in the study were positively associated with the educational activities that preschool children receive as it relates to their cognitive developmental growth and readiness for kindergarten.

The current study examined the possible gaps in meeting the needs of children in foster care, the additional skillsets that contribute to meeting their needs, and the role child life specialists play in meeting those needs. Additionally, the study looked specifically at how child life could find a place in the nontraditional setting of foster care. Two groups of participants were recruited for the study; the first group was comprised of child life specialists. The second group included professionals who worked directly with children in foster care in some capacity. Two surveys were designed and conducted, one for each group. Generally, both groups of participants identified the following unmet needs: emotional needs, attachment needs, behavioral needs, supporting children in coping, and psychological preparation. Skillset matches for meeting these needs included experience in psychological preparation for children, knowledge in supporting coping, child development expertise, and awareness of family-centered care. These matches are closely tied to child life specialists' training. Additionally, there seems to be a lack of play in working with foster children, and this was identified as a possible gap in the system, highlighting another way child life specialists could support children in foster care. Through this study, clear ways were identified in which child life specialists could strengthen the services provided to children in foster care. These results have implications for an interdisciplinary future of the child life field.

Keywords: child life, foster care, unmet needs, child life in nontraditional roles

Researchers have stressed the importance of addressing the social/emotional needs of early childhood (EC) children, including the development of resilience; however, some U.S. school personnel focus more on academics than on these needs. When young children possess these skills, they can handle social/emotional challenges later in life. The purpose of this qualitative bounded case study was to explore school social workers’ (SWs) perspectives about resilience in EC settings. Research questions focused on knowledge of existing programs, participants’ perceptions of the successes and challenges of working with EC students, and their recommendations to improve EC students’ education. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and O’Neill’s and Gopnik’s work on needs of young children informed this study. Five elementary school SWs with at least 6 years’ experience from 5 districts in the U.S. Midwest participated in 2 semistructured individual interviews. Interpretive phenomenological analysis, involving first-cycle, transition, and second cycle coding, was used to identify themes. SWs’ experiences indicated a need for a clear definition of resilience, and needs of young children, including EC programs that develop psychological resilience of children’s thoughts and an increase in adults to promote resilience. Additional research may expand and enhance educators’ and families’ understanding of resilience and help develop research-based preventive programs and strategies to foster psychological resilience in young children. These endeavors may enhance positive social change by adding components of psychological resilience to EC programs for school personnel and students and in parent/family workshops, which may result in sound mental health practices that enable them to become productive members of society.

Family poverty is associated with children’s health, achievement, and behavior (Brooks-Gunn & Duncan, 1997). Less than half, 48%, of children from low income homes are considered school ready by the age of five compared with 75% of their peers from middle to high income homes (Isaacs, 2012). Researchers have linked school readiness to long-term outcomes like success in grade school, lower drop-out rates in high school, and higher earned income as adults (Duncan et al., 2007). Although children in poverty experience greater deficits in areas of school readiness, participation in a quality childhood education can serve as a protective buffer and has been shown to be associated with improved academic, social and health outcomes (Caughy, DiPietro, & Strobino, 1994; Love et al., 2003; Karoly, Kilburn, & Cannon, 2005). School readiness has been an aim of Head Start since its conception (Raver & Zigler, 1997).

More research has been dedicated to aspects of early childhood education programming to ascertain which aspects are most beneficial to children and thus there is a growing body of literature for which researchers have assessed the impact of early entry into Head Start, which in turn provides children with two years versus one year of Head Start programming (Moiduddin, Aikens, Tarullo, & West, 2010; Tarullo, Aikens, Moiduddin, & West, 2010). Due to the limited program capacity, children who enter Head Start at three instead of four-years-old, tend to have more extreme risk factors that afford them priority for enrollment. While randomization of a treatment such as early entry into Head Start is not often feasible nor ethical, a quasi- experimental design like propensity score analysis can help mitigate the effects of selection bias by controlling for confounding variables (Rosenbaum & Rubin, 1983).

Researchers who have applied this methodology to learn more about the impact of early entry into Head Start, have found that the additional year of Head Start programming tends to lead to gains in social competence and literacy outcomes. This study sought to replicate these findings with a new sample and extend this work by assessing possible differentiated treatment effects by propensity score strata. Further, this study sought to assess the nature of the relationship between social competence and literacy.

