what are some research titles about kindergarten

123 Kindergarten Research Topics & Essay Examples

📝 kindergarten research papers examples, 🎓 simple research topics about kindergarten, 👍 good kindergarten essay topics to write about, 🏆 best kindergarten essay titles, ❓ kindergarten research questions.

• Early Childhood Education: Studies Review Studies on early childhood education have been conducted in various countries. This paper reviews three studies that were conducted in Germany, Netherlands and the USA.
• Bilingual Education and Preschoolers' Development There are several theories in child development that directly or indirectly discuss the implications of bilingual education and show the importance of bilingual education.
• Engaging the Learner in the Early Years of Schooling The following project report is preparation of education plans for five- year-old Indonesian children who are now growing up in the alien lands of Sydney in Australia.
• Curriculum for Kindergarten Pupils The article presents a mini fitness lesson suitable for kindergarten children, as well as a plan for an interactive family event.
• Developmentally Appropriate Activities for Toddlers The study sample includes a book aimed at developing toddlers’ cognitive skills and gross motor behavior, a go-get interactive game, and a video on learning colors.
• Sloth Sky Preschool: Curriculum Context Sloth Sky Preschool offers center-based care for preschool/kindergarten children as a part of a school. Based on the location, the school is near Penguin Ocean Primary School.
• Special Education for Children of Kindergarten and Third-Grade Levels Special education is designed to address the needs of students with specific disabilities in a very individual manner.
• Literacy Development for Preschoolers The article focuses on the importance of early literacy development in preschoolers and methods that will help teachers in this.
• An Ethical Dilemma With a Child in a Preschool Classroom An ethical dilemma with a child in a preschool classroom stemming from a situation when a child does not want to comply with a particular EC institution’s standard schedule.
• Influence of Teachers’ Attitudes on Student Behavior and Achievement This article is about a study that aims to determine how teacher attitudes affect student behavior and performance in grades kindergarten through fifth.
• How Teacher Attitudes Affect Students' Behavior and Performance in Grades The aim of conducting this study is to determine how teacher attitudes affect student behavior and performance in grades Kindergarten through fifth.
• The Aspects of Purposeful Preschool Program The article argues class management is one of the key components of teaching practice as it can ensure the proper development and academic achievement of preschool children.
• Preschool Teacher Practice Rotation Experience Preschool experience plays a pivotal role in a person’s development, as it lays the foundation for their character
• Using Data in Preschools: Data Collection Data drives every aspect of teaching, especially when there is a need to teach young children. Teachers need to see where the kids are thriving and the gaps that need to be filled.
• Preschooler Education Overview The article "Preschoolers (3-5 years of age)" describes preschoolers' development milestones aged between 3 to 5 and suggests some positive parenting tips.
• "Teaching Strategies for Preschool Educators" Analysis The article focuses on the main teaching strategies used in preschool education. The first strategy is the promotion of early literacy.
• Preschoolers Education and Activities for Children The activities for children should be appropriate for everyone within the class. Preschoolers must be encouraged to play and learn.
• Language Acquisition in Toddlers and Infants Language acquisition in toddlers starts from their communication with the environment. A friendly environment and proper materials allow for simplifying the language learning process
• Importance of the Assessment in Kindergarten and Its Types Assessment in kindergarten is essential in building future generations, building the pupils' strength and giving them the confidence is the joy of a teacher.
• “Investigating Pathways”: Toddler Learning Setups “Investigating Pathways” video examines two toddler learning setups: the blue room and the green room, each using different investigation concepts.
• Infant and Toddler Development and Programming The set of materials presented in this essay provides a beneficial learning process for babies and toddlers because their usage is organized around educational principles of belonging.
• Examination of Books and Interactive Content for Numbers Learning This paper identifies 12 textbooks that teach pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and second-grade children to understand numbers, counting, and sets.
• Integrated Co-Teaching and Impact on Learning Integrated co-teaching (ICT) is an emerging method of teaching students with learning disabilities. This system is implemented in different levels of educational institutions.
• Number Sense and Learning Centers in Preschool To improve Number Sense in preschool, the educator will have to adopt new learning strategies. The expectations of the learning outcomes are shaped by curriculum.
• The Quality of Learning Programs in Preschool Establishments The paper research and summarizes the article "Quality 101: Identifying the core components of a high-quality early childhood program" about high-quality child care programs.
• Visiting a Preschool Class as Reflective Practice This report provides a detailed reflection of the activities, environment, and knowledge obtained during a visit to a preschool class in one of the local public schools.
• Strive Preschool: Using Information Systems in a Preschool The school should start by establishing the necessary roles and activities and using IT budget to buy, maintain, and update software and hardware.
• Special Education Curriculum Issues and Their Solutions in the USA There are many potential improvements that can transform the special education programs across the US to become more efficient, inclusive, and appropriate for the stakeholders.
• Lesson Plan for Pre-Kindergarteners Learning activities have to be divided into relevant categories to help the educator pick a small number of developmental milestones and focus on individual elements of learning.
• A Fire Safety Class Held in a Preschool The paper states that the case illustrates a fire safety class held in a preschool. Children were taught the basics of emergency case information.
• Froebel’s Kindergarten Philosophy Friedrich Froebel is a renowned philosopher whose influence on childhood education is evident in the contemporary world.
• Planning and Teaching in a Preschool Setting The teacher's job is to plan learning activities that begin with the development of learning objectives and continue through implementation and evaluation in a preschool setting.
• Physical Development in Florida Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program The observed Pre-K program had an emphasis on physical development, which incorporated elements of math, reading, music, and arts.
• Lesson Plans for Preschool and Second Grade During the math lesson, it is necessary to observe whether children show increased use of part-whole skills, and division of things into smaller objects.
• Preschool Education in China and Japan Preschool education in China serves several purposes, from child care to educational preparation. Meanwhile, the Japanese preschool system is more directed toward socialization.
• Education System: Building a Class The learning process aims to develop professional skills and develop tolerance and create a picture of the world.
• Importance of Research-Based Curriculum The Fireflies is both a developmentally appropriate and engaging curriculum that allows the teacher to promote learning through play and help children.
• Literacy in Elementary Schools After COVID-19 Pandemic The level of literacy the students of kindergartens and first three grades of elementary schools possess is lower than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Preschool Program's Design Analysis This paper aims to design a preschool daycare program for children aged three to five and discuss the activities to enhance their social, emotional, physical, and cognitive skills.
• Early Childhood Education in India Today's preschool education system in India is designed so that parents can rest assured of their children who have been trained in such groups.
• Social-Emotional Skills Program for Preschoolers During the early 21st century, it was reported that the ability to regulate behaviors and emotions could be seen as the fundamental skills showcasing a child’s school readiness.
• Comparison of the Two Early Childhood Educational Institutions in Hong Kong This paper examines the educational and administrative management aspects of two kindergartens in Hong Kong: HKYWCA Athena and The Salvation Army Shui Chuen O Kindergarten.
• Research in the Field of Childhood Literacy This paper contains an annotated bibliography of the two articles devoted to the topics of childhood literacy and education.
• Social-Emotional Skill Program to Enhance Learning in Preschoolers This research studies the relationship between three variables, the learners' socio-emotional skills and their academic and behavioral outcomes in pre-schoolers.
• Me and Others: Observation of Preschool Children This paper analyzes the video “Me and others”, which shows an experiment on suggestibility performed with preschool children (5 years old).
• “The Kindergarten Program”: Visible Learning in Early Childhood Education Visible learning is particularly significant since children learn from experience and should be exposed to real-life situations.
• Interventions and Letter & Sound Recognition Students who experience difficulties in recognizing letters and sounds in words and reading face challenges in writing and isolation of alphabetical sounds.
• Dyslexia in Young Children: Developmental Language Disorder ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, depression, anorexia, Tourette's, and bipolar are among those conditions that have various symptoms.
• Early Childhood Education Programs Comparison Relying on the two videos on Early Childhood Education Programs, this paper compares various programs that are critical for the proper development of children.
• Preschool Activity: Introducing Multicultural Awareness The world is a place of many cultures and nations, which is why it is essential to introduce multicultural awareness to children.
• The Lingua Globe Educational Toy The Lingua Globe toy represents a globe that features multiple buttons corresponding to different countries. The toy addresses primarily the linguistic aspect of development.
• Early Childhood Education: Pedagogical Skills Understanding each child as a unique individual with their own psychological characteristics and structure of thinking seems to be a necessary competence of any children's teacher.
• Positive Behaviour Support Framework in Preschool The School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support framework promotes acceptable behavior expectations for children in schools to facilitate a safe learning culture.
• The Overall Expectations in the Kindergarten Program The documentation The Overall Expectations in the Kindergarten Program supports the idea that the cup-stacking activity addresses the two overall expectation frames.
• Mutual Storytelling in the Baby's Edcuation Communicating with your child is an essential aspect of learning because from a very early age, children try to copy the behavior of adults.
• The Montessori Method and Its Benefits The Montessori Method of education is an influential teaching method to ensure that students are equipped with the best practical skills in the learning process.
• Expanding Existing Programs and Services in Preschool The expansion of the existing program and service in preschool is a good project which needs to be implemented in the West Bronx neighborhood.
• DIBELS: The Cognitive Foundations of Reading and Its Acquisition DIBELS is a literacy assessment program that helps identify and offer assistance to lagging students. The key tests in the DIBELS program are the LNF, ISF, PSF, and NWF tests.
• Early Childhood Education Aspects Early childhood is considered the most crucial time of child development because it is a period of fast physical and mental development.
• Family Partnerships to Help Needy Preschooler Students Family and parent partnerships are essential to ensuring that students build strong relationships that can help in boosting their success.
• Educational Assistant: Roles and Responsibilities Educational assistants monitor and record learners' needs, strengths, behavior, and achievements during their time in school and report crucial incidents.
• Should Pre-K Be Made Available to All Children? Preparing children for elementary school can benefit them because preschool improves their cognitive abilities and gets them used to a regimented schedule.
• A Description of the Student Observation The paper includes a description of the setting, including one's first impressions, suitability for children, and the school environment and atmosphere.
• English Language Learners and Kindergarten Entry Age: Achievement and Social-emotional Effects
• Preschool and Kindergarten Best Practice Curriculum
• Language Acquisition and Expected Developmental Differences for Children of Preschool, Kindergarten, and Primary Ages
• The Lesson Plan Created for Kindergarten Students Based on Next Generation
• The Need for Universal All Day Pre Kindergarten
• Intervention and Theoretical Paper Kindergarten Age
• The Literacy Improvement Program for Pre Kindergarten
• Teacher Quality and Learning Outcomes in Kindergarten
• Kindergarten Children’s Attachment Security, Inhibitory Control, and the Internalization of Rules of Conduct
• Getting Mom Ready for Kindergarten
• Developmental Differences That Can Be Expected in Language Acquisition for Preschool, Kindergarten and Primary Aged Children
• The Challenges Facing Kindergarten Teachers for Deal With Children Whom English Is an Additional Language
• Team Work, Connection and Cooperation Among Two Institutions – School and Kindergarten
• Shared Book Reading Promotes Not Only Language Development, but Also Grapheme Awareness in German Kindergarten Children
• Factors Affecting the School Readiness of Public Kindergarten Pupils in Lanao Del Sur I–B
• High-Quality Pre Kindergarten Classroom Look Like
• The Kindergarten Attendance Allowance in Hungary
• Using Kindergarten Number Sense To Predict Calculation Fluency in Second Grade
• The Full Day Kindergarten Program
• Kindergarten Enrollment and the Intergenerational Transmission of Education
• Procedures for Sampling Texts and Tasks in Kindergarten Through Eighth Grade
• Relationship Between Kindergarten Organizational Climate and Teacher Burnout
• Parents and Kindergarten Decisions To Be Made
• Kindergarten and Education Expansion Programme Analysis
• Kindergarten for All: Long-run Effects of a Universal Intervention
• Teacher Interview and Observation of a Kindergarten Math
• Learning Activity That Has Been Designed for the Kindergarten
• Investigation Into Developed Sabis Curriculum in Kindergarten
• Teaching Young Children and Becoming a Kindergarten Teacher
• Residential Mobility Across Early Childhood and Children’s Kindergarten Readiness
• Young Children’s Developmental Ecologies and Kindergarten Readiness
• Kindergarten and Child Primary Education
• Technology and the Classroom Starting With Kindergarten
• Kindergarten Through Sixth Grade Writing Effectiveness Instruction
• Children and Home Reading Before Kindergarten
• Early Kindergarten, Maternal Labor Supply, and Children’s Outcomes: Evidence From Italy
• Physical and Technological Resources in Kindergarten
• Full-Day Kindergarten Versus Half Day Kindergarten Reading Achievement
• Efficiency and Fair Access in Kindergarten Allocation Policy Design
• Student Engagement and Student Motivation in a Reading Classroom for the Kindergarten Level
• Why Is Partnership Between Parents and Kindergarten Teachers Necessary?
• What Is the Relationship Between Kindergarten and Primary School Teacher?
• How Does the Developed Sabis Curriculum Affect Children in Kindergarten?
• Why Should Foreign Language Teaching Begin in Kindergarten?
• How Non-native Speaking Children Learn the Chinese Language in Kindergarten
• Does Delaying Kindergarten Entrance Give Children a Head Start?
• What Is the Difference Between Elementary School and Kindergarten?
• Can Universal Pre-kindergarten Programs Improve Population Health and Longevity?
• What Are Free Kindergarten Educational Programs?
• Sharing Responsibility: What They Didn’t Teach You in Kindergarten?
• Why Do Kindergarten Teachers Need To Have at Least a Basic Degree?
• What Is the Relationship of Environmental Instability and the Behavior of Children in the Classroom in Kindergarten?
• What Do Kindergarten Teachers and University Professors Have in Common?
• Do Kindergarten Students Need Computer Science Classes?
• Why Does the Montana School System Require Sex Education for Kindergarten?
• How Do Preschool Programs Improve Literacy and Achievement?
• What Are the Duties of Kindergarten Teachers?
• How and Why Does Age at Kindergarten Entry Matter?
• What Is the Importance of Full-Day Kindergarten?
• How Do Kindergarten Prep Skills Contribute to Academic Achievement?

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5 Research-based Practices for Kindergarten and First Grade

Here's what every kindergarten and first grade teacher should be doing..

Posted June 1, 2017

[Note: In this guest post, two renowned former kindergarten teachers who wrote about the extraordinary literacy successes of children in their classrooms (Feldgus & Cardonick, 1999) show how today’s cutting -edge research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience supports the best practices they and their colleagues have advocated and honed for three decades. What they discovered intuitively and through reflection and collaboration is now cutting-edge best practice in 21st century kindergartens.]

5 Powerful Research-Based Techniques for Exemplary Kindergartens Today

By Eileen Feldgus PhD and Isabell Cardonick MEd

The recent high-profile spotlight on a landmark study in Developmental Psychology has drawn attention to research by Canadian cognitive psychologists Gene Ouellette and Monique Sénéchal (2017). In some respects Ouellette and Sénéchal discovered what we, Eileen and Isabell, have advocated for decades: a powerful connection to improved end-of-first-grade reading scores through the use of early writing and invented spelling. The study’s title, “Invented Spelling in Kindergarten as a Predictor of Reading and Spelling in Grade 1: A New Pathway to Literacy, or Just the Same Road, Less Known?”(Ouellette and Sénéchal, 2017), reflects what exemplary kindergarten teachers have known about the powerful writing/reading connection for years—kid writing is a pathway to reading success. But this work is still not well known or universally practiced. This less-known pathway is the one we traveled. Starting out as passionate kindergarten teachers in the 1960’s and 70’s, we were ardent about creating classrooms that worked for children. We devoured the research of that era and became life-long learners throughout our careers. Early on we discovered better outcomes for children as we focused more on writing, encouraged invented spelling, developed innovative strategies for teaching phonics and eliminated boring worksheets. Today in 2017 five best-practice techniques we discovered in our practice are now wholly supported by research and recommended for today’s kindergartens and first grades.

1. Use Invented Spelling (Ouellette & Sénéchal, 2017). We found invented spelling to be joyful, motivational for our students, and wonderful in terms of providing opportunities for scaffolding and systematically teaching almost all important aspects of the kindergarten literacy curriculum including phonics, phonemic awareness, knowledge of the alphabet, writing conventions, and vocabulary development. But perhaps the most amazing discovery throughout our journey was that kids had remarkable capacities to make meaning if we supported them in the process and allowed their creative juices to flow. Early on we learned as we had read in Don Graves’ research (1983), that kids write best when we step back and allow them to choose their own topics and give them ownership and autonomy. We called our teaching model, “Kid Writing” (1999). Our model fit perfectly with a growing model now called Guided Reading for differentiated reading instruction (Fountas & Pinnell, 2012) and we put in a whole layer underpinning Lucy Calkins work (2003) by showing teachers exactly how to get started and how to move forward with writing workshop and formative assessment. Here are a few samples that illustrate kids’ capacity to grow and flourish as writers in kindergarten:

When I was born my mommy and daddy used to pay a lot of attention to me. But now they don’t pay a lot of attention to me. They pay a lot to Conner.

2. Abandon teaching “Letter of the Week (Reutzel, 1992, 2015). Teaching one letter per week was standard practice in kindergarten when we began teaching. We tried our best to jazz up our teaching of the alphabetic principle because we knew it was essential to breaking the code and reading. Our students sang for the letter, danced for the letter, cooked for the letter, and cut and pasted for the letter. We took elaborate measures to teach the alphabet and sounds because we knew it was important. One fond memory was our “P” Party:” we served foods beginning with P—pizza, pretzels, popcorn, pepperoni, and the like. But with letter of the week the pace was too slow, and as far back as 1992 researchers were noticing the same problem and cautioning teachers to “break the letter-a-week tradition.” (Reutzel, 1992)

So in our classrooms we began to use children’s names on the first day of kindergarten—from Albert to Zoie—and learned to focus on all the sounds and letters from the very beginning. In contrast to when we were using letter of the week our students mastered letters and sounds far sooner.

Today, as reported by Reutzel (2015), “research has identified six evidence- based alphabet letter learning orders through which young children may acquire knowledge of alphabet letter names and sounds (Justice, Pence, Bowles, & Wiggins, 2006 ).” And guess what? “The first learning order is called the own-name effect.” (Reutzel, 2015) We got it right before the research proved it!

3. Use Invented Spelling and a Developmental Writing Scale to monitor progress (Gentry, 2006, 2000). Even before we published the first book on Kid Writing, we were collaborating with Richard Gentry on how to use a developmental spelling/writing assessment along with a developmental rubric to show how young children’s progression through five phases of developmental spelling revealed—among other things—the individual child’s understanding of phonics and his or her invented spellings as evidence of what the child knew or did not know. We found this work to be much more powerful for targeting instruction and monitoring kindergartners’ progress than traditional spelling tests or even measures of phonemic awareness and alphabet knowledge. Progress monitoring by phase observation is now supported by empirical research! (Ouellette & Sénéchal, 2017)

When we started out as neophyte teachers, kids were simply memorizing words that we gave them on a list. We learned to scaffold what they were using in their invented spelling and to show them how English spelling works. Our teaching went from giving lists of what to spell to showing kids how to spell and invented spelling was our vehicle! Without getting into the particulars of an analysis, look at the following samples that show one kindergarten child’s remarkable progress from fall to spring of her kindergarten year.

September sample: It was a sunny day.

June sample: Tuesday my tooth was wiggling. When it was in my mouth, it bled. When it fell out, it stopped bleeding. My mom gently pulled it out with a paper towel and I was happy that it fell out.

4. Let go of worksheets! (Palmer & Invernizzi, 2015). We found that teaching and learning in our classrooms improved when we abandoned worksheets. Remember those nonsensical work sheets where children were to write the letter that the word for each picture would begin with? When we first began teaching we remember students who squirmed with sit-at-the-desk busy worksheets and struggled over the Y is for Yak worksheet wondering why Y was the match for the first sound in “goat” which is the picture they saw on the worksheet.

5. Teach children to stretch though a word with a moving target. (Feldgus, Cardonick, & Gentry, 2017) Research by Ouelette, validated our Stretching Through a Word with a Moving Target teaching methodology. Their research, “confirmed that facilitating invented spelling within a Vygotskian teaching approach can bring about benefits in learning to read and spell, and these benefits go beyond the expansion of alphabetic knowledge and phonological awareness.

Our stretching through technique, for example, helped kids move from l for lady in Phase 2 to lad in Phase 3 to ladee in syllable chunks in Phase 4 on the way to conventional lady . The stretching through technique met kids where they were and supported them in moving to higher levels of spelling sophistication from phase to phase.

Keep the Faith—Keep the Passion—Keep Your Kids Writing

One thing that hasn’t changed over the years is our passion for literacy-learning classrooms for beginners. Today as staff developers and authors, we continue to encounter kindergarten teachers all over America and beyond who share our passion, devotion to children, and vision for joyful, play-based, academic kindergarten and first grade classrooms. We believe implementing these five research-based strategies surrounding kid writing will be transformational in America. It is the answer to reversing the decades-old trend of flat-lined first grade reading scores!

For details on these five strategies and creating joyful kid-writing classrooms that work, check out our comprehensive guide for kindergarten and grade 1 teachers: Kid Writing in the 21st Century: A Systematic Approach to Phonics, Spelling and Writing Workshop (Hameray, 2017).

Link to Kid Writing to learn more.

Dr. J. Richard Gentry is the author of Raising Confident Readers, How to Teach Your Child to Read and Write–From Baby to Age 7 . Follow him on Facebook , Twitter , and LinkedIn and find out more information about his work on his website .

Calkins, L. M. (2003). The Nuts and Bolts of Teaching Writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Feldgus, E., Cardonick, I. & Gentry, J. R. (2017). Kid Writing in the 21st Century . Las Angeles, CA: Hameray Publishing Group.

Fountas, I. and Pinnell, G.S.(2013). The Reading Teacher. 66 (4) 268-284.

Gentry, R. (2006). Breaking the code: The new science of beginning reading and writing . Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Gentry, R. (2000). A retrospective on invented spelling and a look forward. The Reading Teacher . 54 (3) 318-332.

Graves, D. H. (1983). Writing: Teachers and Children at Work . Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Justice , L.M. , Pence , K. , Bowles , R.B. , & Wiggins , A. ( 2006 ). An investigation of four hypotheses concerning the order by which 4- year- old children learn the alphabet letters. Early Childhood Research Quarterly , 21 ( 3), 374 – 389 .

Ouelette, G. & Sénéchal, M. (2017). Invented spelling in kindergarten as a predictor of reading and spelling in grade 1: A new Pathway to literacy, or just the same road, less known? Developmental Psychology . 53 (1) 77– 88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dev0000179

Palmer, J. & Invernizzi, M. (2015). No More Phonics and Spelling Worksheets . Portsmouth NH: Heinemann.

Reutzel, D. R. (2015). Early literacy research: Findings primary-grade teachers will want to know. The Reading Teacher . 69, (1), 14–24. DOI: 10.1002/trtr.1387 © 2015 International Literacy Association

Reutzel , D.R. ( 1992 ). Breaking the letter- a- week tradition: Conveying the alphabetic principle to young children. Childhood Education , 69 ( 1 ), 20 – 23 .

J. Richard Gentry, Ph.D. , is an expert on childhood literacy, reading, and spelling. He is the author of Raising Confident Readers: H ow to Teach Your Child to Read and Write—Baby to Age 7 .

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This Is What 16 Research Articles Say About Literacy, Kindergarten, And Entrance Times

I was chatting with a group of friends about kindergarten recently, and realized that there’s been a lot of hype around how kindergarten should be run. Should we be teaching reading in kindergarten? How long should young children be at school? Are private schools with more play time better for development? Has full day kindergarten even helped our struggling readers?

It doesn’t take a lot of looking to find articles pointing out areas that are lacking with our current kindergarten practices. For instance, students in Finland are waiting until later to learn literacy, and their test scores are historically higher than the United States. Another article  by the Atlantic shows that our test scores really haven’t increased in 20 years, most likely due to our lack of teaching foundational knowledge for understanding subject matter (or background knowledge). 

So… Are literacy skills in kindergarten actually helping students long term?

The Controversy

The research below is by no way all inclusive. These articles are peer reviewed, were published in high quality journals, and are respected in the education community.

