Research Findings: Research has demonstrated the developmental and educational benefits of play. Despite these benefits, teacher-directed academic instruction is prominent in kindergarten. There is increasing acknowledgment in curricula and policies of the challenges presented by a lack of play in classrooms and the need to support academic…

Background: Kindergarten is the age at which children's future time perspective emerges. This capacity enables them to form goals based on past and ongoing experiences and project themselves in the future. This development may play an important role in guiding children in self-regulated learning. When faced with the conflict between their need to…

The purpose of the study was to examine American and Japanese kindergarteners' views of play. The participants consisted of 44 kindergarteners and their five teachers in the southeastern United States and 50 kindergarteners and their three teachers on Japan's main island. Both groups of children were asked to photograph their views of play and to…

Little to no information exists explaining the nature of conceptual gaps in understanding fractions for students with learning disabilities (LD); such information is vital to practitioners seeking to develop instruction or interventions. Many researchers argue such knowledge can be revealed through student's problem-solving strategies. Despite…

This article presents the findings of an investigation of eLearning & teaching in Arts education in Australian Initial Teacher Education (ITE) degrees. This project used survey and interviews to collect data from academics in 16 universities in 5 Australian states regarding their experiences of eLearning and Arts education. A rigorous and…

Teachers' positive attitude is most critically and consistently associated with successful inclusion. However, little is known about teachers' first-hand encounters with inclusive education in Singapore. We present findings from a qualitative study on inclusion based on focus group interviews with 202 teachers from 41 resourced primary schools.…

This manual provides guidance and documentation for users of the kindergarten (or base year) data of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K:2011). It begins with an overview of the ECLS-K:2011. Subsequent chapters provide details on the study data collection instruments and methods; the direct and indirect…

Recently, over 40 states in the United States adopted the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) which include standards for content and eight standards for mathematical practices. The purpose of this study was to better understand the nature of young children's mathematical practices through an exploratory examination of the…

Personal recollections constitute autobiographical memory that develops intensively during the preschool years. The two-wave longitudinal study focuses on gender differences in preschool children's independent recollections. The same children (N = 275; 140 boys, 135 girls) were asked to talk about their previous birthday and the past weekend at…

Schools and districts are required to have all students become proficient readers by the end of 3rd grade in order to comply with the mandate of the No Child Left Behind Act. Therefore, schools need to ensure students make progress in literacy in kindergarten and 1st grade even though many students enter with little or no literacy background. The…

This study explores (1) how parental and teacher scaffolding and children's coping strategies contribute to children's adjustment during the transition from preschool to school; and (2) how children's perception of stress and coping are constructed over time. The sample included 216 six-year-old children, their parents and teachers. The parents,…

Service learning has become increasingly popular across all levels of education. Previous literature emphasizes that reflection is an important aspect of service learning. However, limited focus has been given to appropriate methods of reflection for younger children. This longitudinal study followed 31 second-grade children (15 females; mean age…

This manual provides guidance and documentation for users of the longitudinal kindergarten-first grade (K-1) data file of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K:2011). It mainly provides information specific to the first-grade rounds of data collection. Data for the ECLS-K:2011 are released in both a…

The purpose of this intrinsic, holistic case study was to describe and analyze the impact of a rhythmic intervention designed to support literacy skills in second-grade students at-risk of failure of state mandated reading assessment. The theories used to guide this study were Finkelstein (2001) and Hunt's (1966) disability theory, and critical…

In order for students to be successful in school, strong foundations are needed at the earliest grades. In a district in central Mississippi, many students entering public school from Head Start were not able to identify alphabet letters or produce letter sounds, based on results of the 2011 Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading (STAR).…