Early Entry into Head Start was associated with significant gains in literacy throughout the four-year-old year for children in the treatment compared to those in the control. This treatment effect was consistent across all propensity score strata. There were no significant treatment effects of early entry on social competence, including social skills and problem behavior. Significant gains in social skills were observed throughout the academic year for both the treatment and control groups, but no changes were observed in problem behavior. The treatment effect on social competence was distinct for children with low propensity scores who were therefore least likely to be in the treatment group. Ad-hoc analyses of the low propensity score group identified some possible areas for future research. Finally, data here established a small positive correlation between social skills and literacy but found no correlation between problem behavior and literacy.

Collectively, the findings suggested that early entry into Head Start was significantly associated with improved early literacy outcomes that were sustained throughout the pre- Kindergarten year. Head Start, regardless of the age of entry, was associated with significant gains in literacy and social skills. Recommendations are made to improve program efficacy regarding problem behavior outcomes and assess program characteristics. Recommendations are made for future research to address the Head Start selection criteria and enrollment process to identify areas of opportunity for outreach and advocacy.

As defined by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL, 2012), social-emotional learning (SEL) involves the acquisition of skills necessary to: identify and manage one’s emotions, relate to and establish relationships with others, and make positive and healthy decisions. With only 40% of kindergarten students demonstrating the social-emotional skills needed to be both academically and socially successful upon school entrance (Yates et al., 2008), explicit instruction targeting SEL is needed. As this instruction requires systems-level implementation and decision-making practices, members of these decision-making bodies can include several different school personnel, who may have varying levels of familiarity and previous use of SEL programs. Because the school principal is responsible for overseeing the implementation of school-wide programs (NYS Education Department, 2014), obtaining information regarding their familiarity and use of SEL programs, as well as their decision-making practices is needed. Consequently, the present study examined the extent to which principals participate in SEL decision-making practices; the selection procedures and decision making methods they use to select SEL programs; and their levels of familiarity, past use, and current use of CASEL approved SEL programs. The relationship between principal demographic characteristics and familiarity and use of SEL programs was also evaluated using survey methods. Analysis of descriptive statistics, frequency data, and three multiple regression analyses indicated that most NYS elementary school principals participate in SEL program decision-making. Additionally, they use a variety of methods for learning about programs and deciding upon programs. Overall, however, NYS elementary school principals have little familiarity, past use, or current use with CASEL-approved programs, suggesting a need for increased dissemination and professional development regarding these programs and resources.

Play is an important part of a child’s development. Play is often defined as an activity done for its own sake, characterized by means rather than end. Pretend play receives a huge focus at the pre-school and kindergarten levels, especially socio-dramatic play. Socio-dramatic play, common from around 3 years of age to six years of age, is a type of pretend play. Socio-dramatic play incorporates sustained role taking and a narrative line. This study intends to examine pretend play in greater detail and to determine if the structuring of pretend play by the teacher can positively affect student social and behavior skills. The two students under study, a 5-year old female with limited social skills and a 6-year old boy who exhibits poor behavior skills. The two students under study were placed in an unstructured and structured dramatic play area center through the course of the study. The researcher used a duration recording form, a partial recording form, and field notes to measure behavior. The results of the study showed that the children improved their behaviors during the structured dramatic play area center time.

Infancy and toddlerhood is an important time for the development of emotion regulation, with interactions between parents and children critical to these processes. Negative parenting behaviors can have a deleterious impact on this development; however, for infants and toddlers in child care, the classroom environment, including teacher-child interactions, provides an important setting for emotional development and may serve as a protective factor when parenting risk at home is high. The aim of the three papers presented in this dissertation was to explore the potential for child care to act as a protective factor for infants and toddlers experiencing different dimensions of parenting risk that threaten emotion regulation development: minimal sensitivity and support, harsh and intrusive behaviors, and physical abuse and neglect. Results confirmed the negative impact of unsupportive, harsh, and intrusive parenting behaviors on emotion regulation, but child care was either insignificant in mitigating these effects or operated as a buffer for certain children only. Additionally, a review of the extant literature suggested that understanding the optimal caregiving experiences in child care that meet the unique regulatory needs of maltreated infants and toddlers is limited. Collectively, implications of these findings include the need to ensure measurement validity when assessing children’s experiences within child care, the importance of considering the interactive nature of child, parent, and child care factors, and the pressing need for more research regarding child care teachers’ roles in facilitating emotional experiences in the classroom that meet the unique regulatory needs infants and toddlers facing risk at home.