Research that shows increased rigor in kindergarten increases student success:

• Bruiss (2000) found mixed results whether full day kindergarten resulted in increased academic success, but did find higher test scores for students with disabilities or disadvantages (from poverty, less reading at home, etc.).
• Elicker (2000) was able to imply full day kindergarten gives academic achievement for longer periods of time with students from low economic status.
• Northwestern University is one of the only studies that I have found that finds a direct correlation between early skills leading to later academic skills. (However I wonder if this is just is pointing out that students who are “good” at school will still be “good” at school? Again more support that higher income families tend to continue to be successful at school.)
• Moore was able to find that more preschool increased student’s “emotional knowledge” in grade school when rated from their teachers.

Research that shows increased kindergarten rigor has no effect:

• Milligan (2012) found that full day kindergarten had no significant effect on reading or math success vs. half day kindergarten. Study was completed in California on a varied sample of students.
• Barnett (1987) used an economic analysis (widely accepted as the most credible statical methods) on several studies. They wanted to determine if it was cost effective to have early interventions. They found that very few research studies had sound enough statistical models to prove that interventions were cost effective. They did point out that these is still a lot of research left to be done.
• Hildebrand (2001) studied three different kindergarten schedules and found that length of time in school did not ensure greater test results.
• Cooper (2010) found that full day kindergarten has a significant effect on academics up until 3rd grade. At that point the effects become negligible. (This was sound similarly on a Head Start research in the 1980’s)
• Limited conclusions were drawn in Chicago after a long-term study on early interventions. The data was trending in the right direction, but they could not say conclusively if their interventions increased student success.
• Leow’s (2016) results found that full time head start preschool students did not fair better than half day head start preschool students in kindergarten.

Research that shows increased kindergarten rigor could be problematic:

• Shephard’s research does NOT point towards rigorous curriculum as causing a negative effect, rather they point out that rigorous academics are inappropriate for young children and that policies such as retention, pre-screening, and moving the age of kindergarten entrance, do more harm because they cause inflated academic rigor.
• A Special Report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation lays out the numbers and reading scores thoroughly. While this report says that early intervention CAN help students who are disadvantaged, it also points out that raising standards without increasing the quality of education and appropriate education actually widens the gap in performance between high income families and low income families.

Please note: These article’s results do not show direct harm from learning literacy in kindergarten. These found that there were in-advert consequences that could be negative. This is important to note so as not to make conclusions that kindergarten, early academic interventions, or literacy skills are inherently harmful.

Since publishing this article, I have found some research from the Alliance For Children saying that play based learning could actually harm children in the long term. However, I am not sure of the quality of their statical models since I was unable to access the actual research. To look at their reviews check out their article on play gaps and reading instruction.  Both articles site peer reviewed research on increased play time increasing academic success into adulthood. 

Research that found increased student success when children wait to start kindergarten:

• Datar (2006) found that delaying kindergarten by one year boosts test scores. (student enters school at kindergarten level though)

Research that found no difference when children wait to start kindergarten:

• Narahara, May (1998) was unable to find any difference in academic success by 2nd grade in students who started kindergarten between 4-6 years old.
• Using the National Education Longitudinal Survey, Lincove found no long term advantages to delaying kindergarten.
• Lubotsky (2016) found that while older kindergarten entrants tend to grow both cognitively and non cognitively (books smart and emotional smarts) quicker than their younger peers, everyone’s scored tend to even out by second grade.

Research that found waiting too long to start kindergarten could be harmful:

• Deming was able to conclude that there was no positive effects from delaying kindergarten when using IQ, earnings, and educational attainment as the test. They did however find evidence that delayed kindergarten can hurt outcomes by increasing the likely hood of high school drop out, and overall earnings by a delayed start into the labor market (statistical models were economics based).

Research that found harmful effects of starting kindergarten early:

• I do not have a link to the original research, but the Foundation for Economic Education reported increased ADHD diagnosis for students who entered school as the youngest were more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. ( However this research is not causal, it’s pointing out a correlation. This means that adults could be over diagnosing children who are still developing.)
• A study from Australia done by Narahara found that early schooling helped students from low income families cognitively (or academically), but that early schooling hurt all (both low and high income) students in non-cognitive areas.

What Does This Research Mean?

After a lot of reading, I have formed a few opinions from our current understanding of rigorous academics in kindergarten :

• We do not have enough research with the most accurate statistical models that prove positive or negative results from increasing time and rigor of kindergarten. Most of these studies say their conclusions are limited.
• Early interventions in academics are most beneficial to students who are disadvantaged or have disabilities. However, it appears that these gains might even out by third grade. One scholar proposed placing more supports for those grade levels instead of early interventions.
• Overall, rigorous kindergarten is not harmful to students’ future academics, but could take away from other developmental skills like creativity, experiences that increase background knowledge of our world, and social/emotional skills. Background knowledge is leads to greater reading comprehension, and social/emotional skills have direct predictions for adult success. This implies that increased non cognitive skills teaching (like how to speak to an adult, work out problems, and other skills in a way that is most accepted in our country) is just as or more beneficial for disadvantaged students than academic interventions.
• Early academic interventions do not negatively impact students in the course of their life time. However there is research that could point to negative impacts when students miss out on creative and play based learning as children.
• Student success is still ultimately tied to family income and child exposure to vocabulary, books, and experiences to build on. No research has shown preschool, kindergarten timing, or rigor, to out weigh those family cultural effects on achievement.  There is some evidence that play based learning could be a better early intervention.

If The Research Is Somewhat Inconclusive, Why Is The United States Pushing Early Academics?

First, since the United States was first organized, public education was a viewed as an equalizer and a way to allow those in poverty to move up into a higher economic situation.

These ideals have not changed within the US. When Head Start was originally created, it showed huge IQ jumps for students who came from poverty. However they found later that these gains evened out by third grade. Today there is still a large achievement gap between students who are white verses a minority, and students who come from high income families verses low income families.

 Research also shows that students who struggle reading in third grade are at much higher risk for negative adult outcomes. A fantastic review of statistics around third grade reading, implications, and how to fix it, can be found from the free Annie E. Casey Foundation Report.  Another easy read about the danger of low reading scores is from HuffPost  and the Atlantic .

These facts coupled with the realization that SAT scores haven’t increased in 30 years , 4th grade reading scores have not significantly increased in the past 15 years, and that students who go to college are typically from middle class to upper class families , our government leaders are very concerned about our children who are disadvantaged. And up until this point, providing early interventions for those children is the “low hanging fruit.”

There’s also considerable research done on the amount of vocabulary a child is exposed to while young, directly impacts their academic achievement for the rest of their life. Providing early interventions help young children who are disadvantaged have access to the vocabulary they may be missing.

What do we choose?

Unless your student is showing early delays, you should feel comfortable making an early education decision that works best for your family. Most research is showing no quantifiable negative or positive effect of kindergarten and preschool on achievement.

Research looking at the amount of time spent at kindergarten or preschool did not show any difference in student success. It seemed that the intervention its self was more beneficial for students who were delayed, not the actual amount of time spent in the classroom. This implies that half day kindergarten or preschool is enough for children. On the other hand, full day kindergarten is not harmful, so feel comfortable doing what works best for your family.

The academic success in Finland may have more to do with their culture and less to do with their illiterate kindergarteners. Since wealth is such a strong predictor of success, it’s important note that in Finland, struggling families have more government programs to rely upon. Socialized programs may be allowing citizens less stress about “working their way out of poverty,” and more learning just for the love of it. (This is not a political statement for or against socialized programs or nations)

Other high scoring countries, like Singapore , highly encourage preschool and kindergarten schooling. The big difference between the US and Singapore is the length of the school day. Their school day is shorter than ours but schools typically go year round with about a month long break in the summer. Singapore also has a lot of wealth in their nation. Wealthy families produce situations where students can succeed easier.

Learning to read doesn’t harm our young students, but neglecting time to explore and experience our world could reduce long term comprehension and non cognitive/emotional skills. Additionally, as research on achievement and income point out, our culture puts an emphasis on middle class behaviors (talking “sassy” is disrespectful, looking people in the eye and shaking their hand is encouraged, etc.).

Families who emphasis these “norms” within their own homes are inherently going to help their children be successful. That said, we should still advocate for more non cognitive skills within our schools (or choose to put our children in a different setting that puts an emphasis on this), and include non cognitive skills within whole family interventions.

Implications for our country

Adding play and experiences into early education could help struggling students understand text easier. Comprehension is more tied to linking the text with our understanding of the world, rather than understanding the words we are reading (although, students first need foundational reading skills to even access the print). Increasing those experiences earlier could show overall gains for our disadvantaged students. (refer to this article for more information on changing our teaching for comprehension)

Focusing more on exposure to vocabulary, text and early literacy skills can help students catch up, but these interventions do not need to be in place for the entire day. The time spent in various settings did not show any gains for students. Early academic interventions have not shown to harm students.

Multiple scholars mentioned the need for non cognitive skills in early schooling, and that these skills are predictors for adult success. College graduates all similarly share these skill sets: interact/connect with others, deal with stress, and advocate for themselves. Since the length of time did not show increased achievement, the US education system should be able to find time to incorporate those skills. These skills should especially be emphasized with students who are disadvantaged.

Ultimately, what children need more than anything else, is a home where their parents are engaged and able to provide a safe environment. Families in poverty typically are unable to do that because they constantly in survival mode. If our nation really wants to increase student achievement, we need to focus first on educating and supporting our families who have disadvantages by giving whole family interventions.

Lastly, as a word of caution to parents, I would be careful about getting too tied to any new research claiming a correlation in education. Often times the statistics are not the most accurate and can have very limited results (they cannot be generalized to the entire nation).

As always, I invite comments, questions, and new ideas. 🙂

Research Citations

• Barnett, W., & Escobar, C. (1987). The Economics of Early Educational Intervention: A Review.  Review of Educational Research,57 (4), 387-414. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1170429
• Christine Leow & Xiaoli Wen (2017) Is Full Day Better Than Half Day? A Propensity Score Analysis of the Association Between Head Start Program Intensity and Children’s School Performance in Kindergarten, Early Education and Development, 28:2, 224-239, DOI:  10.1080/10409289.2016.1208600
• Clark, P., Kirk, E., & Burriss, K. G. (2000). Review of research: All-day kindergarten.  Childhood Education ,  76 (4), 228-231.
• Cooper, H., Allen, A. B., Patall, E. A., & Dent, A. L. (2010). Effects of Full-Day Kindergarten on Academic Achievement and Social Development.  Review of Educational Research ,  80 (1), 34–70. https://doi.org/ 10.3102/0034654309359185
• Datar, A. (2006) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2004.10.004
• Deming, D., Dynarski, S. (2008) The Lengthening of Childhood. The Journal of Economic Perspectives. 22(3) starting on page 71. Retrieved from http://content.ebscohost.com/ContentServer.asp?EbscoContent=dGJyMNLr40SeqLA4yNfsOLCmr1Gep7JSrqy4SK6WxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGuskyurK5IuePfgeyx43zx1%2BqE&T=P&P=AN&S=R&D=buh&K=35061946
• Elicker, J. (2000).  Full-Day Kindergarten: Exploring the Research. From Inquiry to Practice . Phi Delta Kappa International, PO Box 789, Bloomington, IN 47402-0789.
• Hildebrand, C. (2001). Effects of three kindergarten schedules on achievement and classroom behavior. Phi Delta Kappa Center for Evaluation, Development, and Research. Research Bulletin, no. 31. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa. 
• Jones D., Greenberg, M., Crowley, M. (2015) Early Social-Emotional Functioning and Public Health: The Relationship Between Kindergarten Social Competence and Future Wellness. AM J Public Health. 105(11). 2283-2290. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4605168/
• Milligan, C. (2012). Full-Day Kindergarten Effects on Later Academic Success.  SAGE Open . https://doi.org/ 10.1177/2158244012442677 
• Moore, J., Cooper, B., Rhoades, et al, The Effects of Exposure to an Enhanced Preschool Program on the Social-Emotional Functioning of At-Risk Children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly. 32 starting on page 37.
• Narahara, M. (1998) The Effects of School Entry Age and Gender on Reading and Math Achievement Scores on Second Grade Students. The US Department of Education Educational Resources Information Center.
• Shepard, L., & Smith, M. (1988). Escalating Academic Demand in Kindergarten: Counterproductive Policies.  The Elementary School Journal,89 (2), 135-145. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1001920
• Suziedelyte, A., Zhu, A. (2015) Does Early Schooling Narrow Outcome Gaps For Advantaged and Disadvantaged Children? Economics of Education Review. 45, 76-88. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.02.001
• Vinovskis, M. (1993). Early Childhood Education: Then and Now.  Daedalus,122 (1), 151-176. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20027154
• Northwestern University brief: https://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2007/11/duncan.html

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Thinking about kindergarten thinking: a mixed methods study.

• Faculty of Education, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

Metacognition, otherwise known as ‘thinking about one’s thinking,’ leads to greater academic success and is foundational. Given this importance, metacognitive behaviors need to be developed within early years contexts to provide young children the opportunity to practice these behaviors and receive feedback. However, literature continues to focus on the development of metacognition in later grades. This mixed methods study explored metacognition in eight Kindergarten classrooms. Participants included eight Kindergarten teachers, six early childhood educators (ECEs), and 80 students. Data collection was conducted at two time periods separated by 12 weeks. Data collection included the Children’s Independent Learning Development (CHILD) measure, semi-structured interviews, and classroom observations. The quantitative data from the CHILD were analyzed using a paired samples t -test in SPSS. All qualitative data were analyzed thematically. Qualitatively, three themes were identified: (1) Conceptualization of metacognition, (2) Barriers to developing metacognition, and (3) Operationalization of strategies to facilitate metacognitive development. Evidence demonstrated that participants had incomplete conceptualizations of metacognition. Some articulated simple understandings by reporting the literal translation and were unable to articulate more fulsome conceptions. However, some teachers had more developed conceptions of metacognition that included different facets such as planning and reflective thinking. All participants were forthcoming with identifying ways in which they struggled with implementing metacognitive practices or encouraging the development of metacognition. These barriers included large classroom sizes, developmental readiness, and wide student ability. Despite having an incomplete understanding of metacognition, early years educators were trying a variety of different strategies to help promote metacognitive thinking within their Kindergarten classrooms. Surprisingly, teacher ratings using the CHILD did not change significantly from Time 1 ( M = 1.88, SD = 0.744) to Time 2 ( M = 1.85, SD = 0.66), t (72) = 0.72, p > 0.05. A similar trend was observed for ECE ratings using the CHILD as they did not change significantly from Time 1 ( M = 1.89, SD = 0.70) to Time 2 ( M = 1.80, SD = 0.79), t (52) = 1.36, p > 0.05. This research highlights empirical practices that Kindergarten educators can use to help facilitate metacognitive thinking. Furthermore, it identifies a need to better support Kindergarten educators by integrating practices aimed at developing metacognitive thinking in their students through explicit examples of strategies.

Introduction

Scholars widely accept that the ability to be metacognitive and self-regulate is crucial for successful learning within the classroom ( Perry et al., 2018 ) and beyond ( Boekaerts and Cascallar, 2006 ). Furthermore, research suggests that components of metacognition and self-regulation (SR) begin to develop in young children. Hence, there is a need to support and further develop these skills throughout elementary school contexts and beyond. The following introduction will describe components of metacognition, discuss the relationship between metacognition and other regulatory behaviors, outline its development in the early years, and identify key facilitators impacting the development of metacognition.

Conceptualizing metacognition

Metacognition as a construct has evolved over the years from when it was originally defined as ‘Thinking about thinking’ by Flavell (1979) . Furthermore, metacognition was originally believed to be comprised of conscious actions ( Flavell, 1979 ). There were two main components of metacognition known as metacognitive knowledge (MK) and metacognitive regulation. The component of MK includes the beliefs and thoughts that an individual has about their own or another individual’s cognitive processes ( Flavell, 1979 ). Metacognitive regulation [also known as metacognitive skills (MS)] is a more active component that includes the process of monitoring, controlling, and evaluating learning outcomes ( Efklides, 2006 ). A third component of metacognition is known as metacognitive experiences (MEs) which encompasses the judgments and feelings that individuals have about learning ( Efklides, 2006 ; Ben-David and Orion, 2013 ).

These conceptualizations have expanded to include more social interactions that may help to facilitate the development of metacognition. For example, scholars acknowledge that metacognition is not necessarily an individual phenomenon and may be shaped by social interactions ( Moraitou and Metallidou, 2021 ). Additionally, there is ongoing intrigue regarding the interaction between metacognition and affect across the life span ( Moraitou and Metallidou, 2021 ). Specific to the level of consciousness required, Efklides proposed a model of metacognition which suggests that aspects of metacognition may occur at a non-conscious level ( Efklides, 2008 ).

Conceptual framework

This study was guided by the model of metacognition as described by Efklides (2008) . The multifaceted and multi-level model consists of three levels (object level, metalevel, and meta-metalevel) with opportunities for monitoring, reflection, and control. The object level includes processes specific to cognition and emotion that occur at a non-conscious level. Monitoring and control are two non-conscious regulatory systems involved in developing products at the metalevel. These products are elements of self-awareness such as emotions and thoughts alongside ME, MK, and MS. This is the level where thoughts and interpretations of the learning situation become conscious. Similarly, both control and regulatory systems are actively involved at the metalevel. More specifically, when control is required, MEs and MK may activate MS. Metacognitive feelings (a component of ME) play an important role whereby they can activate the regulatory loop as necessary. The final level, the social level, only includes metacognitive judgments which may be about the individual or others’ metacognition capacity (ME, MK, and MS). This level is also informed by the personal-awareness level and by interactions with others. The monitoring processes at this level are conscious and may be in the form of reflecting. Similarly, the control process is also conscious ( Efklides, 2008 ).

Relationship between metacognition, self-regulation, and self-regulated learning

Metacognition, SR, and self-regulated learning (SRL) have been closely intertwined for years. Some scholars have even used the terms interchangeably given the role of monitoring and regulatory processes ( Dinsmore et al., 2008 ). However, conceptually, developmentally, and about measurement, some scholars have identified differences between the three constructs. Yet, the debate continues as to which construct emerged first and whether there is an overarching construct ( Veenman et al., 2006 ; Gascoine et al., 2017 ). Given the complexity of these constructs and the lack of conceptual clarity around nesting within constructs, a hierarchical approach to studying metacognition is not appropriate ( Gascoine et al., 2017 ).

A self-regulated individual can control their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors as they work toward attaining their goals ( Zimmerman, 2000 ; McClelland and Cameron, 2012 ). SRL is a sub-component of SR whereby the cognitive, social, and behavioral processes are focused entirely on an individual’s learning ( Dinsmore et al., 2008 ). We know that metacognition is necessary to engage in successful SRL ( Boekaerts, 1999 ). Furthermore, MEs are particularly useful as evidenced in the model proposed by Efklides whereby ME can trigger the regulatory loop while learning.

Measurement of metacognition in early years

Earlier scholars believed that metacognition developed in older students typically between the ages of 8 and 10 ( Veenman et al., 2006 ). However, scholars have since challenged this understanding by examining SR development in younger children ( Bronson and Bronson, 2001 ). There has now been a keen interest in understanding the development of both metacognition and SR in the early years ( Blair and Razza, 2007 ; Dignath et al., 2008 ; Whitebread et al., 2010 ; Erdmann and Hertel, 2019 ; Perry, 2019 ). Alongside the interest in exploring metacognition in young children, comes an emphasis on using more developmentally appropriate methods for measuring metacognition ( Perry, 2019 ). Earlier research used self-report methods ( Winne and Perry, 2000 ) which were problematic given the reliance on accurate reporting of cognitive processes by respondents. However, this was even more problematic when used with young children who may have been incapable of reporting or verbalizing their thoughts and skills related to metacognition. Therefore, other methods of collecting data including observing the behaviors directly were recommended ( Winne and Perry, 2000 ; Whitebread et al., 2010 ). One systematic review examined how metacognition was assessed in children between the ages of 4 and 16 years and demonstrated that self-report measures were used by 61% of the studies included in the review but were only used with children of ages 7 and older ( Gascoine et al., 2017 ). Observational methods were used with children between the ages of 4 and 8 including think aloud protocol whereby the individual is prompted to explain their thinking verbally while completing an activity. Teacher ratings were used with children aged 4 and above whereas task-based methods were only used with children aged 7 and older ( Gascoine et al., 2017 ). This review highlights that teacher ratings and observational methods have been used with young children. To help understand the complex phenomenon of metacognition, a multi-method design has been recommended including observations of student behavior ( Veenman, 2005 ), which can then be triangulated with other measures.

Developing metacognition in the early years

Given that metacognition remains blurred conceptually and in practice with other concepts closely intertwined such as SR and SRL, there is no standard set of practices agreed upon by scholars that can be used to promote the development of metacognition ( Perry et al., 2018 ). Although given our conceptual understanding, we could expect educators would use strategies related to planning, evaluating, and regulating an individual’s performance ( Perry et al., 2018 ). Sometimes the strategies may be focused on a specific domain such as mathematics ( Dignath et al., 2008 ) or science ( Zohar and Barzilai, 2013 ). Researchers have also demonstrated the value of developing metacognition across the curriculum ( Perry et al., 2012 ). Some recommendations for facilitating the development of metacognition include that it should be embedded throughout lessons rather than teaching it through disconnected or singular lessons, the purpose including the focus on metacognition should be made explicit to the learners, and the learning should be longitudinal ( Veenman et al., 2004 ). Another suggested practice includes the integration of group work ( Perry et al., 2018 ), which encourages learning with and from others.

There are a variety of factors that have been identified as facilitating the development of metacognition such as the role of formative assessment. Assessment for Learning (AfL) is a component of formative assessment with increased student agency. AfL is the process of collecting data about student learning with the ultimate goal of co-constructing these practices ( Adie et al., 2018 ) and improving student learning ( Group, 2002 ). Assessment as Learning (AaL) practices, described as a subcomponent of AfL, includes the process by which students reflect and evaluate their learning to enhance their metacognition and SRL development ( Earl, 2013 ). The relationship between metacognition and AfL was explored empirically in 528 students ranging from grade four to six across seven Dutch elementary schools. Findings highlighted that monitoring strategies predicted planning activities. Monitoring and planning also had an effect size of 0.26 with scaffolding practices ranging between 0.25 and 0.36 in their effect sizes. Furthermore, scaffolding practices were positively correlated with the use of learning strategies and the evaluation of their learning. Finally, the use of metacognitive strategies facilitated the use of AfL strategies ( Baas et al., 2015 ). Another study conducted in Ontario, Canada explored the connections between assessment and metacognition through five purposefully selected interviews with elementary teachers. One key theme highlighted how teachers modified their practices to support the development of students’ metacognition. A two-way feedback process helped teachers to modify their practices as they often sought feedback from their students on how they could further support them. AaL practices were also described as essential when developing metacognition. This included assessment practices such as success criteria, descriptive and ongoing feedback, peer-assessment, self-assessment, conferencing, portfolio use, and reflective thinking activities for use to understand student thinking. All participants reported needing additional support to help them with increasing student agency and developing metacognition through assessment ( Braund and DeLuca, 2018 ). These two studies provide examples of a direct empirical connection between metacognition and formative assessment.

However, metacognitive skills at a young age need to be developed in collaboration with other individuals such as teachers who are well positioned to provide explicit instruction and modeling for how to use metacognitive strategies. A common method for encouraging students to think metacognitively is through the use of prompting questions. For example, Jacobs (2004) explored the metacognitive awareness of Kindergarten students through the writing process. The students would observe the teacher doing a think-aloud about different elements of the writing process and then were given time to work on their writing. The teacher worked with the students during the writing period and then peers provided feedback after the dedicated writing period. The researcher would then interview students to ask them questions prompting them to reflect on their thinking and writing. There were some answers to questions that students did not know originally but this changed over the course of the year. By the end of the year, all students demonstrated that they were capable of explaining their thinking using metacognitive terminologies such as “thought” or “mind” and were also able to provide examples of strategies that they had used during their writing time ( Jacobs, 2004 ). This study is one example demonstrating the potential for students to develop their metacognitive strategy use and metacognitive regulation over time and as young as the Kindergarten level. Although the Jacobs study was specific to literacy, many of the prompting questions could be adapted for use in other subject domains such as science or math where ‘thinking aloud’ can be very beneficial for the development of metacognition in young children as a means for making educator thinking visible. This study also reiterates the important role that educators play in the development of metacognition, especially for young children at the Kindergarten grade level.

