The aim of this cross-sectional study is investigate to what extent acquainted prospective Turkish teachers are with qualified works of children's literature. A convenience sample of 146 university students studying at the Turkish teaching department at a university in the Central Black Sea Region completed a questionnaire to determine the…

The investigators compared the perceived attainment of developmental tasks by 181 German adolescents with hearing loss and 254 peers without hearing loss. The adolescents with hearing loss were attending special schools for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. On average, the two groups perceived similar levels of success across the assessed…

Research Findings: The present study involved using a questionnaire to investigate the mathematics teaching practices of 74 U.S. and 67 Chinese early childhood teachers. Quantitative and qualitative analyses yielded several key findings. First, U.S. teachers are less intentional in mathematics teaching than their Chinese counterparts.…

The Scale of Primary Classroom Practices (SPCP) is a short instrument which enables primary school teachers to observe and assess what goes on in their classrooms. The SPCP is divided into sections that describe teachers' and students' activities. A study of the SPCP has provided support for the reliability and construct validity of the scale.…

This practicum paper reports on a project undertaken to enhance the knowledge of age-appropriate learning for parents of 3-year-old preschoolers. The project implemented a variety of techniques and strategies to improve parent knowledge, including parent education classes, a monthly newsletter for parents that addressed current research on…

This thesis examined the relationship between the level of endorsement of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) by 14 second-grade teachers and the construction of self-concept of children in their classrooms. Teachers were given the Primary Teacher Questionnaire, a beliefs scale that assesses the level of endorsement of DAP, and were…

The Nongraded Primary Learning Communities Program (NPLCP) was introduced at the beginning of the 1990-91 school year in three Houston Independent School District elementary schools. This evaluation describes the implementation of the NPLCP; examines the effect of the NPLCP on students' standardized achievement test scores; and evaluates teacher…

This practicum report describes a 13-week intervention that facilitated the participation of parents of 16 preschoolers in the instruction of their children. Objectives of the intervention were that: (1) parents and children would participate in take-home projects and workshops; (2) parents and children would increase the amount of time they spent…

Parents and teachers share concerns about appropriate early childhood educational practices, but often differ on what methods best serve the children. Differences in opinion can result in strained relationships between the home and school, and make fulfilling the basic educational needs of the child more difficult. This study explores the age-old…

This report presents the main findings of the first phase of an ongoing study on improving the quality of children's early learning in England and Wales. The purpose of the project is to investigate the ways in which early learning in group settings can be improved by raising the quality of the practice of those professionals who work with young…

This study assessed teachers' opinions about the promotion of immature children to first grade. A total of 224 teachers from private and public elementary schools in Mississippi completed a questionnaire that addressed such issues as the relation between maturity and readiness, repetition of kindergarten, academic and peer pressure, and the…

A Texas study on prekindergarten and early childhood care that was developed for the Texas legislature in response to an amendment of the Texas Education Code is presented. Also presented are findings on: (1) the developmental appropriateness of prekindergarten programs, defined here as programs for eligible 4-year-olds; (2) the potential for…

This ongoing study is designed to examine the quality of early childhood education in England and Wales, identifying key aspects of professional ability crucial to the quality of children's learning. It also seeks to generate criteria for promoting the development of these aspects of professional ability and to develop consequent criteria for…

Given the help they want and need, families do spend time with their young children in developmentally appropriate learning activities. Following a successful experience with Family Connections 1, the Rural Excel Program at the Appalachia Educational Laboratory (AEL) developed a second volume of 22 colorful, four-page guides to learning, designed…

This report describes the development of the Primary Teacher Questionnaire (PTQ), a self-report teacher beliefs scale based on the position statement on developmentally appropriate practice in the primary grades published by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The development of the PTQ was conducted in three…