This practicum addressed the need to provide training in basic early childhood education subject areas to Head Start teachers and teacher assistants. A trainer of trainers approach was implemented because of the large number of teachers involved (approximately 1,300 in the Los Angeles County Schools Head Start grantee programs). Goals for…

During an 8-month period, a primary school teacher designed and implemented a practicum study intended to socialize children in prekindergarten through 3rd-grade classes to be cooperative, responsible, and achieving individuals. Primary goals of the practicum were to develop a nurturing affective environment, enhance character development,…

This practicum addressed the problem of inadequate teacher preparation in the area of learning theory, content, and methodology related to mathematical instruction of children attending a private child care center in Oakland, California. The general goal of the study was to plan, implement, and evaluate a staff development program to increase…

The document describes a practicum which developed a unit on critical thinking that applied Jerome Bruner's discovery-learning method and also incorporated the unit within the curricular requirements of elementary education majors at Castleton State College in Vermont. It is presented in five sections and an appendix. Section I provides…

A practicum was developed and implemented to address developmental and intellectual delays in primary students in a Georgia elementary school. The program's need resulted from the identification of 18 to 21 percent of the kindergarten and first-grade level students as developmentally delayed or academically unprepared for their grade placement.…

A practicum project addressed the problem of separation of generations. An intergenerational program was designed to provide elders at a long-term care facility and children at the on-site daycare center with opportunities to interact with one another for the social and emotional betterment of both groups. Participants in the program included 17…

As a practicum project, an elementary school counselor developed and implemented a parent education program centered on the use of parents as models and peer facilitators for other parents. Based upon a survey of parents' self-professed needs, the program focused on parenting skills designed to help children avoid such high-risk behaviors as…

An associate director of an independent preschool and elementary school developed and implemented a practicum intervention designed to improve five inexperienced teachers' ability to conduct parent-teacher conferences. Through self-evaluation, teachers identified skills they needed to improve. Intervention focused on preconference planning…

This practicum report describes a counseling program established in the school setting for young children who have experienced parental divorce. Chapter I describes the Merrytown Energyville Regional School System, New Jersey, in which the program was established and notes the author's role and responsibilities. Chapter II presents the results of…

This practicum was designed to set up a training/mentoring program to assist five state-licensed/certified family day care providers to successfully complete the formal application process of the National Association for Family Day Care (NAFDC) and receive NAFDC certification. The major goals of the practicum were: (1) to have five providers…

This practicum was designed to provide expertise to five child development associates and ten teacher assistants working in two preschool programs for migrant children. Emphasis was on the enhancement of program-related planning, curriculum development, curriculum implementation, and reporting skills. Weekly inservice workshops were developed and…

A practicum was designed to increase the instructional options chosen by classroom teachers in order to create meaningful connections between reading and writing for elementary students. Teachers in the target school were experiencing difficulty in translating theory into effective classroom practice. In response to a teacher needs assessment,…

This paper reports on the implementation and results of a program that addressed the problem of aggressive behavior among students at an urban elementary school. Program objectives were to bring about a decline in the number of referrals written for students' aggressive behavior; an increase of parents' supervision of children's media consumption;…

This practicum focused on the problem of inservice training failing to meet the individual professional needs of a diverse summer staff in an early childhood center. The solution strategy utilized a needs assessment survey and consultations with staff members to determine areas of need and interest, the results of which were used to devise a…

A team of three educators developed and implemented a reading improvement program for first through sixth grade students who displayed discrepancies between their reading achievement and reading abilities. The program involved 283 underachieving students at seven elementary schools. The goal of the program was to provide intervention strategies…