A more recent study conducted by Dörr and Perels (2019) examined the effectiveness of an intervention designed to improve metacognitive skills in 137 children in Kindergarten. Teachers and parents received training on specific strategies that they could use in the classroom (for teachers) and in the home environment (for caregivers) to develop metacognition in their children. The children then were filmed while completing a problem-solving task which was later coded for metacognitive behaviors by two observers. The categories for coding behaviors related to monitoring, control, and lack of monitoring and control. Their findings highlighted that students were able to demonstrate an improvement in the control aspect of metacognition; however, monitoring seemed to be more challenging. However, the authors acknowledge that it is easier to observe control strategies than monitoring strategies which may act as a limitation ( Venitz and Perels, 2019 ). Despite the importance of developing these skills in the early years, much of the research continues to focus on metacognition at later stages of development such as in secondary and post-secondary contexts. Therefore, this mixed methods study explored the development of metacognition in Kindergarten classrooms and was guided by the following questions: (1) How do early childhood educators (ECEs) conceptualize and articulate metacognition? and (2) How do young children’s metacognition and self-regulatory behaviors evolve across two time periods as measured by educators?

Materials and methods

This concurrent mixed methods ( Creswell and Plano Clark, 2011 ) study explored metacognition development in Kindergarten. Given the complexity of metacognition and the evolving understanding in the early years, the research design required a complex intersection of data sources ( Plano Clark and Ivankova, 2016 ). The quantitative data described the evolution of metacognition behaviors, whereas the qualitative data provided some context for why these behaviors may occur and how they are developed. It is important to note that these data were collected as part of a larger dissertation study.

This study was conducted in Ontario, Canada where a play-based approach is mandated across Kindergarten classrooms in the public education system. Kindergarten students attend school daily and are supported by a teaching team that includes one Kindergarten teacher and one registered ECE ( OME, 2016 ).

Participants

A total of eight Kindergarten teachers and six ECEs agreed to participate in this study during the 2018–2019 year. All teachers and ECEs self-selected to participate and indicated that they had an interest in SR. Demographic information for the teachers and ECEs has been previously reported ( Braund et al., 2021 ). Teachers and ECEs were recruited from one Ontario school board, across five publicly funded elementary schools. Despite recruiting from only one school board, the participating schools were purposefully diverse with some located in the city and one located rurally. Additionally, the schools were sampled across socioeconomic status (SES) with some schools in higher SES areas, a school located in a moderate SES area, and one school located in a low SES area. A snowball sampling technique was used where the recruitment message was circulated to the early years and assessment coordinators within the school board who passed along the information to principals and teachers. To help increase the likelihood of representation, teachers and ECEs were diverse and had a range of practice experiences. All teachers and ECEs provided informed written consent. Once they had consented, the teacher from each participating class shared the Letter of Information with the parents of students in their classes. Parents were made aware that having their children participate was voluntary and were asked to provide written consent for their child to participate. Additionally, oral assent was also collected from each student before any tasks were administered. Participants were able to withdraw from the study up until July 2019 after which withdrawal was no longer possible. None of the participants withdrew from the study. A total of 80 students were recruited to participate across the eight classrooms. However, due to attrition, only 77 students participated across both time periods. There was a fairly even split across the data with 39 female students and 41 male students. A similar breakdown was observed according to grades with 40 students in Junior Kindergarten and 40 students in Senior Kindergarten (SK).

Data collection procedures

There were two time periods for data collection. Time 1 was in the winter of 2019, whereas Time 2 was in the spring of 2019. There were approximately 12 weeks in-between Time 1 and Time 2 to try and facilitate the development of student metacognition and SR. The researcher spent an orientation day in each of the eight classrooms to learn more about the context and familiarize herself with the students, teacher, and ECE. Following the orientation day, a total of 3 days were spent in each classroom during each time period. This amounted to 448 h spent collecting data across the eight classrooms. Additional data sources were collected as part of the larger dissertation study that is beyond the scope of this paper. The independent semi-structured interviews with teachers and ECEs were conducted on the 3rd day in each classroom for each time period. A total of 16 interviews were conducted with teachers and eight with ECEs. Two of the ECEs opted to not participate in the semi-structured interviews. The Children’s Independent Learning Development (CHILD) measure was given ahead of time to teachers and ECEs. They were asked to complete it for each participating student in preparation for each time period.

The researcher hired six research assistants (RAs) to help with data collection. All RAs were trained in how to observe teachers, ECEs, and students. A few were also trained in how to conduct semi-structured interviews. However, most interviews were conducted by the researcher except for when there were scheduling conflicts.

Three measures were used to collect data for this study: semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and observations collected using the Children’s Independent Learning Development (CHILD) measure ( Whitebread et al., 2009 ). The semi-structured interviews had protocols specific to each time period. At Time 1, the focus of the interviews was on understanding conceptions of classroom assessment, SR, and the relationship between these constructs. For example, educators were asked to describe what a student who is able to self-regulated looks like in their classroom and to discuss the relationship (if any) between formative assessment and SR. Additionally, educators were also asked to identify any challenges impacting their ability to promote SR and recommend any resources or supports that would help them with developing SR. The interview at Time 2 was more focused on identifying examples of assessment practices and efforts to develop SR. Educators were asked to answer a number of questions including sharing their understanding of metacognition and examples of how it was operationalized in their classrooms. They were also asked about the use of self-assessment and to share examples of how they had integrated the assessment practice. The interview protocols were developed by a team of assessment and SR experts and then piloted before use in the current study. This helps to enhance the trustworthiness of the data collected and inferences made as a result of the interview protocols. The interview protocols and additional details on piloting have been published previously ( Braund et al., 2021 ). The interviews were conducted in either the staff room or in the classroom when students and others were not present. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The interviews lasted on average 41 min for Time 1 and 24 min for Time 2.

The classroom observations did not follow a structured protocol given that many of the other measures used in the larger study were very structured. The observation periods were used as an opportunity to capture important contextual information and concrete practices used to develop metacognition and SR. More specifically, the observations were used to document field notes that related to assessment and SR practices as demonstrated by educators (teacher or ECE) or students. Although it is important to note that only classroom observations pertaining to metacognition are presented in this paper. Therefore, for teachers, it captured example practices of ways in which they were encouraging the students to self-regulate. An example related to metacognition was observing and documenting the use of a think-aloud protocol in math by one Kindergarten teacher. The mechanism for identifying changes in behavior was by comparing observations at Time 1 and Time 2. In addition to the field notes, direct quotations were captured when possible. All RAs shadowed the researcher for at least one day in a classroom to understand how to observe students, teachers, and ECEs. During this shadowing process, the RAs and researcher would document classroom observations independently and then compare their notes. The researcher would provide the RA with additional feedback and guidance as necessary. This modeling and scaffolding process helped to increase the trustworthiness of the data collected and inferences made as a result of the classroom observations.

The CHILD measure ( Whitebread et al., 2009 ) is an observation protocol that was used to record students’ self-regulatory behaviors. This measure consists of 35 statements informed by metacognition and SR literature. It was previously validated by the developers and demonstrated an ability to discriminate between three levels (high, intermediate, and low) of metacognition/SR/independence. However, they continued with further piloting and finalized a 22-item shorter protocol. These items were grouped across four areas of SR: emotional (five items), prosocial (five items), cognitive (seven items), and motivational (five items). The 22 items were pilot tested a total of 576 times across 192 children. Their reliability analysis identified a high level of internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.97). The authors outlined three ways that they addressed issues of validity when developing the CHILD including collecting the data within the classroom context or the natural environment, involving teachers in the analysis process given their expertise in classroom contexts, and recording the data for additional analysis ( Whitebread et al., 2009 ).

This protocol was modified by the researcher to help the current participants with interpreting the items. The modification consisted of adding numbers to the frequency categories. Therefore, teachers and ECEs were asked to report the frequency of students’ self-regulatory behaviors as always (3), usually (2), sometimes (1), or never (0). In addition to providing the frequency for each item, participants were also provided with the space to add comments related to each item. The narrative comments were optional. They sometimes provided additional context for why the educators had rated that level of frequency for the item. As an additional reliability and validity measure, the researcher met with each teacher and ECE to discuss the measure before they completed the protocol. More specifically, the researcher discussed each item in detail and explained that the protocol was an overview of what they had observed to date for each item. This measure was entirely completed by the teacher and ECE for each participating student.

Data analysis procedures

Quantitative.

All quantitative data were entered into an Excel spreadsheet once data collection had finished. All descriptive and inferential statistics were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, Version 27). When there were instances of missing data, the quantitative analyses were run listwise. The level of significance was set at .05 for all quantitative analyses. The researcher checked for internal consistency every time the CHILD measure was used and values suggesting a high level of internal consistency were found across participants including for ECEs at Time 1 (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.97,) ECEs at Time 2 (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.97,) Teachers at Time 1 (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.98) and Teachers at Time 2 (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.97). These high levels of internal consistency help to provide validity evidence specific to the internal structure of the 22 items grouped together for the CHILD measure. For the Children’s Independent Learning Development (CHILD) measure, a total score was calculated for each time period. The highest score per item was 3 and there was a total of 22 items. Therefore, the maximum possible total score that a student could have received was 66. A total score was calculated for the teacher ratings per child at each time period. This variable was calculated again for the ECE ratings per child at each time period. A mean score was computed for each child at Time 1 and again at Time 2. The mean score was calculated for the teacher ratings and then again for the ECE ratings. A paired t- test was used to identify changes in students’ scores on the CHILD across time periods for teacher ratings. A paired t -test was also used to identify changes in students’ scores on the CHILD across time periods for ECE ratings. Data were analyzed using a listwise approach. Therefore, due to missing data (e.g., students moving away), a total of 73 students were included in the quantitative dataset for teachers and only 53 for ECEs. It is important to remember that only four of the possible eight ECEs participated hence the lower number of students. Demographics were reported according to sex (male and female) and grade level (junior kindergarten and SK).

Qualitative

All transcripts and classroom observations were uploaded into NVivo (Version 12) for analysis. Data were analyzed using an inductive thematic approach ( Braun and Clarke, 2006 ). All transcripts and classroom observations were read in full before the coding process commenced. To enhance trustworthiness, a second researcher coded 20% of the data independently which was then compared with the primary researcher. This process included a selection of diverse transcripts which once coded were compared line by line. An inter-coder reliability level of 94% was calculated by documenting the number of times that the two researchers agreed on each line of coding divided by the number of times the two researchers disagreed and then multiplied by 100 to obtain the percentage. This dialog and reflexive process resulted in a consensus-built codebook. Given the high level of agreement, it seemed appropriate for the primary research to complete the remainder of the coding using the consensus-built codebook ( Cofie et al., 2022 ). Three levels of coding were performed. The smallest unit of analysis was a code. For the first level of coding, each transcript and affiliated classroom observations were coded individually. This process of open coding resulted in the assignment of a code to each segment of text. After open coding was complete across all transcripts and classroom observations, all documents were analyzed again with a focus on creating subthemes. To identify subthemes, similar codes were grouped together. The final level of selective coding consisted of reviewing all qualitative data with a focus on grouping similar subthemes together to form broad themes across the data. The researcher maintained an audit trail of any new codes that were added, any codes that were renamed, and any codes that were merged with the rationale for every change made. Thematic saturation was reached after analyzing five of the eight teachers and after the third ECE.

Trustworthiness and researcher reflexivity

The researcher made ongoing efforts to increase trustworthiness throughout the research process. The four criteria of rigor guided these efforts including credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability ( Guba, 1981 ). The first criterion, credibility suggests that the results are true, credible, and believable. Some strategies for this include prolonged engagement in the setting. This was achieved by spending 448 h across the classrooms observing and interviewing participants. Piloting the interview protocol and the CHILD measure as described earlier also helped to enhance the credibility. Dependability is centered around the extent to which the study could be replicated. The rich description of the study methods aids with replicability. Additionally, inter-coder reliability processes can enhance dependability as described earlier following recommended guidelines ( Cofie et al., 2022 ). Confirmability is the extent to which other researchers could confirm the findings. Maintaining a reflexive process contributes to this rigor. The researcher maintained a research journal throughout the entire research process right from idea conception through to dissemination. This journal was used to identify common patterns, unique findings, document questions for discussion with her dissertation committee, note possible biases, and make fieldnotes from the interviews and classroom observations. The process of triangulating across measures also contributes to confirmability. Therefore, two measures were used to collect this data. The classroom observations were used to confirm what educators reported in their interviews but also to capture practices not described in the interviews. All participants were also offered the opportunity to review key findings from their transcripts as a form of member-checking but only one teacher acknowledged the findings and confirmed the interpretation. Finally, transferability refers to the extent to which the results could be applied to other contexts. Purposeful sampling aids with transferability and was thus used in this study. All educators were interested in SR, therefore, increasing the likelihood that they would integrate practices aimed at developing student metacognition.

The findings are organized below according to the two research questions. For the qualitative data (classroom observations and interviews), sample quotations have been provided in-text. However, additional quotations are available in Supplementary Appendix A . ECE will represent quotations from ECEs. Finally, classroom observations will be clearly outlined in brackets following the direct example.

Research question (1) how do early childhood educators conceptualize and articulate metacognition?

Qualitatively, a total of three themes were identified from the classroom observations and interviews with early educators: (1) Conceptualization of metacognition, (2) Barriers to developing metacognition, and (3) Operationalization of strategies to facilitate metacognitive development.

Theme 1: Conceptualization of metacognition

Findings demonstrated that both teachers and ECEs had incomplete conceptualizations of metacognition. Some articulated simple understandings by reporting the literal translation and were unable to articulate more fulsome conceptions. For example, this teacher simply said, “thinking about thinking” (Teacher 4, Time 2) when she was asked to describe metacognition. One teacher asked for the definition of metacognition indicating a lack of understanding. Another teacher mentioned one component “Understanding your thinking” (Teacher 5, Time 2) highlighting more than just the literal translation of the construct. However, a small sample of educators had more developed conceptions of metacognition that suggested metacognition was multi-faceted and included multiple components such as planning and reflective thinking. One teacher shared a resource that she used relating to metacognition:

I love the book, “Pedagogical Documentation in Early Childhood.” This book relates to metacognition and the importance of reflection of observations made in tracking student success and behaviors (Teacher 3, Time 2).

One of the most discussed facets of metacognition was awareness. Sometimes the awareness was in relation to “the prior knowledge they need to possess” as described by ECE2 at Time 2. Educators also described the importance of having an awareness of how you process information. Multiple educators also mentioned awareness of thinking as described by this educator “being aware of your thought processes” (ECE4, Time 2). A different educator shared how metacognition related to other constructs as explained here “I feel it is important for the upper levels of Maslow’s [Hierarchy of Needs] including a strong growth mindset and connections to mental health and resiliency ” (Teacher 7, Time 2). Discussing metacognition beyond the literal translation and identifying key components suggested a deeper understanding of the construct. The last subtheme centered around student capacity. Most educators in this study reported that Kindergarten students were able to be metacognitive. For example, this teacher explained further “I think they’re much more capable than you would maybe imagine” (Teacher 3, Time 1). However, one teacher readily identified the sophistication of the skill below:

Developmental readiness to a degree because I feel…even as an adult when I think about myself for me to have reflective practice and to think about “What am I doing? What can I be better at as a teacher? What can I be better at as a learner?” That’s a pretty sophisticated, complex skill (Teacher 1, Time 1).

Despite the complexity of metacognition, the same teacher was able to identify students in her classroom who were capable and “I’ve had kids who in the past who have been really good at that. And they can look at things and say, “well next time I’m going to do this” or “I’m going to try this differently” (Teacher 1, Time 1). However, not all teachers were convinced that students at the Kindergarten level were capable. A few indicated that they wanted to give it more thought.

Theme 2: Barriers to developing metacognition

All participants were forthcoming with identifying ways in which they struggled with implementing metacognitive practices or encouraging the development of metacognition. These barriers included common classroom ones such as large classroom sizes which were grouped into the subtheme of competing demands. When one teacher was asked about any barriers to encouraging metacognition, one simply said “Developmental readiness to a degree” (Teacher 1, Time 1). One barrier related to developmental readiness was being too reactive as described by this ECE:

In our classroom I feel that many of our children are not aware of their thought processes as they are often reactive to situations around them and don’t stop to think things through to understand the why and how (ECE4, Time 2).

Some educators were quick to admit that the development of metacognition was often overlooked by them and other Kindergarten educators. This teacher explained further “Often overlooked by educators, ‘not enough time,’ ‘difficult to mark/assess,’ ‘not as important as the hard skills”’ (Teacher 7, Time 2). This quotation emphasizes competing priorities and potentially a devaluing of metacognition for some educators. Another teacher admitted that metacognition was not a priority as described below.

I’m worried about kids falling through the cracks. So as much as I want you to become self-reflective and metacognitive about all of those things. It’s just one of those things. There’s only so many hours in a day, I just feel like I don’t get to it for some reason (Teacher 1, Time 1).

A different barrier was a lack of play time and having too much structured learning time. This ECE explained further “I feel the structured learning environment and limited play-based learning in our classroom leaves little time” (ECE 2, Time 1). However, it was promising to observe more effort toward the development of metacognition during the second time period including through the use of think-aloud protocols, ongoing dialog, and prompting (Time 1 and 2, Classroom Observation, Teacher 1, 4, and 7; ECE 1, 3, and 4).

Theme 3: Operationalization of strategies to facilitate metacognitive development

Despite reporting struggling with developing metacognition in their students, most educators were able to provide examples of practices that they implemented to promote the development of metacognition. Sometimes these strategies were described in relation to a specific context such as math with one educator explaining how they encouraged students to verbalize their strategies during number talks (Classroom Observation, Teacher 1, Time 1) or about literacy where a different educator discussed sharing book predictions. Educators tended to emphasize the need for explicit modeling of strategies through thinking out loud. This teacher explained, “… if we don’t show that thinking part out loud or talking out loud for them, they’re not going to develop those skills” (Teacher 8, Time 2). A different teacher consistently asked students to explain their thinking when they provided an answer (Classroom Observation, Teacher 2, Time 1). One teacher explained that “Children are learning how best to complete tasks” (Teacher 5, Time 2) in her classroom. This teacher shared examples observed during play:

I sometimes see that in terms of children actually having little out loud conversations with themselves. They’ll be building a tower of blocks and how can I put this one? I’ve got this, It fell off and they could try the same thing again. It fell off and they try the same thing and it fell off. And sometimes I hear them going, oh, this one’s got a curvy edge. It’s falling off. I’m going to try this one. So sometimes I actually hear kids reasoning through those things themselves, or I will hear things. They’re building something and they’ve got a car in a little ramp. Wow, this ramp is higher, that car went faster (Teacher 1, Time 2).

Other educators reiterated the role that play-based learning can have when working to develop student metacognition. One teacher reported that she did not have as much time as she would have liked to encourage the development of metacognition. She explained further:

It is a goal that I had hoped to reach more this year. I am working with a new ECE and needed this year to build that relationship. Hopefully, we will be able to put a system into place for next year where we can target specific children on certain days of the week to create time and space for [focusing] on deep reflective practice (Teacher 3, Time 2).

Another key subtheme centered around providing feedback after students had the opportunity to try strategies independently. Sometimes this feedback was provided by the educators while other times it was shared by peers. This teacher shared an example of providing more informal feedback during a conversation:

And I have conversations sort of informally with children about pieces of that. So for example, writing their name and “I notice that you’ve done this, you’re using all capital letters that’s shouting. We need to keep working on this. Get your name card.” And so having those conversations with kids (Teacher 1, Time 1).

Another mechanism for providing feedback included co-constructing with students as explained by this teacher:

…we take for granted that we can process everything in our head and then really quickly and have an idea. So I think for us, we tried to do everything with the kids [and] develop a learning chart with the kids (Teacher 8, Time 2).

KWL charts were also used by one teacher and ECE pair to help support metacognition. More specifically, the teacher and ECE would ask students to identify what they knew about a topic and write it down. They would then write down what the students wanted to learn. After completing the lesson, the educator would document what the students learned (Classroom Observation, Teacher 6 and ECE 5, Time 1). Finally, educators also provided students with the necessary vocabulary when sharing feedback. This teacher elaborated “… so in Kindergarten I think giving them the language and explaining sort of terms and things, you know, vocabulary” (Teacher 4, Time 2). Educators described how they used prompting through questioning to promote the development of metacognition as shared by this ECE “… what were you thinking about that? you know, asking those questions of you know, well, why do you think the Caterpillar did this?” (ECE1, Time 2). Another form of prompting was through the use of symbols to help students progress through steps. Many participants also emphasized the importance of a growth mindset and encouraging students to make mistakes. Despite having an incomplete understanding of metacognition, early years educators were trying a variety of different strategies to help promote metacognitive thinking within their Kindergarten classrooms.

Research question (2) how do young children’s metacognition and self-regulatory behaviors evolve across two time periods as measured by educators?

The demographic variables explored were sex (male or female) and grade level (SK or SK). A complete overview of descriptive findings is available in Supplementary Appendix B . At Time 1, all means across items were higher for female students than male students when rated by the teachers except for one item. The one item was a motivational one where male students ( M = 1.74) enjoyed solving problems more than female students ( M = 1.71). Similarly, there was one motivational item at Time 2 where male students were rated more highly than female students by teachers. More specifically, male students ( M = 2.18) initiated activities more than female students ( M = 2.15). At Time 1, all means across items were higher for SK than JK students. This was also the case for Time 2 for teacher ratings.

At Time 1, all means across items were higher for female students than male students when rated by the ECEs. However, when looking at grade level, there were three prosocial items where junior kindergarten (JK) students had higher means than those in SK. More specifically, JK students ( M = 1.60) were better able to resolve social problems with peers than those in SK ( M = 1.5). For another prosocial item, JK students ( M = 2.40) were better able to engage in independent cooperative activities with peers than their SK colleagues ( M = 2.36). Finally, JK students ( M = 2.08) were more aware of the feelings of others and helped and comforted others than their SK peers ( M = 2.07). Similarly, at Time 2, all means across items were higher for female students than male students when rated by the ECEs. There was only one item at Time 2 where JK students had a higher mean than SK students according to the ECEs. The item was again a prosocial one whereby JK students ( M = 1.56) were better able to resolve social problems with peers than SK students ( M = 1.54).

Surprisingly, teacher ratings using the CHILD did not change significantly from Time 1 ( M = 1.88, SD = 0.744) to Time 2 ( M = 1.85, SD = 0.66), t (72) = 0.72, p > 0.05. Furthermore, teacher ratings decreased slightly from Time 2 to Time 1. A similar trend was observed for ECE ratings using the CHILD as they did not change significantly from Time 1 ( M = 1.89, SD = 0.70) to Time 2 ( M = 1.80, SD = 0.79), t (52) = 1.36, p > 0.05. ECE ratings also decreased slightly from Time 2 to Time 1.

This mixed methods study aimed to explore the development of metacognition in eight Kindergarten classrooms. A combination of classroom observations, interviews, and educator ratings provided insight into metacognitive behaviors in young children. When examining conceptions of metacognition, it was clear that both teachers and ECEs in the current study had a developing understanding of metacognition. They were able to provide the literal translation and the odd time articulate different components such as reflective thinking or planning. Furthermore, MEs were not mentioned at all by these educators. They tended to focus more on the awareness component. This is concerning when considering the model of metacognition described earlier given that MEs are key across the three levels. More specifically, it is proposed that MEs may activate the regulatory loop ( Efklides, 2008 ). Without this activation, metacognition is not being developed to its fullest capacity in these young children.

The lack of a deeper conceptual understanding may not be surprising as previous studies have found similar results. For example, one study examining the connection between assessment and metacognition at the elementary level reported teachers conceptualizing metacognition as the ability to understand one’s thinking ( Braund and DeLuca, 2018 ). They also noted a similar gap with little to no mention of MEs ( Braund and DeLuca, 2018 ). A different study examining assessment in Kindergarten classrooms demonstrated that only 5 of 20 teachers mentioned metacognition in relation to SR and defined it as understanding an individual’s learning ( DeLuca et al., 2020 ).

