Early literacy skills such as print knowledge are essential building blocks for children's later reading and academic outcomes. Shared book reading activities in early childhood classrooms offer rich opportunities through which educators can support children's print knowledge development by explicitly referring to a book's print. Such references…

Educators, administrators, and researchers continue to search for a solution to return play to kindergarten classrooms while encouraging the use of technology to meet federal education standards. A review of the literature showed a gap in strategies for implementing play, findings were lacking on video games with digital badges in education, and…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the effect of teachers' professional development in video technology (PBS & Sesame Street videos) on mathematics and the English language learning among nursery students in the rural area of Pakistan where it was impossible for students to experience watching videos for learning purposes.…

High-quality learning environments are critical to support students' learning and development. This study supported eight lead teachers of Starting Strong classrooms in four different early learning programs to try to improve teachers' knowledge, self-efficacy, and use of Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) within their classrooms. Four…

Social interventions for children with disabilities are generally conducted in small groups and outside of the classroom; therefore, little is known about inclusive and classwide social interventions in early childhood educational settings. This study evaluated the effects of inclusive social skills training (ISST), a program delivered remotely to…

The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore affordances for STEM-related skills in a nature preschool in central Texas. Observations were conducted along with the collection of videos and photographs of four preschool-aged participants. Informal interviews were also implemented during data collection and observations. Semi-formal…

Hiring and sustaining qualified executive leaders at schools and programs for the Deaf continue to be challenging for board members and communities. More information is needed to understand issues contributing to the retention and recruitment of these executive leaders. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand factors that…

Reading aloud is an important instructional activity for helping young children learn early literacy skills and develop content knowledge. When teachers ask questions during a read aloud, they can help students notice and think more deeply about information in the book. Despite the benefits of read alouds, some teachers do not engage students in…

Given the rise in students identified as having autistic-like characteristics that are impeding their ability to receive educational benefit without support, evidenced based interventions are a vital part of educational services. Children presenting with social and communication deficits require appropriate interventions in order to make progress…

Preschool students who display social emotional deficits pose challenging issues for families, caregivers and teachers who educate them. In this study, the effectiveness of an assistive technology based treatment package consisting of video self-modeling and behavior management software was investigated to determine if its combined use would…

Teachers are important for the success of students in schools. Research indicates that teachers are the most important in-school factor in determining student achievement. Traditional teacher education programs prepare the majority of new teachers for service in the K-12 school system. While there is empirical support that teacher education can…

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience extreme difficulty learning and engaging in new social interactions. The behavior analysis research literature contains evidence that several procedures including discrete trial training, incidental teaching, and in-vivo modeling are effective teaching modalities when teaching social skills…

In providing children at risk for reading difficulties with the necessary skills to be successful readers in school age programs, early childhood educators in high-quality preschool programs facilitate the development of emergent literacy and oral language abilities through language-rich environments. However, most teachers in preschool settings…

This single-subject research study was designed to examine the effects of point-of-view video modeling (POVM) on the symbolic play actions and play-associated language of four preschool students with autism. A multiple baseline design across participants was conducted in order to evaluate the effectiveness of using POVM as an intervention for…

Can adults help children to understand the content in preschool educational television by watching shows with them? Research indicates that co-viewing occurs rarely and has mixed benefits for learning. This study investigates the idea that a special kind of adult-child co-viewing, namely "dialogic viewing," in which adults ask open-ended questions…