Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) is an empirically endorsed approach for children facing specific clinical concerns and life circumstances alike. The majority of research to date has accrued data about clients from secondary sources, such as adult report and observation. The purpose of this study was to explore children's perceptions of…

The current study examines the contribution of racial congruence on young children's speech and language production to determine if African American children produce more or different language with an African American assessor, as opposed to a White assessor. Participants for the current study were selected from a larger group of children…

Counterfactual conditional sentences (e.g., "If giraffes had fins, they would swim") involve an antecedent (e.g., "If giraffes had fins") which is false in the actual world. They also involve a consequent (e.g., "they would swim"), expressing a possibility given the antecedent. Reasoning about counterfactual…

Studies in the current research paradigm follow a pattern of pre-exhibit activities, in-exhibit monitoring and post-exhibit test to evaluate learning and program effectiveness in museums. These efforts helped identify some important factors correlative to learning, but little is known about how exhibits are designed in a way that space, materials…

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education is essential to the economic growth, health, and progress of the modern world. One cognitive ability that underpins thinking and learning in STEM, as well as other disciplines, is relational ability. This ability to spot common relations shared by different objects, events, ideas, or…

Young children engage in multimodal written expression. The research in this study explores the spaces that were created, and the stories created by children in an after-school comic club. The club utilized the Writer's Workshop model to support the Being a Writer program that is used in the Ocean View School District (Ocean View School District…

Children in medical facilities encounter systemic barriers to education despite legal mandates. This study aimed to enhance educational opportunities by addressing inconsistencies through research-based strategies. The study adopted a dual strategy, positing that proactive organizational readiness measures alongside the implementation of an…

This study explored how best to implement Music Therapy (MT) in any hospital setting when working with autistic children, teenagers, and adults. Baldrige's theory and concepts were used as a benchmark to facilitate all findings through the research conducted. Multiple factors affect the workforce and the existing staff at a large medical facility…

Funding for Preschool programs has currently become a political agenda being debated in our nation. It is important to give our children an early start to education regardless of socioeconomic status, as it can be beneficial to them as they grow. This study will provide evidence to sway our politicians to fund preschool programs as they positively…

This study was an attempt to fit into the field of education to help leaders and parents further develop an in-depth understanding of the differing ability levels of individuals who have experienced trauma. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to describe the nature of and the influence of trauma on emotional intelligence in children as…

This dissertation investigates the interaction of developing extralinguistic cognitive systems with early language learning and processing through the case study of verb argument structure. The interaction of these systems with the linguistic system underpins fundamental theories of language learning and use: language does not exist in isolation.…

Current research has shown the importance and benefits of early science education for children's learning and development, particularly informal science learning. In informal learning spaces such as museums, parents can play an important role in facilitating and supporting children's science learning. However, existing studies often fail to…

The rise in children's media use (Rideout & Robb, 2020) and the prioritization of STEM learning (Fayer et al., 2017) has led to the development of new STEM-related apps, TV shows, and other media for young children. One topic in this area gaining popularity is computational thinking (CT). Researchers refer to CT as an approach to problem…

Children begin forming ideas about race and difference at a very young age. In their review of field literature, Gaias et al. (2021) shared that "children's racial prejudice and awareness of racial categories has been found to emerge around age 3" (p. 273). ECE is an important time to address topics of difference and bias with young…

Kindergarten unreadiness for children in poverty contributes to an early and persistent achievement gap in elementary school that can evolve into an opportunity gap in adulthood. This study explored the effect of the federally funded Preschool Development Grant program on school readiness for marginalized children in Southern Arizona. The…