Additionally, the Kindergarten curriculum in Ontario is centered around SR with some consideration for metacognition. A recent document analysis of this curriculum document was conducted to better understand how SR was operationalized throughout the document. One of their conclusions was the need to move toward a more holistic conceptualization of metacognition with the inclusion of all three components (metacognitive regulation, metacognitive awareness, and ME). This was identified as a need given that the policy document focused on the use of language to share one’s learning without considering planning, monitoring, or evaluating behaviors ( Braund and Timmons, 2021 ). Given the focus of the Kindergarten curriculum document, it makes sense why the educators in this study emphasized sharing one’s thinking and providing students with the necessary vocabulary to describe their thinking. One educational implication is that we need to provide in-service teachers with additional programming around the different facets of metacognition to help with the development of a more fulsome conceptualization. Additionally, this should begin in pre-service programming so that new teachers entering the system have stronger conceptions of metacognition.

Educators in the current study also reported a few key barriers that impacted their ability to integrate metacognition into their classrooms. These barriers included competing demands and the developmental readiness of students. It is well understood that teachers have a lot that they need to accomplish in the classroom including the development of SR, facilitating learning, and assessing learners. Even with two adults in the room (a teacher and ECE), the Kindergarten classroom remains chaotic with young learners. A few educators in the current study also reiterated the role that developmental readiness plays. This is interesting given that previous research has demonstrated that children are capable of metacognitive and self-regulatory behaviors ( Blair and Razza, 2007 ; Dignath et al., 2008 ; Whitebread et al., 2010 ; Erdmann and Hertel, 2019 ; Perry, 2019 ). It may be that educators lack many examples of concrete practices aimed to develop metacognition. Furthermore, some practices may not be developmentally appropriate for learners in Kindergarten. Therefore, educators need to be exposed to concrete practices that are appropriate for Kindergarten students. This includes providing educators with concrete examples of how MEs can be developed in the Kindergarten classroom for more substantiative metacognitive development. Educators in the current study used prompting and questioning as one technique to promote the development of metacognition. This is in alignment with another study that explored the use of metacognitive questions across three schools in the early years during literacy lessons. The questions were largely phrased around “how” and “why” encouraging students to explain their thinking. However, in the lessons that were analyzed, these types of questions comprised 5–15% of the total number of questions analyzed ( Gourlay et al., 2020 ). This low frequency suggests that metacognitive questions could be used to a greater extent in early years classrooms and across subjects.

Other strategies used in the current study included the provision of feedback related to metacognition. Multiple educators explained that feedback was ongoing throughout the day and that they would provide students with the opportunity to try strategies independently before providing them with feedback. One study examined the impact of providing different types of feedback on student learning in grade 5 classrooms. Corrective feedback helped students to work toward their immediate goals; however, metacognitive feedback better prepared students for other learning activities even after metacognitive support was removed. However, the authors clearly emphasized the need for students to receive explicit instruction on metacognitive strategies and be allowed to practice using the strategies. Otherwise, the metacognitive feedback may not help novice learners who had little prior knowledge ( Tan et al., 2006 ).

Related to educator ratings, generally, female students outperformed male students across the metacognition and SR items in the CHILD. However, in the few instances where male students were rated more highly for SR and metacognition behaviors, they were for motivational items. One study found significant differences according to gender in Grade 8 students. The differences were observed for specific metacognition items such as “My performance depends on my will and my effort” and “I know what teachers expect me to learn” ( Liliana and Lavinia, 2011 ). The first item may involve motivational processes and thus aligns with the current study that found differences among male students even at the Kindergarten level, although the differences in the current study were descriptive trends rather than significant differences.

Similar trends were observed as to how teachers and ECEs rated students using the CHILD. This concordance of ratings helps to provide additional validity evidence for the use of the measure in different educator groupings. Surprisingly, the teacher and ECE ratings did not differ significantly at Time 2 when compared to Time 1 for the current study. The study was originally designed to capture changes in SR and assessment practices across the 12 weeks. Yet, there is a chance that 12 weeks were not enough to capture changes in these students’ behaviors. It may be posited that a change in metacognition and SR behaviors could be observed if Time 1 was in September and Time 2 was closer to the end of the school year such as in May. There may also be events in the lives of students for the current study that may have caused them to struggle with regulation at Time 2 when compared to Time 1.

One mixed methods study compared metacognitive beliefs and practices for pre-service ( n = 43) and in-service ( n = 45) teachers. Both groups of teachers recognized the importance of metacognition however, in-service teachers reported greater integration than pre-service teachers. In-service teachers tended to report more concrete strategies such as explicit instruction, use of think-aloud protocols, and students as active agents, whereas pre-service teachers tended to be more idealistic without concrete examples from their practice. Additionally, in-service teachers tended to have deeper conceptualizations of metacognition making connections to higher order thinking and the use of metacognitive strategies across domains ( Braund and Soleas, 2019 ). These findings reiterate the importance of not just teaching about metacognition but also how to integrate metacognition across grade levels. Educators seem to agree on the importance of metacognition but continue to struggle with its implementation. Kindergarten is of particular interest because it sets the foundation for later learning. It may be that Kindergarten teachers need examples of how metacognition practices could be adapted for use in their classrooms. It was clear in the current study that all educators wanted to integrate more metacognition practices in their classrooms but struggled with competing demands. Perhaps if they were provided with examples of how these strategies could be applied across subject domains it may help with their integration.

Limitations

This mixed methods study had several limitations including that all data were collected from one school board. There was diversity across schools and students. Additionally, only six of the eligible eight ECEs participated in the study. Therefore, some of their perspectives may not have been captured relating to the development of metacognition. Specific to the measurement, the CHILD measure was completed by educators who may have interpreted the items differently without having more formal training. This emphasizes the need for triangulating across measures for metacognition in children.

Future research

Future research should add additional timepoints including measuring metacognition and SR behaviors at the beginning of the year to capture a baseline. More studies need to take a longitudinal approach in the early years focused on understanding the development of metacognition as children develop. Given that the gender and sex differences were observed for select items, future work should continue to explore metacognitive behaviors according to gender or sex. Measures need to be triangulated to ensure an accurate demonstration of metacognition such as through the use of think-aloud protocols, classroom observations, interviews, and self-report items. Additionally, as we understand more about how metacognition is operationalized in the early years, interventions can be designed and implemented to facilitate the development in Kindergarten.

This research highlights empirical practices that Kindergarten educators can use to help facilitate metacognitive thinking. Despite having barriers impacting their implementation, educators in the current study worked to encourage metacognitive thinking using developmentally appropriate strategies. Furthermore, findings highlight a need to better support Kindergarten educators with developing metacognitive thinking in their students through explicit examples of strategies for use across subject domains and substantiating their conceptualization.

Data availability statement

The datasets presented in this article are not readily available because additional ethics approval would be required to share raw data beyond the research team specified in the original ethics application. Requests to access the datasets should be directed to HB, [email protected] .

Ethics statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by General Research Ethics Board at Queen’s University. Written informed consent to participate in this study was provided by the participants or their legal guardian/next of kin.

Author contributions

HB lead the study design with input from her dissertation committee, collected and analyzed all data, wrote this manuscript herself, and is accountable for the accuracy and integrity of the work.

HB was supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Award # 752-2016-1858).

Acknowledgments

The author thanks all RAs who helped to collect the data and all educators who participated in this study. The author also thanks my doctoral committee including Christopher DeLuca, Liying Cheng, and Kristy Timmons who remained supportive throughout the dissertation and beyond.

Conflict of interest

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933541/full#supplementary-material

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Keywords : metacognition, teacher, early years, self-regulation, Kindergarten

Citation: Braund H (2022) Thinking about Kindergarten thinking: A mixed methods study. Front. Psychol. 13:933541. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933541

Received: 01 May 2022; Accepted: 04 August 2022; Published: 02 September 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Braund. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Heather Braund, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Articles on Kindergarten

Displaying 1 - 20 of 47 articles.

As a child psychiatrist, I know it’s critical for kindergartens to embrace playful learning

Jean Clinton , McMaster University

Changes are coming to Ontario’s kindergarten program — what parents and caregivers need to know

Kristy Timmons , Queen's University, Ontario

In most provinces, 4-year -olds aren’t at school — but it’s an economically smart way to create child-care  spaces

David Philpott , Memorial University of Newfoundland

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Why B.C. has ended letter grades for younger students

Victor Brar , University of British Columbia

When kids like the box more than the toy: The benefits of playing with everyday objects

Ozlem Cankaya , MacEwan University

Newly linked data can reveal academic development from kindergarten to high school in 150,000 students

Jeanne Sinclair , Memorial University of Newfoundland ; Magdalena Janus , McMaster University , and Scott Davies , University of Toronto

A message to anxious parents as 320,000 Australian children start school

Kate Highfield , Australian Catholic University

What to look for in a high-quality ‘ pre-primary ’ or junior kindergarten program

Christine McLean , Mount Saint Vincent University and Jessie-Lee McIsaac , Mount Saint Vincent University

Kindergarten transitions can be eased by supporting kids’ social and emotional needs

Kimberly Hillier , University of Windsor

Why doesn’t Canada let schools provide child care?

Kerry McCuaig , University of Toronto

From full-day learning to 30 minutes daily: The effects of school closures on kindergarteners

Natalie Spadafora , McMaster University and Magdalena Janus , McMaster University

Why do kids have to go to school?

Hawani Negussie , University of Massachusetts

5 tips for parents of new kindergartners who are younger than their classmates

Gregory Fabiano , Florida International University

Addressing childhood anxiety as early as kindergarten could reduce its harmful impacts

Caroline Reid-Westoby , McMaster University and Magdalena Janus , McMaster University

Kindergarten educators with children at home struggled during the pandemic — mental health supports are needed

Disruptive kindergartners are likely to be bullied later in elementary school

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How getting kids to make grocery lists and set the table can improve their vocabulary and willingness to learn

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Does my child have separation anxiety? How parents can help with children’s back-to -school fears

Audrey-Ann Deneault , University of Calgary and Sheri Madigan , University of Calgary

New Alberta curriculum would overload young learners when what they need is balance

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Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University

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8 Genius Research Projects for K–2 Students You Will Definitely Want to Try

Turn your K–2 students into researchers and detectives with these fun classroom projects.

PebbleGo  is the award-winning database for reading and research for K-2. It makes learning fun while improving reading and research skills. Learn more about the six different databases—Animals, Science, Biographies, Dinosaurs, Social Studies  and the Spanish-language Animals. 

Research-based learning is often reserved for students in upper elementary or middle school, but this is a skill that kids can and do learn at an early age. Yes, you can teach kindergarteners how to do proper research (i.e. be awesome detectives and readers) . 

Here are eight inspiring research projects on subjects common for the K–2 age group. For each one, we give tips for LEARNING about the specific subject first with key research questions and tasks. Then, we offer a creative project idea, inspired by teachers and educators around the country, for DOING with your students.

1. The World of Bugs

SOURCE: Plain Vanilla Mom

It’s a big, enormous world out there—and there are   lots of bugs in it. This is a good one to start with if you’re teaching young elementary students how to research. Spiders, insects, and bugs will forever be fascinating subjects for kids. So this project should generate a lot of excitement.

LEARNING: Assign each of your students a different bug and have them answer very simple questions like: How many legs do they have? Where can you find them? How big are they?

DOING: This bug fossil activity is fantastic! All you need is modeling clay, plastic insects (which you can get at the dollar store), a magnifying glass, and tweezers or tongs. Your students will love making the little molds, and it will really encourage them to pay attention to detail!

2. Money, Money, Money

Source: 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Understanding the value of a dollar, counting, and even doing small math problems with money are all skills that your students will be doing for years to come. Here’s how you can get them going on concepts now.

LEARNING: Start with the basics and make sure your students know the value of each bill and coin. Once they understand this, talk to them about earning money, saving, and even the purpose of banks.

DOING: Get inspired by this money minibook. Either download a free one (see link above) or create your own version to meet your classroom needs. Create several books for your class or one for each student as a quick reference to help them really understand the value of money.

3. History and Fame

Source: Let’s Explore

Every grade level has history and biographies as part of its curriculum. It’s essential for students to learn about historymakers, inventors, artists, and other important people of the past, and there are lots of fun ways to do this.

LEARNING: The research comes first, so it’s a good idea to assign a famous person to each of your students. Have them do a little biography, answering questions like: When were they born? Why are they famous? Where did they live?

DOING: Now it’s time for the fun part, where students get to be creative in reporting their results. Some teachers have the students get up in front of the class to present on their specific person, while others make it an art project. We love biography poster collages, like the one pictured above, because they really encourage students to focus on the most essential biographical facts.

4. Learning Plant Life Cycle

Source: The Imagination Tree

Learning about plant life is always a popular classroom activity. It’s such a great opportunity to show students how things grow, and help them understand where their food comes from. 

LEARNING: Students can research farming and agriculture, and learn about where food comes from, both locally and around the world. Discover where tropical fruits like bananas and pineapple come from compared to crops in the United States like corn, potatoes, and beans. Help students understand that all plants have a similar start like the beans you will grow in class. 

DOING:  Plant your bean plants in a clear container like a jar. You can use paper towel or cotton balls for the planting so students will be able to see the roots grow and develop. Have students track the plant’s progress. They can measure it, take photos, or draw pictures every few days. Your students will love seeing how it changes so quickly. 

5. Animal Tracks

Source: Green Kids Crafts

Animals are such a big interest area for younger elementary students, and they make lessons instantly more popular. This really useful lesson covers animals, human anatomy, and animal habitats.

LEARNING: When your class studies animal tracks, students can learn a lot about animals. For instance, they can learn about an animal’s size. They can also compare the size of the animal track to their own handprints or footprints for an anatomy lesson. And students can learn about animal habitats, too! We can help our students understand how all of these items are connected.

DOING: Now that your students have learned about animal tracks, have them recreate the tracks using cardboard scraps and sponges. This will give them a real idea of the actual size and shape of different tracks in the wild.

6. Digging into Dinosaurs

Source: Inquiring Minds

Even though they’re now extinct, dinosaurs remain some of the most popular animals with kids. Once you get your students researching, they can learn so much about these magnificent animals that came before us.

LEARNING: Help your students define the words “paleontology” and “paleontologist.” Next, encourage your kids to research different types of dinosaurs. Have them answer questions like: What were some of the big ones? Which ones could fly? What did different types of dinosaurs eat? These will all be important questions to answer before you dive into a project.

DOING: You can steal the sponge idea mentioned above to also create dinosaur tracks. Or for the ambitious teacher, create your very own giant dinosaur skeleton. This teacher outlined the shape for her students and then let them use packing peanuts and empty cardboard tubes to fill the inside.

7. Environment and Pollution

Source: The Owl Teacher

Whether you’re looking for a good Earth Day activity or you just want to teach your students more about environmental issues we are facing around the world, you can bring home the message by studying water pollution. This is a topic that affects millions every single day.

LEARNING: First, learn about the different types of pollution with your students. Air and water pollution are two big ones to start with. Help your kids learn the difference between these two and what they look like. Then ask them a question like, how could pollution affect animals, humans, and the future? Questions like this might seem too big for little minds, but they can handle it!

DOING: It really helps to see this lesson firsthand, and this Freddie the Fish activity is perfect. You’ll definitely want to see this teacher’s step-by-step instructions  describing how she did it, but the basics involve a fish-shaped sponge, plastic containers, and adding different toxins to the water. Your students will really start to see how a little bit of water pollution can really get out of hand quickly.

8. Color Mixing 

Source: Preschool Inspirations  

Color mixing is always a popular activity, and it’s great for hands-on research. Your students will love being in charge of the colors and watching them change before their eyes. 

LEARNING: Talk to your students about primary colors and go over the basics of what happens when you blend colors together. Depending on age, talk to them about why this happens and/or what they are seeing. Work with them to come up with a list or anchor chart about the most common color combinations. 

DOING: There are so many great color-mixing activities out there, including mixing colorful ice cubes or having a color mixing station in the classroom. We also love this project from Preschool Inspirations,  where they make sensory bottles with color mixing. 

Make research for your K–2 students easier by using PebbleGo , a reading and research database specifically targeting younger elementary students.

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February 19, 2021 by: Laura

Research Skills for Kindergarten and First Grade

Last Updated on February 18, 2024 by Laura

Is it possible to teach research skills in the primary grades? Of course the answer is a resounding “YES!” The key is looking at the big picture – what will your students need as they progress though school? Research skills for kindergarten and first grade students lay the groundwork for future learning and success. Think of these skills in the primary grades as building a strong foundation.

Scaffold Research Skills

As with so many important skills, we need to start small when approaching research skills for kindergarten and first grade students. But, don’t just think about your students’ needs right now – look to the future. If you begin with the end in mind (5h grade? 8th grade? 12th grade?), you will be helping your young students understand concepts that will serve them well in later learning. It is important to teach skills each year that build upon one another .

Use Research Vocabulary

Using the proper vocabulary while teaching research skills to primary students is one way to build that strong foundation for future learning. Make sure you use the same words that you use with your older students, taking time to explain their meanings and give examples as you go. These words will be familiar each year as you do more research lessons. Some important words to consider:

• Informational Text

Do a Project Together

One strategy for teaching research skills to kindergarten and first grade students is to do a project together. As the teacher, you can choose the topic – perhaps George Washington or Abraham Lincol n in February, or your school’s mascot animal any time of year. You might even want to try a holiday research activity in December. Using a simple notetaking outline or booklet, you can model taking notes and writing down interesting facts as you go.

Give Choices

Of course, it’s always nice to give choices when you can. You want your students to know that they can use library resources to explore topics of personal interest any time! Now, I know I just suggested that you do a guided project together, but can you offer choice within your guided project? Giving your kindergarten and first grade students the choice between George Washington or Abraham Lincoln is still manageable for you as a librarian or teacher. You could also let them choose an animal to researc h . Give a list of 5 to choose from, if you’re concerned about this lesson getting out of control.

Use Kid-Friendly Resources

Does your school library subscribe to any online databases for primary students? The Abdo Zoom Animals and Biography databases are excellent for kindergarten and first grade students. When you guide them through a joint research project and model searching and navigating your databases, you’re definitely setting your young learners up for future success. After the project is over, give them time to explore topics of their own choosing using the database.

Choose a couple of strong print resources to use during your research project. Blastoff Readers and Bullfrog Books are excellent choices for their text features, clear photos, and kid-friendly layout. Create a display of related nonfiction titles for your kindergarten and first grade students to explore after the research is complete.

Encourage Sharing

One of the biggest joys of learning is sharing new information with others! Students can create a poster to display on a bulletin board, or a booklet to read to a big buddy. And of course you’ll want to encourage your primary students to bring home their projects to share their learning with their families!

Make it Easy on Yourself!

If you’re looking for made-for-you activities to help you teach research skills to your kindergarten and first grade students, I can help! These popular resources have been used as whole group activities, centers, and collaborative projects.

• Animal Research K-1 is fun and engaging any time of year!
• President Research K-1 is great for February activities around President’s Day.

Research Skills for Elementary Students

Research skills for kindergarten and first grade students lay the foundation for future learning. If you’re looking for scaffolded lessons to take the learning from kindergarten to fifth grade, check out the resources in this Ultimate Research Bundle . You’ll get lessons and activities for animal research projects and president research projects. Each grade builds upon skills taught the previous year. Help your students progress in their mastery of research skills throughout their elementary school years!

Be the light!

February 19, 2021 at 6:49 PM

Great tips for easing our littles into research! Thanks!

February 28, 2021 at 10:55 AM

First of all, I would like to mention that I really enjoyed reading your post and appreciate all the tips you are sharing. Second of all, you mentioned to “do a project together”. I have been a Kindergarten and Grade one teacher in the past and I remember how hectic things could get when I was trying to get every student connected at once. I don’t have any teacher librarian experience, I am currently enrolled in a Teacher Librarian program. So what suggestions do you have to run this experience smoothly? I was thinking in asking the help of the classroom teacher for that purpose but maybe there are other ways to do this. Thank you.

March 23, 2021 at 9:42 AM

Hi Carla – Thanks for stopping by! With these littles, you could project your source on the big screen and read through it with them, modeling your thinking and even taking very simple notes (using your document camera – toggle between the computer display and the doc cam). In “normal” years, I would pair up these students as a follow up to the lesson and allow them to explore the source (for example, Abdo Zoom – Animals or World Book Early World of Learning Animals category). Yes, you could get a volunteer or two or some older kids to come in and help. I would set up my computers before class and then rotate around and help students as needed. It is chaotic at first, but they get comfortable with the navigation pretty quickly, especially when you’ve modeled it first the week before. Best wishes to you!!

January 2, 2022 at 10:11 AM

You mentioned a winter sports research project. Is that one available for purchase? That would be fantastic for the Winter Olympics in February. Thank you for sharing all your fabulous lessons.

January 2, 2022 at 10:55 AM

Hi Kayla! I do have a resource for Winter Olympics/Winter Sports. It’s a bulletin board and mini research project and you can find it here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Winter-Sports-Bulletin-Board-and-Mini-Research-Kit-3653324?utm_source=trapppedlibrarian.org&utm_campaign=TL%20Winter%20Sports%20Blog

March 28, 2022 at 5:52 PM

I was doing research just today with my pre-k and 1st grade classes. We started with a KWL chart, listing things students know about birds, then developed questions for the want to know column. When we had 3 questions, I divided the students into small groups and gave them non-fiction picture books about many kinds of birds to look through and find answers. My TA, the pre-k TA, and I helped guide the students’ research and helped with reading as necessary.

Questions were: are all birds born from eggs? why do birds lay eggs in nests? are all nests built in trees?

Students were very engaged and excited about researching “like the big kids”.

April 15, 2022 at 10:22 AM

Sounds like a great lesson, Denise! Thanks for sharing!

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📚 Elementary School Librarian 🌟 NBCT 2011 👩🏻‍🏫 Teacher Author Blog: trappedlibrarian.org

79 Kindergarten Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best kindergarten topic ideas & essay examples, 🎓 simple & easy kindergarten essay titles, 📝 good essay topics on kindergarten.

• Lev Vygotsky: Educational Implications of Sociocultural Theory The sociocultural theory is more responsive to the learning process of children with special needs since it argues that ideas and concepts are socially mediated and exist in collectives rather than in individuals.
• A Day’s Outing for Kindergarten Children The client, who is a school, wants the kindergarten children and their children to have a days picnic and outing. The event would help to break the tediousness of regular schoolwork and provide some entertainment […]
• Kindergarten English Language Proficiency Standard 1 It is important to develop an appropriate set of ELP standards for English learners at the kindergarten level in order to create a solid background for basic learning and the linguistic demands that will be […]
• Reading Aloud in Kindergarten: Lesson Plan The approximate age of learners should be four to five years. The group should consist of approximately 15-20 students.
• Using Technologies in Kindergarten Classrooms Integrating modern technologies into the educational process in kindergartens helps educators transmit knowledge to the children and influence their emotions and perception of the materials.
• Full-Day Kindergarten Program: Advantages and Disadvantages The educational stakeholders seek to determine the effect of this program to the parents, teachers, and the pupils undertaking it. In this regard, the full-day kindergarten program provides time for the students to practice the […]
• Vygotsky’s Social-Historical Theory: Towards Facilitating Learning in Kindergarten-Age children It is the object of this paper to demonstrates how Vygotsky’s theory can be used to assist kindergarten students and others with special needs to cope with the learning process It was the perception of […]
• The Superkids Reading Program in the Kindergarten The purpose of this paper is to overview the program components, evaluate it in terms of advantages and disadvantages, and discuss the details of the program implementation in the classroom setting with the focus on […]
• Kindergarten Transition: The Key Difficulties Sheridan et al.offer a good source to explore KT as their study systematically assesses and summarizes almost 250 parents’ practices in the pre-KT and KT periods and such activities’ implications for children’s success.
• Social-Emotional Learning for Kindergarten Education To set adequate goals for social-emotional learning, researchers must quantify and contextualize the behaviors and attitudes of large samples of subjects.
• American Federal Holidays: Essential Knowledge for Kindergarten Their bravery gave a start to the history of our country, as the first European settlers followed Columbus quite soon and established their colonies on American soil. The Fourth of July has become a symbol […]
• Impact of Social Media on Instructional Practices for Kindergarten Teachers General Context of the Problem Despite the increase in the use of social media in teaching, there is still a significant lack of research done on the impact of social media integration in teaching techniques […]
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• Phonemic Awareness and Word Recognition in Kindergarten Blachman and Ball define phonemic awareness as the awareness that spoken words are made up of individual sounds; the ability to identify the individual phonemes of a word.
• Effects of Full-day Kindergarten on Achievement These changes in the American culture and in schooling over the past 2 decades have had their impact on the reputation of full-day, all-day-a-week kindergarten education in a number of communities.
• Grouping at the Kindergarten and Secondary Levels Researchers have established that group or cooperative learning improves the academic grades of students and helps in building high self-esteem, good social skills, and enhanced the comprehensive ability of their content and skills of the […]
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A top researcher says it's time to rethink our entire approach to preschool

Anya Kamenetz

Dale Farran has been studying early childhood education for half a century. Yet her most recent scientific publication has made her question everything she thought she knew.

