Parents are a child's first teachers. They are responsible for building children's social, emotional, physical, and intellectual foundations. The problem investigated through this dissertation case study was the inconsistent knowledge of child development and developmentally appropriate activities among parents of young and primary school aged…

This study investigated Delaware parent and teacher perceptions of developmentally appropriate technology usage for preschoolers. The study used a non-experimental cross-sectional descriptive design using a researcher-designed, web-based survey instrument. A sample of 300 teachers and 300 parents was invited to participate in the study, which…

The role of early childhood educators (ECE) is changing as a result of increasing numbers of young children with autism participating in natural preschool classrooms. To understand what ECE know about autism and the evidence-based practices (EBP) that support children with autism to make progress in learning and development, 125 preschool teachers…

Early literacy skills are essential to later reading success, yet minimal empirical understanding exists about preparing students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to read. Since 1 in 59 children are currently diagnosed with ASD, understanding how to teach reading to this population in critical. Decoding is necessary for successful reading, per…

To date, applying what is known about child development to educational app design has been minimally studied and rarely tested. Using developmental and learning sciences research (e.g., Hirsh-Pasek et al., 2015), this dissertation identifies whether evidence-based teaching strategies are used in the design of existing educational apps and…

The purpose of this action research was to understand how reflective, job-embedded early childhood science professional learning and development (PLD) impacted Early Head Start (EHS) teacher learning and their perceptions toward science with toddlers. Limited content knowledge and lack of formal preparation impact teachers' understanding of…

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore how instructors became aware of culturally relevant teaching (CRT) and developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) that support African American students' academic achievement. The Grounded Theory approach was used to uncover themes from the individual interviews of African American…

Environmental degradation, childhood obesity, and aggression of youth are societal problems that appear unconnected. However, their cause (and possible solution) may be linked to a common experience--the amount and quality of time spent in the natural world. Environment based education, significant life experience research, and studies involving…

Engineering education for the pre-college years is a developing academic discipline that emanates from the need to understand and improve the ways that engineers are formally educated. To date, there are no curricula available that incorporate engineering at a preschool level. The focus of this study is on the development of an early engineering…

The New Jersey Department of Education has been stressing the value of early childhood education for the past 12 years. Research has clearly demonstrated the value of high-quality preschool programs for preparing children for school and even later life. Particularly in light of the Core Curriculum Content Standards and elementary curriculum, which…

This study explored five years of results from participants in the Project DATA Comprehensive Treatment Model (CTM) which provided intensive early intervention services to young students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Data from up to 69 preschool students were utilized in determining pre-/post-program performance on a variety of outcome…