"It really has required a lot of soul-searching, a lot of reading of the literature to try to think of what were plausible reasons that might account for this."

And by "this," she means the outcome of a study that lasted more than a decade. It included 2,990 low-income children in Tennessee who applied to free, public prekindergarten programs. Some were admitted by lottery, and the others were rejected, creating the closest thing you can get in the real world to a randomized, controlled trial — the gold standard in showing causality in science.

The Tennessee Pre-K Debate: Spinach Vs. Easter Grass

Farran and her co-authors at Vanderbilt University followed both groups of children all the way through sixth grade. At the end of their first year, the kids who went to pre-K scored higher on school readiness — as expected.

But after third grade, they were doing worse than the control group. And at the end of sixth grade, they were doing even worse. They had lower test scores, were more likely to be in special education, and were more likely to get into trouble in school, including serious trouble like suspensions.

"Whereas in third grade we saw negative effects on one of the three state achievement tests, in sixth grade we saw it on all three — math, science and reading," says Farran. "In third grade, where we had seen effects on one type of suspension, which is minor violations, by sixth grade we're seeing it on both types of suspensions, both major and minor."

That's right. A statewide public pre-K program, taught by licensed teachers, housed in public schools, had a measurable and statistically significant negative effect on the children in this study.

Farran hadn't expected it. She didn't like it. But her study design was unusually strong, so she couldn't easily explain it away.

"This is still the only randomized controlled trial of a statewide pre-K, and I know that people get upset about this and don't want it to be true."

Why it's a bad time for bad news

It's a bad time for early childhood advocates to get bad news about public pre-K. Federally funded universal prekindergarten for 3- and 4-year-olds has been a cornerstone of President Biden's social agenda, and there are talks about resurrecting it from the stalled-out "Build Back Better" plan. Preschool has been expanding in recent years and is currently publicly funded to some extent in 46 states. About 7 in 10 4-year-olds now attend some kind of academic program.

This enthusiasm has rested in part on research going back to the 1970s. Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman, among others, showed substantial long-term returns on investment for specially designed and carefully implemented programs.

To put it crudely, policymakers and experts have touted for decades now that if you give a 4-year-old who is growing up in poverty a good dose of story time and block play, they'll be more likely to grow up to become a high-earning, productive citizen.

What went wrong in Tennessee

No study is the last word. The research on pre-K continues to be mixed. In May 2021, a working paper (not yet peer reviewed) came out that looked at Boston's pre-K program. The study was a similar size to Farran's, used a similar quasi-experimental design based on random assignment, and also followed up with students for years. This study found that the preschool kids had better disciplinary records and were much more likely to graduate from high school, take the SATs and go to college, though their test scores didn't show a difference.

Farran believes that, with a citywide program, there's more opportunity for quality control than in her statewide study. Boston's program spent more per student, and it also was mixed-income, whereas Tennessee's program is for low-income kids only.

So what went wrong in Tennessee? Farran has some ideas — and they challenge almost everything about how we do school. How teachers are prepared, how programs are funded and where they are located. Even something as simple as where the bathrooms are.

In short, Farran is rethinking her own preconceptions, which are an entire field's preconceptions, about what constitutes quality pre-K.

Do kids in poverty deserve the same teaching as rich kids?

"One of the biases that I hadn't examined in myself is the idea that poor children need a different sort of preparation from children of higher-income families."

She's talking about drilling kids on basic skills. Worksheets for tracing letters and numbers. A teacher giving 10-minute lectures to a whole class of 25 kids who are expected to sit on their hands and listen, only five of whom may be paying any attention.

A Harsh Critique Of Federally Funded Pre-K

"Higher-income families are not choosing this kind of preparation," she explains. "And why would we assume that we need to train children of lower-income families earlier?"

Farran points out that families of means tend to choose play-based preschool programs with art, movement, music and nature. Children are asked open-ended questions, and they are listened to.

5 Proven Benefits Of Play

This is not what Farran is seeing in classrooms full of kids in poverty, where "teachers talk a lot, but they seldom listen to children." She thinks that part of the problem is that teachers in many states are certified for teaching students in prekindergarten through grade 5, or sometimes even pre-K-8. Very little of their training focuses on the youngest learners.

So another major bias that she's challenging is the idea that teacher certification equals quality. "There have been three very large studies, the latest one in 2018, which are not showing any relationship between quality and licensure."

Putting a bubble in your mouth

In 2016, Farran published a study based on her observations of publicly funded Tennessee pre-K classrooms similar to those included in this paper. She found then that the largest chunk of the day was spent in transition time. This means simply moving kids around the building.

Partly this is an architectural problem. Private preschools, even home-based day cares, tend to be laid out with little bodies in mind. There are bathrooms just off the classrooms. Children eat in, or very near, the classroom, too. And there is outdoor play space nearby with equipment suitable for short people.

Putting these same programs in public schools can make the whole day more inconvenient.

"So if you're in an older elementary school, the bathroom is going to be down the hall. You've got to take your children out, line them up and then they wait," Farran says. "And then, if you have to use the cafeteria, it's the same thing. You have to walk through the halls, you know: 'Don't touch your neighbor, don't touch the wall, put a bubble in your mouth because you have to be quiet.' "

One of Farran's most intriguing conjectures is that this need for control could explain the extra discipline problems seen later on in her most recent study.

"I think children are not learning internal control. And if anything, they're learning sort of an almost allergic reaction to the amount of external control that they're having, that they're having to experience in school."

In other words, regularly reprimanding kids for doing normal kid stuff at 4 years old, even suspending them, could backfire down the road as children experience school as a place of unreasonable expectations.

We know from other research that the control of children's bodies at school can have disparate racial impact. Other studies have suggested that Black children are disciplined more often in preschool, as they are in later grades. Farran's study, where 70% of the kids were white, found interactions between race, gender, and discipline problems, but no extra effect of attending preschool was detected.

Preschool Suspensions Really Happen And That's Not OK With Connecticut

Where to go from here.

The United States has a child care crisis that COVID-19 both intensified and highlighted. Progressive policymakers and advocates have tried for years to expand public support for child care by "pushing it down" from the existing public school system, using the teachers and the buildings.

Farran praises the direction that New York City, for one, has taken instead: a "mixed-delivery" program with slots for 3- and 4-year-olds. Some kids attend free public preschool in existing nonprofit day care centers, some in Head Start programs and some in traditional schools.

But the biggest lesson Farran has drawn from her research is that we've simply asked too much of pre-K, based on early results from what were essentially showcase pilot programs. "We tend to want a magic bullet," she says.

"Whoever thought that you could provide a 4-year-old from an impoverished family with 5 1/2 hours a day, nine months a year of preschool, and close the achievement gap, and send them to college at a higher rate?" she asks. "I mean, why? Why do we put so much pressure on our pre-K programs?"

We might actually get better results, she says, from simply letting little children play.

• Categories Literacy , S.T.E.A.M. , Science , Social Studies

Research Projects In Kindergarten

• Greg Smedley-Warren
• October 13, 2023
• No Comments

When Common Core standards were introduced several years ago, one of those standards was research and writing. The standards said students should participate in shared research and writing.  I found this standard to be terrifying.  I mean, what could go wrong with kindergartners researching something on Google?!  That’s where our research projects were born. While the standards might have changed, these research projects still meet state standards and, thus, are still applicable in all classrooms!  And they help make research and writing fun and developmentally appropriate!

Research Projects In The Classroom

As a teacher, I believe in doing what’s best for my students, but I also do what my district asks of me.  This means providing tools and scaffolding so my students can be successful.   So, if research and writing are standards, I want to find a way to make that goal accessible to my students in ways that they can be successful.   I decided that research projects should be a fun, engaging way to research and write in kindergarten.   So here’s how it works in our classroom!

The research projects are completed during our ELA time or literacy block.  This allows us to integrate science and social studies standards while meeting ELA standards such as research and writing.   The actual research is done through read-alouds and videos.  The information is discussed and recorded on graphic organizers.  Students then use the graphic organizers to do their writing.  Our ELA block is designed for a 30-minute whole-group lesson.  Our research projects use that time to be completed.  The read-aloud/video and graphic organizers are done in 15-20 minutes, and the students then work on their research journals independently.   We do one activity or graphic organizer each day.

Research Journals

Each research project includes a research journal.  The research journals are where students record their learning.  They write, do labeling, sorting, etc.  The journals give students ownership of their learning and are a source of pride.

Schema Maps

Each research project begins with a schema map.  Students share their schema or what they already know about the topic.  Every piece of schema they share is recorded on a post-it note and placed on the schema map.  The post-it notes allow us to organize our thinking much like our brains organize information.

When creating our schema map, I always draw a fun picture.  This helps introduce the topic and makes the learning fun!

We add our new learning to the schema map as we progress through our research projects.  At the end of the research project, we re-visit our schema and address misconceptions.  Misconceptions might be wrong, or they might be something where our thinking needs to be adjusted.  We move misconceptions to the misconceptions area of the schema map while discussing why it’s a misconception.

Graphic Organizers

The research portion of our research projects uses read-alouds and videos.  As we read, we record our learning on graphic organizers. We use turn-and-talk strategies and questioning to access the information.  The students also have to share the information in complete sentences.  Our research projects include can/have/are charts,  t-charts, circle charts, Venn Diagrams,  and more.   Note: each research project includes suggested read-aloud books and some research projects include video suggestions!

We record the information DURING the read-aloud.  We do not wait until the end of the read-aloud because doing it after the read-aloud makes it an assessment, and we don’t want it to be that.

The students take the information from our graphic organizers and use it to write in their research journals.  Differentiated journals use sentence frames for student writing.  Students copy information from the charts, and they are encouraged to write on their own.  As the year goes on and they build their writing skills, independent writing becomes much more natural for them.  It’s also important to note that students might not be ready to write or copy so they can draw pictures and dictate their learning to you!  

We also use the writing to work on the mechanics of writing.  I use one-on-one conferences to help them improve their writing.  Students are encouraged to use inventive/phonetic spelling when writing.

Vocabulary And Higher Order Thinking

We use labeling as part of our research projects to work on vocabulary.  We label a class chart, and then students label their pictures in their research journals.  The labels allow for conversations about adaptations and how each part helps or works.  Our research projects are aligned with the science of reading and are a powerful tool to teach vocabulary explicitly.  We know vocabulary is a MUST-have piece of the reading puzzle, and these research projects bring vocabulary instruction to the forefront!

For higher-order thinking, we use a true-false sort.  This higher-order thinking activity allows students to discuss what they’ve learned.  For false statements, we discuss why it’s false, and we change it into a truth statement.  Students then use the true statements to write about their topic.

Additional Activities 

Each research project also contains activities specific to that topic.  There might be clothing sorts for seasons.  A lesson on the water cycle or a life cycle activity.  For push and pull, we drew things we could push and pull.  The students make a forecast for our weather research project.  These additional activities allow us to target specific science and social studies standards.

All of our research projects are ALWAYS Buy 1 Get 1 50% off with code: RPBOGO50 . ONLY AT TKSSTORE.com

Our research projects:

Each one can be purchased individually OR you can purchase them as a bundle and save 50%!!

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Research Topics & Ideas: Education

170+ Research Ideas To Fast-Track Your Project

If you’re just starting out exploring education-related topics for your dissertation, thesis or research project, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’ll help kickstart your research topic ideation process by providing a hearty list of research topics and ideas , including examples from actual dissertations and theses..

PS – This is just the start…

We know it’s exciting to run through a list of research topics, but please keep in mind that this list is just a starting point . To develop a suitable education-related research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , and a viable plan of action to fill that gap.

If this sounds foreign to you, check out our free research topic webinar that explores how to find and refine a high-quality research topic, from scratch. Alternatively, if you’d like hands-on help, consider our 1-on-1 coaching service .

Overview: Education Research Topics

• How to find a research topic (video)
• List of 50+ education-related research topics/ideas
• List of 120+ level-specific research topics 
• Examples of actual dissertation topics in education
• Tips to fast-track your topic ideation (video)
• Free Webinar : Topic Ideation 101
• Where to get extra help

Education-Related Research Topics & Ideas

Below you’ll find a list of education-related research topics and idea kickstarters. These are fairly broad and flexible to various contexts, so keep in mind that you will need to refine them a little. Nevertheless, they should inspire some ideas for your project.

• The impact of school funding on student achievement
• The effects of social and emotional learning on student well-being
• The effects of parental involvement on student behaviour
• The impact of teacher training on student learning
• The impact of classroom design on student learning
• The impact of poverty on education
• The use of student data to inform instruction
• The role of parental involvement in education
• The effects of mindfulness practices in the classroom
• The use of technology in the classroom
• The role of critical thinking in education
• The use of formative and summative assessments in the classroom
• The use of differentiated instruction in the classroom
• The use of gamification in education
• The effects of teacher burnout on student learning
• The impact of school leadership on student achievement
• The effects of teacher diversity on student outcomes
• The role of teacher collaboration in improving student outcomes
• The implementation of blended and online learning
• The effects of teacher accountability on student achievement
• The effects of standardized testing on student learning
• The effects of classroom management on student behaviour
• The effects of school culture on student achievement
• The use of student-centred learning in the classroom
• The impact of teacher-student relationships on student outcomes
• The achievement gap in minority and low-income students
• The use of culturally responsive teaching in the classroom
• The impact of teacher professional development on student learning
• The use of project-based learning in the classroom
• The effects of teacher expectations on student achievement
• The use of adaptive learning technology in the classroom
• The impact of teacher turnover on student learning
• The effects of teacher recruitment and retention on student learning
• The impact of early childhood education on later academic success
• The impact of parental involvement on student engagement
• The use of positive reinforcement in education
• The impact of school climate on student engagement
• The role of STEM education in preparing students for the workforce
• The effects of school choice on student achievement
• The use of technology in the form of online tutoring

Level-Specific Research Topics

Looking for research topics for a specific level of education? We’ve got you covered. Below you can find research topic ideas for primary, secondary and tertiary-level education contexts. Click the relevant level to view the respective list.

Research Topics: Pick An Education Level

Primary education.

• Investigating the effects of peer tutoring on academic achievement in primary school
• Exploring the benefits of mindfulness practices in primary school classrooms
• Examining the effects of different teaching strategies on primary school students’ problem-solving skills
• The use of storytelling as a teaching strategy in primary school literacy instruction
• The role of cultural diversity in promoting tolerance and understanding in primary schools
• The impact of character education programs on moral development in primary school students
• Investigating the use of technology in enhancing primary school mathematics education
• The impact of inclusive curriculum on promoting equity and diversity in primary schools
• The impact of outdoor education programs on environmental awareness in primary school students
• The influence of school climate on student motivation and engagement in primary schools
• Investigating the effects of early literacy interventions on reading comprehension in primary school students
• The impact of parental involvement in school decision-making processes on student achievement in primary schools
• Exploring the benefits of inclusive education for students with special needs in primary schools
• Investigating the effects of teacher-student feedback on academic motivation in primary schools
• The role of technology in developing digital literacy skills in primary school students
• Effective strategies for fostering a growth mindset in primary school students
• Investigating the role of parental support in reducing academic stress in primary school children
• The role of arts education in fostering creativity and self-expression in primary school students
• Examining the effects of early childhood education programs on primary school readiness
• Examining the effects of homework on primary school students’ academic performance
• The role of formative assessment in improving learning outcomes in primary school classrooms
• The impact of teacher-student relationships on academic outcomes in primary school
• Investigating the effects of classroom environment on student behavior and learning outcomes in primary schools
• Investigating the role of creativity and imagination in primary school curriculum
• The impact of nutrition and healthy eating programs on academic performance in primary schools
• The impact of social-emotional learning programs on primary school students’ well-being and academic performance
• The role of parental involvement in academic achievement of primary school children
• Examining the effects of classroom management strategies on student behavior in primary school
• The role of school leadership in creating a positive school climate Exploring the benefits of bilingual education in primary schools
• The effectiveness of project-based learning in developing critical thinking skills in primary school students
• The role of inquiry-based learning in fostering curiosity and critical thinking in primary school students
• The effects of class size on student engagement and achievement in primary schools
• Investigating the effects of recess and physical activity breaks on attention and learning in primary school
• Exploring the benefits of outdoor play in developing gross motor skills in primary school children
• The effects of educational field trips on knowledge retention in primary school students
• Examining the effects of inclusive classroom practices on students’ attitudes towards diversity in primary schools
• The impact of parental involvement in homework on primary school students’ academic achievement
• Investigating the effectiveness of different assessment methods in primary school classrooms
• The influence of physical activity and exercise on cognitive development in primary school children
• Exploring the benefits of cooperative learning in promoting social skills in primary school students

Secondary Education

• Investigating the effects of school discipline policies on student behavior and academic success in secondary education
• The role of social media in enhancing communication and collaboration among secondary school students
• The impact of school leadership on teacher effectiveness and student outcomes in secondary schools
• Investigating the effects of technology integration on teaching and learning in secondary education
• Exploring the benefits of interdisciplinary instruction in promoting critical thinking skills in secondary schools
• The impact of arts education on creativity and self-expression in secondary school students
• The effectiveness of flipped classrooms in promoting student learning in secondary education
• The role of career guidance programs in preparing secondary school students for future employment
• Investigating the effects of student-centered learning approaches on student autonomy and academic success in secondary schools
• The impact of socio-economic factors on educational attainment in secondary education
• Investigating the impact of project-based learning on student engagement and academic achievement in secondary schools
• Investigating the effects of multicultural education on cultural understanding and tolerance in secondary schools
• The influence of standardized testing on teaching practices and student learning in secondary education
• Investigating the effects of classroom management strategies on student behavior and academic engagement in secondary education
• The influence of teacher professional development on instructional practices and student outcomes in secondary schools
• The role of extracurricular activities in promoting holistic development and well-roundedness in secondary school students
• Investigating the effects of blended learning models on student engagement and achievement in secondary education
• The role of physical education in promoting physical health and well-being among secondary school students
• Investigating the effects of gender on academic achievement and career aspirations in secondary education
• Exploring the benefits of multicultural literature in promoting cultural awareness and empathy among secondary school students
• The impact of school counseling services on student mental health and well-being in secondary schools
• Exploring the benefits of vocational education and training in preparing secondary school students for the workforce
• The role of digital literacy in preparing secondary school students for the digital age
• The influence of parental involvement on academic success and well-being of secondary school students
• The impact of social-emotional learning programs on secondary school students’ well-being and academic success
• The role of character education in fostering ethical and responsible behavior in secondary school students
• Examining the effects of digital citizenship education on responsible and ethical technology use among secondary school students
• The impact of parental involvement in school decision-making processes on student outcomes in secondary schools
• The role of educational technology in promoting personalized learning experiences in secondary schools
• The impact of inclusive education on the social and academic outcomes of students with disabilities in secondary schools
• The influence of parental support on academic motivation and achievement in secondary education
• The role of school climate in promoting positive behavior and well-being among secondary school students
• Examining the effects of peer mentoring programs on academic achievement and social-emotional development in secondary schools
• Examining the effects of teacher-student relationships on student motivation and achievement in secondary schools
• Exploring the benefits of service-learning programs in promoting civic engagement among secondary school students
• The impact of educational policies on educational equity and access in secondary education
• Examining the effects of homework on academic achievement and student well-being in secondary education
• Investigating the effects of different assessment methods on student performance in secondary schools
• Examining the effects of single-sex education on academic performance and gender stereotypes in secondary schools
• The role of mentoring programs in supporting the transition from secondary to post-secondary education

Tertiary Education

• The role of student support services in promoting academic success and well-being in higher education
• The impact of internationalization initiatives on students’ intercultural competence and global perspectives in tertiary education
• Investigating the effects of active learning classrooms and learning spaces on student engagement and learning outcomes in tertiary education
• Exploring the benefits of service-learning experiences in fostering civic engagement and social responsibility in higher education
• The influence of learning communities and collaborative learning environments on student academic and social integration in higher education
• Exploring the benefits of undergraduate research experiences in fostering critical thinking and scientific inquiry skills
• Investigating the effects of academic advising and mentoring on student retention and degree completion in higher education
• The role of student engagement and involvement in co-curricular activities on holistic student development in higher education
• The impact of multicultural education on fostering cultural competence and diversity appreciation in higher education
• The role of internships and work-integrated learning experiences in enhancing students’ employability and career outcomes
• Examining the effects of assessment and feedback practices on student learning and academic achievement in tertiary education
• The influence of faculty professional development on instructional practices and student outcomes in tertiary education
• The influence of faculty-student relationships on student success and well-being in tertiary education
• The impact of college transition programs on students’ academic and social adjustment to higher education
• The impact of online learning platforms on student learning outcomes in higher education
• The impact of financial aid and scholarships on access and persistence in higher education
• The influence of student leadership and involvement in extracurricular activities on personal development and campus engagement
• Exploring the benefits of competency-based education in developing job-specific skills in tertiary students
• Examining the effects of flipped classroom models on student learning and retention in higher education
• Exploring the benefits of online collaboration and virtual team projects in developing teamwork skills in tertiary students
• Investigating the effects of diversity and inclusion initiatives on campus climate and student experiences in tertiary education
• The influence of study abroad programs on intercultural competence and global perspectives of college students
• Investigating the effects of peer mentoring and tutoring programs on student retention and academic performance in tertiary education
• Investigating the effectiveness of active learning strategies in promoting student engagement and achievement in tertiary education
• Investigating the effects of blended learning models and hybrid courses on student learning and satisfaction in higher education
• The role of digital literacy and information literacy skills in supporting student success in the digital age
• Investigating the effects of experiential learning opportunities on career readiness and employability of college students
• The impact of e-portfolios on student reflection, self-assessment, and showcasing of learning in higher education
• The role of technology in enhancing collaborative learning experiences in tertiary classrooms
• The impact of research opportunities on undergraduate student engagement and pursuit of advanced degrees
• Examining the effects of competency-based assessment on measuring student learning and achievement in tertiary education
• Examining the effects of interdisciplinary programs and courses on critical thinking and problem-solving skills in college students
• The role of inclusive education and accessibility in promoting equitable learning experiences for diverse student populations
• The role of career counseling and guidance in supporting students’ career decision-making in tertiary education
• The influence of faculty diversity and representation on student success and inclusive learning environments in higher education

Education-Related Dissertations & Theses

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a research topic in education, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual dissertations and theses in the education space to see how this all comes together in practice.

Below, we’ve included a selection of education-related research projects to help refine your thinking. These are actual dissertations and theses, written as part of Master’s and PhD-level programs, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

• From Rural to Urban: Education Conditions of Migrant Children in China (Wang, 2019)
• Energy Renovation While Learning English: A Guidebook for Elementary ESL Teachers (Yang, 2019)
• A Reanalyses of Intercorrelational Matrices of Visual and Verbal Learners’ Abilities, Cognitive Styles, and Learning Preferences (Fox, 2020)
• A study of the elementary math program utilized by a mid-Missouri school district (Barabas, 2020)
• Instructor formative assessment practices in virtual learning environments : a posthumanist sociomaterial perspective (Burcks, 2019)
• Higher education students services: a qualitative study of two mid-size universities’ direct exchange programs (Kinde, 2020)
• Exploring editorial leadership : a qualitative study of scholastic journalism advisers teaching leadership in Missouri secondary schools (Lewis, 2020)
• Selling the virtual university: a multimodal discourse analysis of marketing for online learning (Ludwig, 2020)
• Advocacy and accountability in school counselling: assessing the use of data as related to professional self-efficacy (Matthews, 2020)
• The use of an application screening assessment as a predictor of teaching retention at a midwestern, K-12, public school district (Scarbrough, 2020)
• Core values driving sustained elite performance cultures (Beiner, 2020)
• Educative features of upper elementary Eureka math curriculum (Dwiggins, 2020)
• How female principals nurture adult learning opportunities in successful high schools with challenging student demographics (Woodward, 2020)
• The disproportionality of Black Males in Special Education: A Case Study Analysis of Educator Perceptions in a Southeastern Urban High School (McCrae, 2021)

As you can see, these research topics are a lot more focused than the generic topic ideas we presented earlier. So, in order for you to develop a high-quality research topic, you’ll need to get specific and laser-focused on a specific context with specific variables of interest.  In the video below, we explore some other important things you’ll need to consider when crafting your research topic.

Get 1-On-1 Help

If you’re still unsure about how to find a quality research topic within education, check out our Research Topic Kickstarter service, which is the perfect starting point for developing a unique, well-justified research topic.

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66 Comments

This is an helpful tool 🙏

Special education

Really appreciated by this . It is the best platform for research related items

Research title related to school of students

How are you

I think this platform is actually good enough.

Research title related to students

My field is research measurement and evaluation. Need dissertation topics in the field

Assalam o Alaikum I’m a student Bs educational Resarch and evaluation I’m confused to choose My thesis title please help me in choose the thesis title

Good idea I’m going to teach my colleagues

You can find our list of nursing-related research topic ideas here: https://gradcoach.com/research-topics-nursing/

Write on action research topic, using guidance and counseling to address unwanted teenage pregnancy in school

Thanks a lot

I learned a lot from this site, thank you so much!

Thank you for the information.. I would like to request a topic based on school major in social studies

parental involvement and students academic performance

Science education topics?

plz tell me if you got some good topics, im here for finding research topic for masters degree

How about School management and supervision pls.?

Hi i am an Deputy Principal in a primary school. My wish is to srudy foe Master’s degree in Education.Please advice me on which topic can be relevant for me. Thanks.

Every topic proposed above on primary education is a starting point for me. I appreciate immensely the team that has sat down to make a detail of these selected topics just for beginners like us. Be blessed.

Kindly help me with the research questions on the topic” Effects of workplace conflict on the employees’ job performance”. The effects can be applicable in every institution,enterprise or organisation.

Greetings, I am a student majoring in Sociology and minoring in Public Administration. I’m considering any recommended research topic in the field of Sociology.

I’m a student pursuing Mphil in Basic education and I’m considering any recommended research proposal topic in my field of study

Research Defense for students in senior high

Kindly help me with a research topic in educational psychology. Ph.D level. Thank you.

Project-based learning is a teaching/learning type,if well applied in a classroom setting will yield serious positive impact. What can a teacher do to implement this in a disadvantaged zone like “North West Region of Cameroon ( hinterland) where war has brought about prolonged and untold sufferings on the indegins?

I wish to get help on topics of research on educational administration

I wish to get help on topics of research on educational administration PhD level

I am also looking for such type of title

I am a student of undergraduate, doing research on how to use guidance and counseling to address unwanted teenage pregnancy in school

the topics are very good regarding research & education .

Can i request your suggestion topic for my Thesis about Teachers as an OFW. thanx you

Would like to request for suggestions on a topic in Economics of education,PhD level

Would like to request for suggestions on a topic in Economics of education

Hi 👋 I request that you help me with a written research proposal about education the format

Am offering degree in education senior high School Accounting. I want a topic for my project work

l would like to request suggestions on a topic in managing teaching and learning, PhD level (educational leadership and management)

request suggestions on a topic in managing teaching and learning, PhD level (educational leadership and management)

I would to inquire on research topics on Educational psychology, Masters degree

I am PhD student, I am searching my Research topic, It should be innovative,my area of interest is online education,use of technology in education

request suggestion on topic in masters in medical education .

Look at British Library as they keep a copy of all PhDs in the UK Core.ac.uk to access Open University and 6 other university e-archives, pdf downloads mostly available, all free.

May I also ask for a topic based on mathematics education for college teaching, please?

Please I am a masters student of the department of Teacher Education, Faculty of Education Please I am in need of proposed project topics to help with my final year thesis

Am a PhD student in Educational Foundations would like a sociological topic. Thank

please i need a proposed thesis project regardging computer science

Greetings and Regards I am a doctoral student in the field of philosophy of education. I am looking for a new topic for my thesis. Because of my work in the elementary school, I am looking for a topic that is from the field of elementary education and is related to the philosophy of education.

Masters student in the field of curriculum, any ideas of a research topic on low achiever students

In the field of curriculum any ideas of a research topic on deconalization in contextualization of digital teaching and learning through in higher education

Amazing guidelines

I am a graduate with two masters. 1) Master of arts in religious studies and 2) Master in education in foundations of education. I intend to do a Ph.D. on my second master’s, however, I need to bring both masters together through my Ph.D. research. can I do something like, ” The contribution of Philosophy of education for a quality religion education in Kenya”? kindly, assist and be free to suggest a similar topic that will bring together the two masters. thanks in advance

Hi, I am an Early childhood trainer as well as a researcher, I need more support on this topic: The impact of early childhood education on later academic success.

I’m a student in upper level secondary school and I need your support in this research topics: “Impact of incorporating project -based learning in teaching English language skills in secondary schools”.

Although research activities and topics should stem from reflection on one’s practice, I found this site valuable as it effectively addressed many issues we have been experiencing as practitioners.

Your style is unique in comparison to other folks I’ve read stuff from. Thanks for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I will just book mark this site.

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Early Childhood Education Institute

Research Topics | Early Childhood Education Institute

Research Topics

Adoption/fostering.

Benton, A. L. (2020). An Autoethnographic Tale of One Louisiana Mother’s Personal Journey of Fostering and Adopting: The Impact of the Fostering Process Versus the Fostering Process in Classrooms. Journal of Foster Care, 1(1), 23-35.

DiCarlo, C. & Ota, C. (2017). Advocacy in early childhood teacher preparation (Chapter 5). In Advocacy in Academia and the Role of Teacher Preparation Programs (Thomas, U. Ed). IGI Global.

Reames, H. Sistrunk, C., Prejean, J., & DiCarlo, C.F. (2016). Advocating for recess: Preservice teachers perspectives on the advocacy process. Journal for Service-Learning, Leadership, and Social Change.

Attention/Engagement

DiCarlo, C., Baumgartner, J., Ota, C., & Brooksher, M. (in review). Recommended practice in whole-group instruction: Increasing child attention. International Journal of Early Years Education.

DiCarlo, C., Deris, A., & Deris, T. (in review). mLearning versus paper & pencil practice for telling time: Impact for attention & accuracy. Journal of Elementary Education.

DiCarlo C. F., Baumgartner, J. J., Ota, C.L., Deris, A.R. & Brooksher, M.H. (2020) Recommended practice in whole-group instruction: Increasing child attention. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, DOI: 10.1080/00168890.2020.184840

DiCarlo, C.F., Baumgartner, J., Ota, C., & Geary, K. (2016). Child sustained attention in preschool-aged children. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 30(2), 143-152.

DiCarlo, C.F., Geary, K. E., & Ota, C.L.  (2016). The impact of choice on child sustained attention in the preschool classroom. Journal of Research Childhood Education.

DiCarlo, C.F., Baumgartner, J., Pierce, S.H., Harris, M.E., & Ota, C. (2012). Whole group instruction practices and young children’s attention: A preliminary report. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 26(2), 154-168.

DiCarlo, C., Pierce, S., Baumgartner, J.J., Harris, M., & Ota, C. (2012). Whole-group instruction practices and children’s attention: A preliminary report. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 26(2), 154-168.

DiCarlo, C., Baumgartner, J., Schellhaas, A., & Pierce,S., (2012). Using Structured Choice to Increase Child Engagement in Low Preference Centers. Early Child Development & Care, 183(1), 109-124.

Isbell, D. (2019). Intermediate and High School Band. In Conway, C., Stanley, A., Pelligrino, K., and West, C. (Eds.), Handbook of Preservice Music Teacher Education. Oxford Publishing

Isbell, D. and Stanley, A. M. (2011).  Keeping instruments out of the attic: The concert band experiences of the non-music major. Music Education Research International,5, 22-32

Isbell, D. (2006). The Steamboat Springs high school ski band 1935-2005.  Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, 28(1), 21-37.

Caregiver Health and Identity

Baumgartner, J., Carson, R., Ota, C., DiCarlo, C., Bauer, R. (in review). Using Ecological Momentary Assessment to Examine the Relationship Between Childcare Teachers’ Stress, Classroom Behaviors, and Afterhours Professionalism Activities. Early Child Development and Care.

Bergen, D., Lee, L., Dicarlo, C. & Burnett, G. (2020). Enhancing Young Children’s Brain Development in Infants and Young Children: Strategies for Caregivers and Educators. New York, NY: Teacher’s College Press.

DiCarlo, C., Meaux, A., & LaBiche - Hebert, E. (in press). The impact of mindfulness practices on classroom climate and perceived teacher stress. Early Childhood Education Journal.

Chiang, C.J.,Jonson-Reid, M., & Drake, B. (2020). Caregiver physical health and child maltreatment reports and re-reports. Children and Youth Services Review, 108, 104671.

Baumgartner, J., & DiCarlo, C.F. (2013). Reducing workplace stress. Childcare Exchange. May/June, 60-63.

Ota, C.L., Baumgartner, J.J., & Austin, A.M.B. (2013). Provider stress and children's active engagement. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 27, 1-13. doi: 10.1080/02568543.2012.739588

Baumgartner, J., DiCarlo, C., & Apavaloie, L. (2011). Finding more joy in teaching children. Dimensions, 39(2), 34-38.

Isbell, D. (2008) Musicians and Teachers: The Socialization and Occupational Identity of Preservice Music Teachers. Journal of Research in Music Education, 56(2). 162-178.

Child Health

Shon, E., Choe, S, Lee, L., & Ki, Y. (In Press). Influenza Vaccination among U.S. College or University Students: A Systematic Review. American Journal of Health Promotion.

Fowler L.A., Grammer A.C., Staiano A.E., Fitzsimmons-Craft E.E., Chen L., Yaeger L.H., & Wilfley D.E. (2021). Harnessing technological innovations for childhood obesity prevention and treatment: A systematic review and meta-analysis of current applications. International Journal of Obesity.

Kepper M.M., Walsh-Bailey C., Staiano A.E., Fowler L., Gacad A., Blackwood A., Fowler S., & Kelley M. (2021). Health Information Technology use among healthcare providers treating children and adolescents with obesity: A systematic review. Current Epidemiology Reports.

Staiano, A.E., Shanley, J.R., Kihm, H., Hawkins, K.R., Self-Brown, S., Hӧchsmann, C., Osborne, M., LeBlanc, M.M., Apolzan, J.W., & Martin, C.K. (2021). Digital tools to support family-based weight management for children: Mixed methods pilot and feasibility study. Pediatrics and Parenting. 4(1) doi: 10.2196/24714 PMID: 33410760

Antczak, D., Lonsdale, C., Lee, J., Hilland, T., Duncan, M.J., del Pozo Cruz, B., Hulteen, R.M., Parker, P. and Sanders, T. (2020). Physical Activity and Sleep are Weakly Related in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 51, doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2020.101278 

Olson KL, Neiberg R, Espeland M, Johnson K, Knowler W, Pi-Sunyer X, Staiano AE, Wagenknecht L, & Wing RR. (2020) Waist circumference change during intensive lifestyle intervention and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the Look AHEAD trial. Obesity.

Kracht CL, Katzmarzyk PT, & Staiano AE. (2020) Comparison of abdominal visceral adipose tissue measurements in adolescents between magnetic resonance imaging and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. International Journal of Obesity.

Kracht CL, Webster E, & Staiano AE. (2020). A natural experiment of state-level physical activity and screen-time policy changes: Early childhood education (ECE) centers and child physical activity. BMC Public Health.

Fearnbach SN, Johannsen NM, Martin CK, Beyl RA, Hsia DS, Carmichael CT, & Staiano AE. (2020) A pilot study of cardiorespiratory fitness, adiposity, and cardiometabolic health in youth with overweight and obesity. Pediatric Exercise Science.

Webster E, & Staiano AE. (2020) Extended heavy television viewing may impact weight long-term in adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health.

Kepper MM, Staiano AE, Katzmarzyk PT, Reis RS, Eyler AA, Griffith DM, KendallML, ElBanna B, Denstel KD, & Broyles ST. (2020). Using mixed methods to understand women’s parenting practices related to their child’s outdoor play and physical activity among families living in diverse neighborhood environments. Health and Place.

Kracht CL, Joseph ED, & Staiano AE. (2020). Video games, obesity, and children. Current Obesity Reports.

Kracht CL, Champagne CM, Hsia DS, Martin CK, Newton RL, Katzmarzyk PT, & Staiano AE. (2020). Association between meeting physical activity, sleep, and dietary guidelines and cardiometabolic risk factors and adiposity in adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health.

Hulteen, R.M., Waldhauser, K.J. and Beauchamp, M.R. (2019). Promoting Health-Enhancing Physical Activity: A State-of-the-Art Review of Peer-Delivered Interventions. Current Obesity Reports, 8, 341-353. doi: 10.1007/s13679-019-00366-w (invited)

Kracht CL, Chaput JP, Martin CK, Champagne CM, Katzmarzyk PT, & Staiano AE. (2019). Associations of sleep with food cravings, diet, and obesity in adolescence. Nutrients.

Joseph E, Kracht CL, St. Romain J, Allen AT, Barbaree C, Martin CK, & Staiano AE. (2019). Young children’s screen-time and physical activity: Perspectives of parents and early care and education center providers. Global Pediatric Health.

Staiano AE, Adams MA, & Norman GJ. (2019). Motivation for Exergame Play Inventory:  Construct validity and test-retest reliability. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace.

Hawkins KR, Apolzan JW, Staiano AE, Shanley JR, & Martin CK. (2019). Efficacy of a home-based parent training-focused weight management intervention for preschool children: The DRIVE randomized controlled pilot trial. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.

Sandoval P, Staiano AE, & Kihm H. (2019). The influence of visual and auditory stimuli on intensity of physical activity in school-aged children. The Physical Educator.

Webster EK, Martin CK, & Staiano AE. (2019) Fundamental motor skills, physical activity, and screen-time in preschoolers. Journal of Sport and Health Science.

Staiano AE, Beyl RA, Hsia DS, Katzmarzyk PT, & Newton R.L. (2018). A 12-week randomized controlled pilot study of dance exergaming in a group: Influence on psychosocial factors in adolescent girls. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace.

Katzmarzyk PT, Denstel KD, Beals K, Carlson J, Crouter SE, McKenzie TL, Pate RR, Sisson SB, Staiano AE,Stanish H, Ward DS, Whitt-Glover M, & Wright C. (2018). Results from the United States 2018 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. Journal of Physical Activity & Health.

Staiano AE, Kihm H, & Sandoval P. (2018). The use of competition to elicit high intensity physical activity during children’s exergame play. Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences.

Flynn, R.M.,Staiano, A.E., Beyl, R., Richert, R.A., Wartella, E. & Calvert, S.L. (2018). The influence of active gaming on cardiorespiratoryfitness in Black and Hispanic youth. Journal of School Health.

Staiano, A.E., Webster, E.K., Allen, A.T., Jarrell, A.R., & Martin, C.K. (2018). Screen-time policies and practices in early care and education centers in relationship to child physical activity. Childhood Obesity.

Staiano, A.E., Martin, C.K., Champagne, C.M., Rood, J.C., & Katzmarzyk, P.T. (2018). Sedentary time, physical activity, and adiposity in a longitudinal cohort of non-obese young adults. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Staiano, A.E., Beyl, R.A., Guan, W., Hendrick, C.A., Hsia, D.S., & Newton, R.L. (2018). Home-based exergaming among children with overweight and obesity: A randomized clinical trial. Pediatric Obesity.

Staiano, A.E., Allen, A.T., Fowler, W., Gustat, J., Kepper, M.M., Lewis, L., Martin, C.K., St. Romain, J., & Webster, E.K. (2018). State licensing regulations on screen-time in childcare centers: An impetus for participatory action research. Progress in Community Health Partnerships:  Research, Education, and Action.

Heerman, W.J., Bennett, W.L., Kraschnewski, J.L., Nauman, E., Staiano, A.E., & Wallston, K.A. (2018) Willingness to participate in weight-related research among patients in PCORnet Clinical Data Research Networks. BMC Obesity.

Cohen, K.E., Morgan, P.J., Plotnikoff, R.C., Hulteen, R.M. and Lubans, D.R. Psychological, social and physical environmental mediators of the SCORES intervention on physical activity among children living in low-income communities. (2017). Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 32, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2017. 05.001

Katzmarzyk, P.T., & Staiano, A.E. (2017). Relationship between meeting 24-hour movement guidelines and cardiometabolic risk factors in children. Journal of Physical Activity & Health.

Staiano, A.E., Beyl, R.A., Hsia, D.S., Katzmarzyk, P.T., Mantzor, S., Newton, R.L., Jarrell, A., & Tyson, P. (2017). Step tracking with goals increases children’s weight loss in a behavioral intervention. Childhood Obesity

Staiano, A.E., Marker, A.M., Liu, M., Hayden, E., Hsia, D.S., & Broyles, S.T. (2017). Childhood obesity screening and treatment practices of pediatric healthcare providers. Journal of the Louisiana State Medical Society

Baranowski, T., Blumberg, F., Gao, Z., Kato, P.M., Kok, G., Lu, A.S., Lyons, E.J., Morrill, B.A., Peng, W., Prins, P.J., Snyder, L., Staiano, A.E., & Thompson, D. (2017) Getting research on games for health funded. Games for Health Journal.

Wilfley, D.E., Staiano, A.E., Altman, M., Lindros, J., Lima, A., Hassink, S.G., Dietz, W.H., & Cook, S. (2017). Improving Access and Systems of Care for Evidence-Based Childhood Obesity Treatment Conference W. Improving access and systems of care for evidence-based childhood obesity treatment: Conference key findings and next steps. Obesity.

Kihm H, Staiano AE, & Sandoval P. (2017) Project IPAL: To enhance the well-being of elementary school children. Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences 109(1) 54-56.

Staiano AE, Marker AM, Beyl RA, Hsia DS, Katzmarzyk PT, & Newton RL. (2017). A randomized controlled trial of dance exergaming for exercise training in overweight and obese adolescent girls. Pediatric Obesity. 12(2) 120-128.

Staiano AE, Marker AM, Frelier JM, Hsia DS, & Broyles ST. (2017). Family-based behavioral treatment for childhood obesity: Parent-reported barriers and facilitators. The Ochsner Journal. 17(1):83-92.

Staiano AE, Beyl RA, Hsia DS, Katzmarzyk PT, & Newton RL. (2017). Twelve weeks of dance exergaming in overweight and obese adolescent girls: Transfer effects on physical activity, screen time, and self-efficacy. Journal of Sport and Health Science.

Katzmarzyk PT, Denstel KD, Beals K, Bolling C, Wright C, Crouter SE, McKenzie TL, Pate RR, Saelens BE, Staiano AE, Stanish HI, & Sisson SB. (2016). Results from the United States of America's 2016 report card on physical activity for children and youth. Journal of Physical Activity and Health.

Staiano AE, Morrell M, Hsia DS, Hu G, & Katzmarzyk PT. (2016) The burden of obesity, elevated blood pressure, and diabetes in uninsured and underinsured adolescents. Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders. 14(9), 437-441.

Staiano AE, Marker AM, Martin CK, & Katzmarzyk PT. (2016). Physical activity, mental health, and weight gain in a longitudinal observational cohort of nonobese young adults. Obesity, 24(9), 1969-1975.

Staiano AE, Marker AM, Frelier JM, Hsia DS, & Martin CK. (2016). Influence of screen-based peer modeling on preschool children's vegetable consumption and preferences. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 48(5), 331-335

Mackintosh KA, Standage M, Staiano AE, Lester L, & McNarry MA. (2016). Investigating the physiological and psychosocial responses of single-and dual-player exergaming in young adults. Games for Health Journal, 5(6), 375-381

Baranowski T, Blumberg F, Buday R, DeSmet A, Fiellin LE, Green CS, Kato PM, Lu AS, Maloney AE, Mellecker R, Morrill BA, Peng W, Shegog R, Simons M, Staiano AE, Thompson D, & Young K. (2016). Games for health for children-current status and needed research. Games for Health Journal, 5(1), 1-12.

Michel, G. F., Marcinowski, E. C., Babik, I., Nelson, E. L., & Campbell, J. M. (2015). An Interdisciplinary Biopsychosocial Perspective on Infant Development. In S. Calkins (Ed.) Handbook of Infant Development: A Biopsychosocial Perspective, 427-446. 

Staiano AE, Broyles ST, & Katzmarzyk PT. (2015). School term vs. school holiday: Associations with children's physical activity, screen-time, diet and sleep. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 12(8), 8861-8870.

Staiano AE, Harrington DM, Johannsen NM, Newton RL, Jr., Sarzynski MA, Swift DL, & Katzmarzyk PT. (2015). Uncovering physiological mechanisms for health disparities in type 2 diabetes. Ethnicity and Disease, 25(1), 31-37.

Marker AM, & Staiano AE. (2015) Better together: Outcomes ofcooperation versus competition in social exergaming. Games for Health Journal, 4(1), 25-30.

Carson V, Staiano AE, & Katzmarzyk PT. (2015). Physical activity, screen time, and sitting among U.S. adolescents. Pediatric Exercise Science, 27(1), 151-159.

Pere, C., Ginn, R., Hill, N., & DiCarlo, C.F. (2015). Childhood Obesity prevention: A service-learning advocacy project. Journal for Service-Learning, Leadership, and Social Change.

Harshaw, C., Marcinowski, E. C., & Campbell, J. M. (2014). Communicating Developmental Psychobiology to the Masses: Why Psychobiologists Should Contribute to Wikipedia. Developmental Psychobiology, 56 (7), 1439-1441. 

Staiano AE, & Flynn R. (2014). Therapeutic uses of active videogames: A systematic review. Games for Health Journal, 3(6), 351-365.

Staiano AE. (2014). Learning by playing: Video gaming in education-a cheat sheet for games for health designers. Games for Health Journal, 3(5), 319-321.

Flynn RM, Richert RA, Staiano AE, Wartella E, & Calvert SL. (2014). Effects of exergame playon EF in children and adolescents at a summer camp for low income youth. Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 4(1), 209-225.

Katzmarzyk PT, Barlow S, Bouchard C, Catalano PM, Hsia DS, Inge TH, Lovelady C, Raynor H, Redman LM, Staiano AE, Spruijt-Metz D, Symonds ME, Vickers M, Wilfley D, & Yanovski JA. (2014). An evolving scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of pediatric obesity. International Journal of Obesity, 38(7), 887-905.

Staiano AE, Gupta AK, & Katzmarzyk PT. (2014). Cardiometabolic risk factors and fat distribution in children and adolescents. Journal of Pediatrics, 164(3), 560-565.

Baranowski T, Adamo KB, Hingle M, Maddison R, Maloney A, Simons M, & Staiano AE. (2013). Gaming, adiposity, and obesogenic behaviors among children. Games for Health Journal, 2(3), 119-126.

Michel, G. F., Babik, I., Nelson, E. L., Campbell, J. M., & Marcinowski, E. C. (2013). How the development of handedness could contribute to the development of language. Developmental Psychobiology, 55(6), 608-20. 

Staiano AE, Broyles ST, Gupta AK, Malina RM, & Katzmarzyk PT. (2013). Maturity-associated variation in total and depot-specific body fat in children and adolescents. American Journal of Human Biology, 25(4), 473-479.

Staiano AE, Broyles ST, Gupta AK, & Katzmarzyk PT. (2013) Ethnic and sex differences in visceral, subcutaneous, and total body fat in children and adolescents. Obesity, 21(6), 1251-1255.

Harrington DM, Staiano AE, Broyles ST, Gupta AK, & Katzmarzyk PT. (2013). BMI percentiles for the identification ofabdominal obesity and metabolic risk in children and adolescents: Evidence in support of the CDC 95th percentile. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 67(2), 218-222.

Staiano AE, Harrington DM, Broyles ST, Gupta AK, & Katzmarzyk PT. (2013). Television, adiposity, and cardiometabolic risk in children and adolescents. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 44(1), 40-47.

Calvert SL, Staiano AE, & Bond BJ. (2013). Electronic gaming and the obesity crisis. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 139,51-57.

Harrington DM, Staiano AE, Broyles ST, Gupta AK, & Katzmarzyk PT. (2013). Waist circumference measurement site does not affect relationships with visceral adiposity and cardiometabolic risk factors in children. Pediatric Obesity, 8(3), 199-206.

Barreira TV, Staiano AE, & Katzmarzyk PT. (2013). Validity assessment of a portable bioimpedance scale to estimate body fat percentage in white and African-American children and adolescents. Pediatric Obesity, 8(2), 29-32.

Staiano AE, Abraham AA, & Calvert SL. (2012). The Wii Club: Gaming for weight loss in overweight and obese youth. Games for Health Journal, 1(5), 377-380.

Broyles ST, Staiano AE, Drazba KT, Gupta AK, Southern M, & Katzmarzyk PT. (2012). Elevated C-reactive protein in children from risky neighborhoods: Evidence for a stress pathway linking neighborhoods and inflammation in children. PloS One, 7(9)

Staiano AE, Katzmarzyk PT. (2012). Ethnic and sex differences in body fat and visceral and subcutaneous adiposity in children and adolescents. International Journal of Obesity, 36(10), 1261-1269.

Staiano AE, & Calvert SL. (2012).  Digital gaming and pediatric obesity: At the intersection of science and social policy. Social Issues and Policy Review, 6(1), 54-81.

Staiano AE, & Calvert SL. (2011). Exergames for physical education courses: Physical, social, and cognitive benefits. Child Development Perspectives, 5(2),93-98.

Child Trauma

Kim, H., Jonson-Reid, M., Kohl, P., Chiang, C. J., Drake, B., Brown, D., McBride, T., & Guo, S. (2020).Latent class analysis risk profiles: An effective method to predict a first re-report of maltreatment. Evaluation and Program Planning, 101792.

Jonson-Reid, M., Chiang, C.J., Kohl, P., Drake, B., Brown, D., Guo, S., & McBride, T. (2019). Repeat reports among cases reported for child neglect: A scoping review. Child Abuse & Neglect, 92, 43-65.

Chiang, C. J.,& Ma, T. J. (2013). Working experiences with children witnessed domestic homicide, Taiwanese Social Work, 11, 115-144

Lee, L., Miller, C., & Caballero, J, (In Progress). Community-based, social justice-oriented experiences in ethnically, socio-economically diverse preschools: Early childhood pre-service teachers’ perspectives.

Drake, B., Jonson-Reid, M., Kim, H., Chiang, C. J., & Davalishvili, D. (2021) Disproportionate Need as a Factor Explaining Racial Disproportionality in the CW System. In Racial Disproportionality and Disparities in the Child Welfare System (pp. 159-176). Springer, Cham.

Kracht CL, Webster EK, & Staiano AE. (2019). Sociodemographic differences in young children meeting 24-hour movement guidelines. Journal of Physical Activity & Health.

Lee, L. (2018). Korean mode of color-blind perspectives on ethnic diversity: A case study of Korean Elementary teachers. International Journal of Diversity of Education, 18(1), 27-38.

Lee, L. (2016, Summer). A learning journey with Latino immigrant children: An American low-income preschool project. Childhood Explorer, 3.

Lee, L., & Misco, T. (2014). All for one or one for all: An analysis of the concepts of patriotism and others in multicultural Korea through elementary moral education textbooks. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher. 23(1), 2-10.

Misco, T., & Lee, L. (2013). “There is no such thing as being Guamanian”: Controversial Issues in the context of Guam. Theory and Research in Social Education, 42(3), 414-439.

Misco, T.,& Lee, L. (2012).1Multiple and overlapping identities: The case study of Guam. Multicultural Education, 20(1), 23-32.

Lee, L. (2011). Language and identity in the moral domains: Minority children in education. Focus on Elementary, 23(3). 3-6.

Lee. L. (2011). Cultural awareness in beliefs and practice: An elementary teacher’s perspective on Korean children and their culture. Focus on Teacher Education, 11(2), 4-10.

ECE Professional Attrition

Chiang, C.J., Jonson-Reid, M., Kim. H., Drake. B., Pons. L., Kohl. P., Constantino. J., & Auslander. W., (2018) Service engagement and retention: Lessons from the Early Childhood Connections Program. Children and Youth Services Review, 88, 114-127. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.02.028

Carson, R. L., Baumgartner, J. J., Ota, C.L., Pulling Kuhn, A. C., & Durr, A. (2016). An ecological momentary assessment of burnout, rejuvenation strategies, job satisfaction, and quitting intentions in childcare teachers. Early Childhood Education Journal, 1-8.

Educational Leadership

Nelson-Smith, K. (2009). Building Opportunities through Leadership Development (BOLD). A curriculum.

Jonson-Reid, M., & Chiang, C. J.(2019). Problems in Understanding Program Efficacy in Child Welfare. In Re-Visioning Public Health Approaches for Protecting Children (pp. 349-377). Springer, Cham.

Environment (Classroom)

Deris, A., DiCarlo, C., Wagner, D. & Krick-Oborn, K. (in press). Using environmental modification and teacher mediation to increase literacy behaviors in inclusive preschool settings. Infants & Young Children

Reames, H. & DiCarlo, C.F. (2016). Creating a learner-centered classroom. Focus on PK/K, Early Years Bulletin, 3(3), 1-3, 7.

Guan, X. & DiCarlo, C.F. (2009). Minimizing stressors in the early childhood classroom. Collaborations, 2, 22-23.

Wayne, A., DiCarlo, C., Burts, D., & Benedict, J. (2007). Increasing the literacy behaviors of preschool children through environmental modifications. The Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 22(1), 5-16.

DiCarlo, C.F., Stricklin, S., & Reid, D.H. (2006). Increasing toy play among toddlers with and without disabilities by modifying structural quality of the classroom environment. National Head Start Association Dialog, 9(1)49-62.

Behavior Guidance

Reames, H. & DiCarlo, C. (2018). Using positive reinforcement to increase attentive behavior and correct task performance for preschoolers during extra curricular activities. Journal of Teacher Action Research, 4(2), 1-9.

DiCarlo, C.F., Baumgartner, J., & Ourso, J. & Powers, C. (2016). Using least-to-most assistive prompt hierarchy to increase child compliance with teacher directives in preschool classroom. Early Childhood Education Journal, 44(6) 1-10.doi:10.1007/s10643- 016-0825-7.

DiCarlo, C. & Baumgartner, J. (2011). Promoting Positive Behavior in the Preschool Classroom. Focus on Pre-K and K, 24(1), 4-7.

Torres, A., & DiCarlo, C.F. (2008). Positive Guidance. Collaborations. 3, 14-15.

Literacy and Language

Terrusi, M. (2020).  Illustrated books without words for inclusion: Method reflections on  reading, between form and metaphor. In E.A. Emili & V. Macchia (Eds.), Reading the inclusion: Picture books and books for one and all (pp. 77-88). ETS Editions. 

Terrusi, M. (2018). Silent Books. Wonder, Silence and Other Metamorphosis in Wordless Picture Books. Proceedings, 1(9), 1 – 12. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/proceedings1090879

Terrusi, M. (2017). Child portraits. Representations of the child body in children's illustration and literature: Some interpretative categories. Magazine of history of education, 4(1),  183 – 210. http://dx.doi.org/10.4454/rse.v4i1.28

Terrusi, M. (2017). Constellation of early childhood, Gugu's firmament. A portrait of Augusta Rasponi del Sale (Ravenna 1864-1942), author of picture book. Research of education  and education, 12(2), 71 – 88. http://dx.doi.org/10.6092/issn.1970-2221/7082

Terrusi, M. (2017). Eternals, children, winged: Neoteny, lightness and literature for children. Training Studies, 20(2), 387 – 408. http://dx.doi.org/10.13128/Studi_Formaz-22195

Terrusi, M. (2017). Mute wonders: Silent book and children's literature. Carocci.  

Beach, D., & DiCarlo, C.F. (2016). Can I play, again? Using a literacy ipad app to increase letter recognition & phonemic awareness. Journal of Teacher Action Research,2(2), 70-76.

Terrusi, M. (2016). Children read great. In C.I. Salviati (Ed.), In vitro: An experimental project    to promote reading (pp. 18-21). Center for Literature and Reading. MIBAC Ministry of Artistic and Cultural Heritage.

Terrusi, M. (2016). The possible, the visible, the questionable: Unexpected (or wordless) books   at school. In E. A. Emili (Ed.), Languages ​​for an inclusive school (pp. 51-66). Free Books.

Grilli, G. & Terrusi, M. (2014). A (Visual) Journey to Italy. In E. Arizpe, T. Colomer, & C. Martinez-Roldan (Eds.), Visual Journeys Through Wordless Narratives (pp. 217-238). Bloomsbury Academic.

Grilli, G. & Terrusi, M. (2014).  Migrant readers and wordless books: Visual narratives' inclusive experience. Encyclopaideia, 18(38), 67 – 90. http://dx.doi.org/10.6092/issn.1825-8670/4508

Ota, C. L. & Austin, A.M. (2013). Training and mentoring: Family child care providers’ use of linguistic inputs in conversations with children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 28(4), 972-983

Terrusi, M. (2013). The room of children's literature: Educators, teachers and storytellers. In C.  Panciroli & F. D. Pizzigoni (Eds.), The museum as a workshop of experiences with heritage: The example of the Mode (pp. 1-199). Quiedit.

Terrusi, M. (2013). The life of children in the figures: Gugú, a forgotten author. Childhood, 6(1), 335-339. 

Terrusi, M. (2012). Illustrated books: Read, look, name the world in children's books. Carocci

Brintazzoli, G. & Terrusi, M. (2011). At the edge of the page. Li.Ber books for children and boys, 92(1), 50 – 52.

Terrusi, M. (2011). Read the visible. The world pictured in the pages. Form and poetics of early childhood books. In E. Beseghi & G. Grilli (Eds.), The invisible literature: Childhood and children's books (pp. 143-164). Carocci.

Chung, M. & Lee, L. (2009). Critical literacy theories for media literacy education. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 13(4), 121-127.

Lee, L. (2009). Media literacy. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 13(4), 10.

Terrusi, M. (2009). Classic fairy tales with contemporary design, interview with Steven Guarnaccia. Li.Ber books for children and boys, 82(1), 60 – 61. 

Terrusi, M. (2009). The art of the three little pigs. Li.Ber books for children and boys, 82(1), 59 – 63.

Terrusi, M. (2007). Philosophers animals: whether they are feathered canids or felines, we can consider them Masters. Li.Ber books for children and boys, 74(1), 30 – 31.

Terrusi, M. (2007). Families and new conformisms: The challenge of the bourgeois mentality seen through the complex father-son dialectic: Holidays with the father by Marcello Argilli. Li.Ber books for children and boys, 73(1), 44-45. 

Terrusi, M. (2007).  Books on the road. Li.Ber books for children and boys, 76(1), 54 – 55. 

Terrusi, M. (2006). Andersen Press turns 30: from the voice of its founder, Klaus Flugge, the story of the famous English publishing house. Andersen, 224(1), 31 – 35.

Mathematics

Hendershot, S., Austin, A. M. B., Blevins-Knabe, B., & Ota, C.L. (2015). Young children’s mathematics references during free play in family child care settings. Early Child Development and Care.  186(7), 1126-1141.

Misco, T., Lee, L., & Malone, K. Goley, S., & Seabolt, P. (2012).*Using the idea of insurance to develop mathematical skills and democratic dispositions. Interdisciplinary Journal of Teaching and Learning, 2(2), 78-89.

Austin, A.M., Blevins-Knabe, B., Ota, C., Rowe, T., & Knudsen Lindauer, S. (2011). Mediators of preschoolers’ early mathematics concepts. Early Child Development and Care, 181(9), 1181-1198.

Motor Skills

Molinini, R. M., Koziol, Marcinowski, E. C., Tripathi, T., Hsu, L.-Y., Harbourne, R. T., Lobo, M. A., McCoy, S. W., Bovaird, J., & Dusing, S. C. (2021). Early motor skills predict the developmental trajectory of problem solving skills in young children with motor impairments. Developmental Psychobiology. [Early View] 

Barnett, L.M., Stodden, D.F., Hulteen, R.M. and Sacko, R. (2020). Motor Proficiency Assessment. In T. Brusseau, S. Fairclough & D. Lubans (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Youth Physical Activity.

Gonzalez, S. L., Campbell, J. M., Marcinowski, E. C., Michel, G. F., Coxe, S., & Nelson, E. L. (2020). Preschool language ability is predicted by toddler hand preference trajectories. Developmental Psychology, 56(4), 699-709. 

Hulteen, R.M., Barnett, L.M. True, L., Lander, N., Cruz, B.P. and Lonsdale, C. (2020). Validity and Reliability Evidence for Motor Competence Assessments in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review. Journal of Sports Sciences, 38(15), 1717-1798, doi: 10.1080/02640414.2020.1756674  

Hulteen, R.M., True, L., and Pfeiffer, K. (2020). Differences in Associations of Product- and Process-Oriented Motor Competence Assessments with Physical Activity in Children. Journal of Sports Sciences, 38(4), 375-382. doi:10.1080/02640414.2019.17 02279

Webster, E.K., Kracht, C.L., Newton, R.L., Beyl, R.A., & Staiano, A.E. (2020). Intervention to improve preschoolers’ fundamental motor skills: Protocol of a parent-focused, mobile app-based comparative effectiveness trial. Research Protocols, 9(10):e19943.

Fearnbach, S.N., Martin, C.K., Heymsfield, S.B., Staiano, A.E., Newton, R.L., Garn, A.C., Johannsen, N.M., Hsia, D.S., Carmichael, O.T., Murray, K.B., Ramakrisnapillai, S., Murray, K.B., Blundell, J.E., & Finlayson, G.S. (2020) Validation of the Activity Preference Assessment: A tool for quantifying children’s implicit preferences for sedentary and physical activities. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

Kracht, C.L., Webster, E.K., & Staiano, A.E. (2020) Relationship between the 24-hour movement guidelines and fundamental motor skills in preschoolers. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport.

Marcinowski, E. C., Tripathi, T., Hsu, L.-Y., McCoy, S. W., & Dusing, S. C. (2019). Sitting skill and the emergence of arms‐free sitting affects the frequency of object looking and exploration. Developmental Psychobiology, 61 (7), 1035-47. 

Marcinowski, E. C., Nelson, E. L., Campbell, J. M., & Michel, G. F. (2019). The development of object construction from infancy through toddlerhood. Infancy, 24(3), 368-391. 

Campbell, J. M., Marcinowski, E. C., & Michel, G. F. (2018). The Development of Neuromotor Skills and Hand Preference During Infancy. Developmental Psychobiology, 60(2), 165-175. 

lteen, R.M., Morgan, P.J., Barnett, L.M., Robinson, L.E. Barton, C., Wrotniak, B., and Lubans, D.R. (2018). Initial Predictive Validity of the Lifelong Physical Activity Skills Battery. Journal of Motor Learning and Development, 6(2), 301-314. doi: 10.1123/jmld.2017-0036

Michel, G. F., Babik, I., Nelson, E. L., Campbell, J. M., & Marcinowski, E. C. (2018). Evolution and Development of Handedness: An Evo-Devo Approach. In G. Forrester, W. D. Hopkins, K. Hudry, & A. K. Lindell (Eds.), Cerebral Lateralization and Cognition: Evolutionary and Developmental Investigations of Motor Biases. Elsevier Inc.: Academic Press. 347-374. 

Hulteen, R.M., Morgan, P.J., Barnett, L.M., Stodden, D.F. and Lubans, D.R. Development of Foundational Motor Skills: A Conceptual Model for Physical Activity Across the Lifespan. (2018). Sports Medicine, 48(7), 1533-1540. doi: 10.1007/s4029-018-0892-6

Marcinowski, E. C., & Campbell, J. M. (2017). Building on what you have learned: Constructing skill during infancy influences the development of spatial relation words. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 41(3), 341-349. doi:10.1177/0165025416635283 

Nelson, E. L., Gonzalez, S., Coxe, S., Campbell, J. M., Marcinowski, E. C., & Michel, G. F. (2017). Toddler hand preference trajectories predict 3-year language outcome. Developmental Psychobiology, 59(7), 876-887. 

Nathan, N., Cohen, K., Beauchamp, M. W.L., Hulteen, R.M., Babic, M. and Lubans, D.R. Feasibility and Efficacy of the Greater Leaders Active StudentS (GLASS) Program on Improving Children’s Fundamental Movement Skills: A Pilot Study. (2017). Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 20(12), 1081-1086. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2017.04.016

Johnson, T.M., Ridgers, N.D. Hulteen, R.M., Mellecker, R.R. and Barnett, L.M. (2016). Does Playing a Sports Active Video Game Improve Young Children’s Ball Skill Competence? Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 19(5), 432-436. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2015.05.002

Marcinowski, E. C., Campbell, J. M., Faldowski, R. A., & Michel, G. F. (2016). Do hand preferences predict stacking skill during infancy? Developmental Psychobiology, 58(8), 958-967. 

Michel, G. F., Campbell, J. M., Marcinowski, E. C., Nelson, E. L., & Babik, I. (2016). Infant Hand Preference and the Development of Cognitive Abilities. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 410. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00410 

Campbell, J. M., Marcinowski, E. C., Babik, I., & Michel, G. F. (2015). The influence of a hand preference for acquiring objects on the development of a hand preference for unimanual manipulation from 6 to 14 months. Infant Behavior and Development, 39, 107-117. 

Campbell, J. M., Marcinowski, E. C., Latta, J. A., & Michel, G. F. (2015). Different assessment tasks produce different estimates of handedness stability during the 8 to 14 month age period. Infant Behavior and Development, 39, 67-80. 

Hulteen, R.M., Johnson, T.M., Ridgers, N.D., Mellecker, R.R. and Barnett, L.M. (2015). Children’s Movement Skills When Playing Active Video Games. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 121(3), 1-24. doi: 10.2466/25.10.PMS.121c24x5

Michel, G. F., Nelson, E. L., Babik, I., Campbell, J. M., & Marcinowski, E. C. (2013). Multiple trajectories in the developmental psychobiology of human handedness. In R. M. Lerner, & J. B. Benson (Eds.), Embodiment and epigenesis: Theoretical and methodological issues in understanding the role of biology within the relational developmental system Part B: Ontogenetic Dimensions. Elsevier Inc.: Academic Press, 227-260. 

Music Education

Isbell, D. (2018). Music educators consider musical futures. Contributions in Music Education. 43(1). 39-58.

Isbell, D. S., & Stanley, A. M. (2018). Code-switching musicians: an exploratory study. Music Education Research,20(2), 145-162.

Isbell, D. (2015). My Music and School Music: Formal and Informal Music Experiences. In Burton, S. and Snell, A. (Eds.), Engaging Musical Practices: A Sourcebook for Instrumental Music. Rowman and Littlefield Education Publishers, Inc.

Isbell, D. and Stanley, A. (2015) Are you a musical code-switcher?Polyphonic.org: The Orchestra Music Forum. http://www.polyphonic.org/2015/06/22/are-you-a-musical-code-switcher/.

Isbell, D. (2015)Apprehensive and excited: Music education students ’ encounter vernacular musicianship. Journal of Music Teacher Education. doi:10.1177/1057083714568020.

Isbell, D. (2014). The socialization and identity of undergraduate music teachers: A review of literature. Update: Applications for Research in Music Education.doi: 10.1177/8755123314547912.

Isbell, D. (2012). Learning theories: Insights for music educators. General Music Today 25(2). 9-23.

Isbell, D. (2009). Understanding Socialization and Occupational Identity among Preservice Music Teachers. In M. Schmidt (Ed.), Collaborative action for change:Selected proceedings from the 2007 symposium on music teacher education. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Isbell, D. (2007). Popular music and the public school music classroom. Update: Applications for Research in Music Education.26(1).

Bowers, J., Cassellberry, J., Isbell, D., Kyakuwa, J., Li, Y., Mercado, E., and Wallace, E.(2019) A Descriptive Study of the Use of Music During Naptime in Louisiana Child Care Centers. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 33(2). doi: 10.1080/02568543.2019.1577770.

National Disasters

DiCarlo, C.F., Burts, D., Buchanan, T., Aghayan, C., & Benedict, J. (2007). Making Lemonade from Lemons: Early Childhood Teacher Educators’ Programmatic Responses to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 28 (1), 61-68.

Outdoor Education

Terrusi, M. (2020). Children's books and outdoor education imagery: Stories and figures to tell each other. In S. Meo & M. Ognissanti (Eds.), From risk to opportunity: Outdoor education experiences in childcare and primary school services (pp. 115-118). Junior-   Children Editions.

Farné, R., Bortolotti, A., Terrusi, M. (2018) Introduction: Natural educational needs. In R. Farné, A. Bortolotti, & M. Terrusi (Eds.), Outdoor education: Theoretical perspectives and  good practices (pp. 13-24). Carocci.

Terrusi, M. (2018). Children's literature and natural imaginary. In R. Farné, A. Bortolotti, & M. Terrusi (Eds.), Outdoor education: Theoretical perspectives and good practices (pp. 183- 200). Carocci.

Terrusi, M. (2015). The green ship: natural education and reading for children. Li.Ber books for children and boys, 106(2), 40 – 42.

Terrusi, M. (2015). The teacher's shelf. Childhood, 1(4), 334 – 336.

Terrusi, M. (2014). Children's literature and natural narratives. In R. Farné & F. Agostini (Eds.) Outdoor education: Education takes care of outdoors (pp. 69-74). Junior-Spaggiari.

Grantham-Caston, M., & Perry, M. & DiCarlo, C.F. (2019). Playful Reggio Emilia. International Play Association, Spring-Fall, 20-25.

Dicarlo, C.F., Baumgartner, J.J., Ota, C.L. & Jensen, C. (2015). Preschool teachers’ perceptions of rough and tumble play vs. aggression in preschool-aged boys. Early Child Development and Care, 185(5), 779-790.

Carson, R., Lima, M. & DiCarlo, C.F. (2015). Play On! Playground learning activities for youth fitness (2nd edition). Reston, VA: American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation.

Casey, E. M. & DiCarlo, C.F. (2015). Play traditions in the Garifuna culture of Belize. International Play Association eJournal, www.Ipausa.org.

DiCarlo, C.F. & Vagianos, L.A. (2009). Preferences and play. Young Exceptional Children, 12(4), 31-39.

Popular Culture

Lee, L. (2012). Conceptualizing childhood in Korean Educational Broadcasting System (EBS): Critical analysis of Popular Picture Book, Pororo. In V. Cvetkovic & D. Olsen (Eds.), Fleeting Images: A Childhood Studies Examination of Children in Popular Culture (pp. 85-100). Lexington Press. 

Lee, L. (2012). "That's a great idea but I will think about it later": Early childhood pre-service Teachers' perceptions about popular culture in Teaching. Teacher Education and Practice, 25(1), 87-99.

Lee, L. (2010). Disney in Korea: A socio-cultural context of children’s popular culture. Red Feather Journal: An International Journal of Children’s Visual Culture, 1(2), 41-45.

Lee, L.,& Goodman, J. (2010). Romantic love and sexuality in Disney: A study of young, Korean immigrant girls’ perspectives. Education and Society, 28(1), 25-47.

Lee, L. & Goodman, J. (2009). Traversing the challenges of conducting research with young immigrant children: The case of Korean children. Interchange, 40(2), 225–244.

Lee, L. (2009). American immigrant girls’ perceptions about female body image in Disney: A critical analysis of young Korean girls. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 17(3), 363-375.

Lee, L. (2009). Marry the prince or stay with family—That is the question: A perspective of young Korean immigrant girls on Disney’s marriages in the United States. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 34(2), 39-46.

Lee, L. (2009). Young American immigrant children’s interpretations of royalty in popular culture: A case study of Korean girls’ perspectives. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 7(2), 200-215.

Lee, L. (2008). Issues of popular culture and young children in American society: A Critical perspective. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 12(4),49-53.

Lee, L. (2008). Understanding gender through Disney’s marriages: A study of young Korean immigrant girls. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36(1), 11-18.

Parents in Education

Kepper MM, Staiano AE,Katzmarzyk PT, Reis R, Eyler A, Griffith DM, Kendall M, ElBanna B, Denstel KD, & Broyles ST (2019). Neighborhood influences on women’s parenting practices for adolescents’ outdoor play: A qualitative study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Baumgartner, J., McBride, B., Ota, C.L., & DiCarlo, C., (2016). How much do they need to be the same? What parents believe about continuity between home and childcare environments. Early Child Development and Care, 187(7), 1184-1193.

Professional Development

Bowers, J., Isbell, D., Stanley, A., and West, J. (in press). Attrition, (De)motivation, and “Effective” Music Teacher Professional Development: An Instrumental Case Study. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education.

Grantham-Caston, M. & DiCarlo, C. (2019). Lights! Camera! Action! Improving your teaching through video self-reflection. Young Children, 74(4)

Grantham-Caston, M. & DiCarlo, C. (2019). The impact of video self-reflection on teacher practice. National Head Start Association Dialog, 22(2), 61-75.

Grantham-Caston, M. & DiCarlo, C. (2019). Video self-reflection. Dialog, 22(2), 99-102.

Isbell, D. and Russell, J. (2009). Perceptions of Music Educators Regarding the Practice, Impact, and Outcomes of Professional Development.  Southern Music Education Journal.

Physical Education

Ferkel, R.C.. Allen, H.R., True, L. and Hulteen, R.M. (2018). Split-Week Programming for Secondary Physical Education: Inducing Behavioral Change for Lifetime Fitness. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 89(8), 11-22. doi: 10.1080/07303084.2018.1503118

Hulteen, R.M., Morgan, P.J., Barnett, L.M., Barton, C., Wrotniak, B., Robinson, L.E. and Lubans, D.R. (2018). Development, Content Validity and Test-Retest Reliability of the Lifelong Physical Activity Skills Battery in Adolescents. Journal of Sports Sciences, 36(20), 2358-2367. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2018.1458392

Hulteen, R. M., Smith, J.J., Morgan, P.J., Barnett, L.M, Hallal, P.C., Colyvas, K. and Lubans, D.R. (2017). Global Sport and Leisure-Time Physical Activities Participation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Preventive Medicine, 95, 14-25. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2016.11.027

Hulteen, R.M., Lander, N.J., Morgan, P.J., Barnett, L.M., Robertson, S.J. and Lubans, D.R. (2015). Validity and Reliability of Field-Based Measures for Assessing Movement Skill Competency in Lifelong Physical Activities: A Systematic Review. Sports Medicine, 45(10), 1443-54. doi: 10.1007/s40279-015-0357-0

Physical Therapy

Harbourne, R. T., Dusing, S. C., Lobo, M. A., McCoy, S. W., Koziol, N. A., Hsu, L.-Y., Willett, S., Marcinowski, E. C., Babik, I., Cunha, A. B., An, M., Chang, H.-J., Bovaird, J. A., Sheridan S. M. (2020). START-Play physical therapy intervention impacts motor and cognitive outcomes in infants with neuromotor disorders: A multisite randomized clinical trial. Physical Therapy, 101(2), 1-11. 

Dusing, S. C., Harbourne, R. T., Lobo, M. A., Westcott-McCoy, S., Bovaird, J., Kane, A. E., Syed, G., Marcinowski, E. C., Koziol, N., Brown, S. E. (2019). A physical therapy intervention to advance cognitive skills a young child with cerebral palsy: A single subject with severe motor impairments. Pediatric Physical Therapy, 31(4), 347-352. 

Dusing, S. C., Marcinowski, E. C., Tripathi, T., Rocha, A., & Brown, S. (2018). A perspective on the importance of assessing parent-child interaction in rehabilitation using high or low tech methods. Physical Therapy Journal, 99(6), 658-665. 

Harbourne, R. T., Dusing, S. C., Lobo, M. A., McCoy, S. W., Bovaird, J., Sheridan, S., Galloway, J. C., Chang, H.-J., Hsu, L.-Y., Koziol, N., Marcinowski, E. C., & Babik, I. (2018). Sitting Together and Reaching to Play (START-Play): Protocol for a multisite randomized controlled efficacy trial on intervention for infants with neuromotor disorders. Physical Therapy, 76(1), 1-31. 

Dusing, S. C., Tripathi, T., Marcinowski, E. C., Thacker, L., Brown, L., & Hendricks-Munoz, K. (2018). Supporting Play Exploration and Early Developmental Intervention versus usual care to enhance developmental outcomes during the transition from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to home: A pilot randomized controlled trial. BMC Pediatrics, 18(46), 1-12. 

Social-Emotional

DiCarlo, C. F., Ota, C., & Deris, A. (under revision). Social behavior in kindergarten. Journal of Early Childhood Research.

DiCarlo, C., Hebert, E. & Meaux, A. (in review). Finding the “om” in your ABCs: Mindfulness in the classroom. Child Care Exchange.

Chiang, C.J., Chen, Y. C., Wei, H. S., & Jonson-Reid, M. (2020). Social bonds and profiles of delinquency among adolescents: Differential effects by gender and age. Children and Youth Services Review, 104751

Benton, A., & DiCarlo, C. F. The impact of social stories on compliance and aggression in a kindergarten aged child. The Journal of Teacher Action Research, 4(3), 55 – 67.

DiCarlo, C.F, Ota, C.L., & Deris, A. (2020). An ecobehavioral analysis of social behavior across learning contexts in kindergarten.  Early Childhood Education Journal, DOI 10.1007/s10643-020-01103-y

DiCarlo, C.F., & Melikyan, S. (2016). Increasing the communicative behaviors of children with low levels of communicative initiations in an inclusive preschool classroom. Literacy Experiences Special Interest Group (LESIG), 46(1) 14-35.

Beckert, T., Lee, C., & Ota, C.L.  (2015). Correlates of psychosocial development for Taiwanese youth. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 46(6), 837-855.

DiCarlo, C.F., Onwujuba, C., & Baumgartner, J.J. (2014). Infant Communicative Behaviors and Maternal Responsiveness. Child and Youth Care Forum, 43(2), 195-209.

Deris, A. R., DiCarlo, C., Flynn, L. L., Ota, C.L., & O’Hanlon, A. (2012). Importance of social supports of parents of children with autism.  International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education, 4(1), 17-31.

Baumgartner, J., Burnett, L., DiCarlo, C. & Buchanan, T. (2012). An inquiry of children’s social support networks using eco-maps. Child and Youth Care Forum, doi: 10.1007/s10566-011-9166-2

Deris, A. R., DiCarlo, C. F., & Deris, T. P. (2012). Evidence-based practices: Using story-based interventions to improve social behavior in the general education setting. Focus on Inclusive Education, 10(1), 5-8.

Social Studies

Casey, E., DiCarlo, C., & *Sheldon, K. (2019). Growing democratic citizenship competencies: Fostering social studies understandings through inquiry learning in the preschool garden. The Journal of Social Studies Research. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jssr.2018.12.001

Casey, E. & DiCarlo, C.F. (2016). Social studies surprises found in the garden. Focus on PK/K, Early Years Bulletin, 4(2), 7-10. http://www.acei.org/sites/default/files/eybwinter2016.pdf

Lee, L., & Misco, T. (2016). Seeking moral autonomy in a Chinese context: A study of elementary moral education standards. Journal of International Social Studies, 6(2), 84 95.

Special Education

Deris, A., & DiCarlo, C.F. (2015). Effects of using a weighted or pressure vest for a child with autism. Autonomy, the critical journal of interdisciplinary Autism studies, 1(4).

Deris, A. R., & DiCarlo, C. F. (2013). Working with young children with autism in inclusive classrooms. Support for Learning, 28(2), 52-56.

Deris, A. R., DiCarlo, C., Flynn, L. L., Ota, C., & O’Hanlon, A. (2012). Investigation of social supports for parents of children with autism. International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education, 4(1), 17-32.

Sola, S. & Terrusi, M. (2010). Just like us. Li.Ber books for children and boys, 87(1), 50 – 51.

DiCarlo, C.F., Schepis, M., & Flynn, L. (2009). Embedding sensory preferences in toys to enhance toy play in toddlers with disabilities. Infants and Young Children, 22(3), 187-199.

Flynn-Wilson, L, & DiCarlo, C.F. (2009). Transdisciplinary intervention: What does it look like in community-based child care? Collaborations, 1, 30-32.

Sola, S. & Terrusi, M. (2009). The difference is not a subtraction: Books for children and disabilities. Lapis.

DiCarlo, C.F., Benedict, J., & Aghayan, C. (2008). Social proximity of preschoolers with disabilities in an inclusive classroom. The Journal of Early Childhood Education and Family Review

Terrusi, M. (2008). All uses of the book at all. Childhood, 4(1), 46-49.  

DiCarlo, C.F., & Reid, D.H. (2004). Increasing pretend toy play among 2-year-old children with disabilities in an inclusive setting. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 37, 197-207.

Reid, D.H., DiCarlo, C.F., Schepis, M.M., Hawkins, J., & Stricklin, S.B. (2003). Observational assessment of toy preferences among young children with disabilities in inclusive settings: Efficiency analysis and comparison with staff opinion. Behavior Modification, 27(2), 233-250.

Banajee, M., DiCarlo, C., & Stricklin, S. (2003). Core vocabulary determination for toddlers. Augmentative/Alternative Communication, 19, 67-73.

DiCarlo, C.F., Reid, D.H., & Stricklin, S. (2003). Increasing toy play among toddlers with multiple disabilities in an inclusive classroom: A more-to-less, child-directed intervention continuum. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 24, 195-209.

DiCarlo, C.F., Stricklin, S., Banajee, M., & Reid, D. (2001). Effects of manual signing on communicative vocalizations by toddlers with and without disabilities in inclusive classrooms. The Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 26(2), 1-7.

DiCarlo, C.F., & Banajee, M. (2000). Using voice output devices to initiations among children with disabilities. Journal of Early Intervention, 23(3), 191-199. http://jei.sagepub.com/content/23/3/191.full.pdf+html

DiCarlo, C.F., Banajee, M., Stricklin, S. (2000). Circle time: Embedding augmentative communication into routine activities. Young Exceptional Children, 3, 18-26.

Teacher Education

Baumgartner, J., DiCarlo, C.F., & Casbergue, R. (in press). Service-learning in early childhood education: The Intersection of modeling developmentally appropriate teacher education & the P.A.R.E. model. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education.

Isbell, D. S. (2020). Early Socialization and Opinions of Musicianship Among Preservice Music Teachers. Journal of Music Teacher Education,29(3), 62-76. https://doi.org/10.1177/1057083720928496

Lee, L. (2016). Infant-toddler field experience design: A developmentally and culturally relevant approach in restrictive reality. Early Years Bulletin, 4(1), 7-11.

Isbell, D. (2009) Understanding Music Teacher Preparation. Saarbrucken, Germany: VDM, Verlag Publishing, Inc

Isbell, D. (2009). Role Models and Career Commitment Among Music Education Undergraduate Students. Music Education Research International, 3.13-27

Lee, L. & McMullen, M. B. (2006). Social ideology and early childhood education: A comparative analysis of Korean early childhood teacher education textbooks written in 1993 and 2003. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 7(2), 119-129.

Ota, C.,DiCarlo, C.F.,Burts,D., Laird, R., & Gioe, C. (2006).  Training and the needs of adult learners. Journal of Extension, 44(6), Article 6TOT5.

Ota, C.,DiCarlo, C.F.,Burts,D., Laird, R., & Gioe, C. (2006).  The impact of training on caregiver responsiveness. The Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 27(2), 149-160

Teaching Practices

Hulin, C., DiCarlo, C., & Grantham-Caston, M. (in review). The Impact of responsive partnership strategies on the satisfaction of co-teaching relationships in early childhood classrooms. NHSA Dialog: The Research-to-Practice Journal for the Early Childhood Field.

Watson, K.J. & DiCarlo, C.F. (2015). Increasing completion of classroom routines through the use of picture activity schedules. Early Childhood Education Journal. DOI 10.1007/s10643-015-0697-2

DiCarlo, C.F. & Haney, L. (2014). Action research/evidence-based practice in early childhood. Focus on Infants & Toddlers, 1(4), 11-14.

Flynn, L., & DiCarlo, C., (2009). Using a transdisciplinary teaming service delivery approach in preschools. Focus on Inclusive Education, 6(4), 2-3.

VanDerHeyden, A., Snyder, P., DiCarlo, C.F., Stricklin, S.B., & Vagianos, L.A. (2002). Comparison of within-stimulus and extra-stimulus prompts to increase targeted play behaviors in an inclusive early intervention program. The Behavior Analyst Today, 3 (2), 189.

Teaching Adults

Ota, C., DiCarlo, C.F., Burts, D., Laird, R., & Gioe, C. (2006). Training and the needs of adult learners. Journal of Extension, 44(6) [Article No. 6TOT5].

Lee, L. (2020). Technology-augmented play materials. In D. Bergen (Ed.), Handbook of Developmentally Appropriate Toys. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.

Lee, L. (2019). When technology met real-life experiences; Science curriculum project with technology for low-income Latino preschoolers. In N. Kucirkova & J. Rowsell (Eds.), International Handbook of Learning with Technology in Early Childhood Theory and   Method (pp. 338-348). New York: Routledge. 

Tu, X., & Lee, L. (2019). Integrating digital media in early childhood education: A case study of using iPad in American Mid-Western preschools. Journal of Studies in Chinese Early Childhood Education. [Chinese], 54-59.

Clark, S., & Lee, L. (2018). Technology Enhanced Classroom for Low-Income Children’s Mathematical Content Learning: A Case Study. International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 9(1), 66-69.

Lee, L. & Tu, X. (2016). Digital media for low-income preschoolers’ effective science learning: A case study of iPads with a social development approach. Computer in the Schools, 33(4), 1-14.

Lee, L., & Tu, X. (2016). Mathematical learning with digital media for low income preschool children: A case study of ELL and Non-ELL. International Journal of Early Childhood Learning, 23(3), 1-10.

Lee, L. (2015). Digital media for supporting young children’s learning: A case study of American preschool children and their uses of iPads. International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 5(12), 947-950.

Lee, L. (2015). Young children, play, and technology: Meaningful ways of using technology and digital media. In D. P. Fromberg & D. Bergen (Eds.) (3rd), Play from Birth to Twelve: Contexts, Perspectives, and Meanings (pp. 217-224). New York: Routledge

Lee, L. (2012). “It is a learning Journey for all”: A lesson from American elementary teachers who used a classroom Wiki. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 11(3).

Types of Schools (Charter, urban, rural, laboratory)

Nelson-Smith, K. & Gunn, B. (2019). Determining the Perception and Necessity for a Child Development Laboratory in Local Communities. Journal of Education and Human Development, 8(4), pgs. 1-7.

Nelson-Smith, K. (2014). Charter Schools and the Corporate Makeover of Public Education: What’s at Stake? Journal of Negro Education. Book Review. Volume 83(3).

Andrews, N., Houston, W. R., Tobe, P. F., Zhang, A., & Powers, K. (2013). United Way Bright Beginnings Program Evaluation 2012. A program of the United Way of Greater Houston and ExxonMobil. Institute for Urban Education, University of Houston.

Houston, W. R.; Tobe, P. F., Zhang, A., Francis, T. P., & Stallings, T. (2012). United Way Bright Beginnings Program Evaluation, January 2011-January 2012. A program of the United Way of Greater Houston and ExxonMobil. Institute for Urban Education, University of Houston.

Houston, W. R., Tobe, P. F., Dixon, J., & Zhang, A. (2011). United Way Bright Beginnings Program Evaluation, January 2010-January 2011. A program of the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast and ExxonMobil. Institute for Urban Education, University of Houston.

Nelson-Smith, K. (2011). Extension Role in Urban Education: Why Aren’t We Involved? Journal of Extension,49(4). Can be found at: http://www.joe.org/joe/2011august/comm1.php

Isbell, D. (2005). Music education in rural areas: A few keys to success.  Music Educators Journal, 92(2), 30-34.

193 Education Research Topics & Ideas

Developing healthcare, engineering, and IT is undoubtedly useful. However, the professionals in these areas do not grow on their own. The education system is the birthplace of all the science geniuses who change our world. 

If you’re looking for a research title about education, you’re in the right place! This article contains 193 best education research topics that Custom-writing.org experts have prepared for you.

School issues, educational management, special education, child development, and even the new normal education in this pandemic – everything is collected here!

No matter if you’re a high school, an undergraduate, or a graduate college student, this list of research topics in education will be helpful. Find the perfect idea for your paper, discussion, presentation, or even a dissertation below.

• 🔝 Top 10 Topics
• 👓 How to Choose a Topic

🎓 Education Research Topics List

• 🚌 Special Education
• 👶 Child Development

🔍 References

🔝 research topics in education 2024.

• The future of didactics
• Teaching digital literacy
• What is “learning loss”?
• Augmented reality in the classroom
• Real-time performance data in education
• Cognitive science and learning environments
• Ways of monitoring students’ mental health
• Girls’ education and empowerment
• Mental effects of distance learning
• Online teacher-parent communication
• Distant education in the era of COVID-19 pandemic
• The role of technology in distant learning
• Student-student communication in distance education

👓 How to Choose an Education Research Topic?

If you have decided to start working on an educational research, you can definitely benefit from the following list of tips on how to choose a topic. It is the first writing step on your way to the successful paper.

• Review your previous works. Take a look at the essays and research projects you finished earlier. You may have mentioned an issue there that would be worth a more detailed examination.
• Stay informed about the latest updates in education. You might find some government reports saying about their plan of action. It is an excellent source of the most relevant topics that need to be developed in the nearest future.

• “Go out into the field.” If you don’t work in the area of education, it can be beneficial to visit some schools and colleges. Seeing how all the methods are applied in real life gives some food for thought.
• Dig into literature. You might as well get inspired by reading some acknowledged authors’ works.
• Check out international practices. Don’t be afraid to go out of the limits of the national education system. There are thousands of new approaches applied in different areas of education.

Try at least one of the suggested tips if you feel stuck. Be creative while working on your paper! Use our great collection of funny quotes about education . And keep in mind that we’ve also prepared some speech and research proposal ideas on education.

We made a list of educational research topics to make your life easier and save your time! There are 113 great ideas about which way you can start moving:

• Early childhood education : learning through play. We already discussed the importance of education in the development of our society. You see, the personality and mindset of a person are developed in the first years of their lives. Early childhood education is the foundation for the rest of the child’s life.
• Evaluation of the ability grouping method effectiveness. Ability grouping is creating groups of pupils with the same abilities, unlike the more popular age grouping strategy. However, there might be some challenges. For instance, the group should be rearranged if one child starts developing faster. You can research its effectiveness.
• How does the blended learning approach affect students’ performance? Blended learning has been getting more and more popular recently. It is a modern learning approach that combines traditional classes with online materials. It requires strong management skills from students but gives more opportunities in the age of technologies.
• Growing classes: do learning outcomes suffer from it? It looks like there are fewer and fewer professionals willing to teach at schools. But the demand is growing, which results in bigger classes. Teachers can’t possibly split and attend to each and every student with the same level of individual approach. So how does it affect students’ performance ?
• The trends in computer literacy. Nowadays, no one is surprised by a toddler using a tablet or a smartphone without any trouble. Technologies are also incorporated into the learning process. You may write on it with an argumentative approach or see what trends there are and compare them.
• How to recognize which learning style a student needs? There are four learning styles based on different ways students perceive information. For some, it is easier to visualize information; for others, it is all about reading. Look into how schools apply this knowledge, how the best teachers find individual approaches, or how can a study styles quiz help in determining the best educational strategy.
• Should all teachers receive merit pay ? Let’s talk about finances now! Being a teacher is an essential but sometimes tough job. Most teachers overwork and don’t even have weekends. However, they would still receive a standard paycheck. Is it fair? Or should they be paid according to their performance ?
• From homeschooling to successful careers: an overview. There are many reasons why mothers would prefer homeschooling to public education. However, only one thing matters – its effectiveness. If you know anyone who was studying at home, take this chance to analyze how it affected their current life. It is one of the experimental research topics in education.
• How do children benefit from bilingual education? At the times of globalization, this question is undoubtedly relevant. There are more and more advocates for bilingual education. Studies have shown that kids who study in two or more languages have better cognitive abilities and overall academic achievement.
• Single-sex education vs. mixed-sex education. The division started to honor traditions and religion. You might think that it is in the past… But, today, there are still plenty of separate schools for boys and girls. There are many debates on this issue and an excellent chance to research it from the scientific point of view.
• Where is the line for parental involvement ? It is easily one of the best education research topics. Maybe it is too biased for a thesis but could be excellent as a research paper for majors like psychology and communication. Parental involvement is undoubtedly essential, but is there a limit? Parents sometimes overdo it!
• Boarding schools: advantages & disadvantages. Sometimes parents send their kids to the boarding schools to get rid of them. But often they underestimate the stress that students go under there. Spending all their time on the school premises, even at the weekend. It can be psychologically exhausting.
• How should a proper sex education program look like? Let’s leave the Netflix show aside, though… In real life, it is much less dramatic. But just as important! In many schools, there is a lack of sex ed classes. And even if there are some, they don’t seem to be working… However, this topic is vital for youth health and is worth researching.
• Reforming the school schedule: the most efficient solution. This education research topic list would not be complete without this highlighting this issue. There is no way to satisfy all students’ needs regarding the schedule. But that is what compromises for! Maybe your research can become the next universal solution.
• How can career counseling support high school students? Career counseling might be a good investment for schools. Counselors analyze students’ unique abilities and skills based on the scores as well as their passions. It is also a great chance for students to evaluate their real prospects for a specific career path.
• The benefits of the flipped classroom approach. The flipped classroom approach is kinda a type of blended learning. Students are asked to learn the new material at home. When they get to school, they work through it with a teacher and create discussion groups. But does it really work?
• How does Race to the Top program affect students’ outcomes? Race to the Top is an initiative that helps to reform the education system by giving grants to states. It provides multiple opportunities, such as creating data systems and organizing training for teachers. However, it met a wave of criticism.
• The new solutions to prevent violence at schools . Education is good, but children can be mean to each other. Whenever kids get together, there are always fights. It is hard even dealing with and preventing sounds impossible. But you only need to study some cases of educational institutions in countries like Sweden.
• Why should teachers join teacher unions? Teacher unions are organizations that connect professionals who want to stand for their rights. It may be extremely beneficial if a teacher seeks legal advice. But is it the only advantage of joining the union? You can elaborate on this topic, which is relevant at all times.
• Adapted physical education vs. usual physical education
• Is busing still relevant, and should it be stopped?
• How to avoid plagiarism?
• Charter schools vs. public schools: compare & contrast
• Online courses interaction: types and effects
• The inclusivity in charter schools
• High school students and vocational education
• Should collaborative learning be applied more in high school?
• Comparing education in USA and in Saudi Arabia
• Do Common Core State Standards succeed in preparing students for college ?
• Evidence-based model and solving problems with school funding
• Why is computer-assisted instruction also necessary for non-IT students?
• Personal lecture results
• Data-based decision making in assessment
• The role of teachers and parents in the discipline : compare & contrast
• Education: qualitative research study roles
• Should time management be taught in schools?
• Education: peer evaluation system
• Do dual enrollment programs put more pressure on high school students?
• College student life: participation, perceptions and satisfaction
• DACA and DREAM act : compare & contrast
• Impacts of teaching detective stories to esl students
• Can Kalamazoo Promise initiative be applied in other states?
• Liberal arts: Otis College of Arts and Design
• Using Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences to create a new learning approach
• Where and how sex education should be conducted among the young people?
• Where is the limit of self-improvement: the case of the No Child Left Behind Act ?
• Homeschooling: argumentation for and against
• School sex education and teenage pregnancy in the United States
• The effect of outcomes-based education on children’s mental health
• Education: financial aid for college students
• The benefits of peer-counseling
• Learning methods: online learning
• School uniform in learning institutions
• Improving oral reading skills to enhance reading comprehension
• The root causes of plagiarism in high school
• Religion in schools: is there a place for it? Pros and cons
• Are plagiarism and dishonesty in childhood connected?
• Should a school choice be a usual practice?
• Education issues: differentiation and technology
• The best school-to-career programs in the country: an overview
• The concept of lifelong learning
• Studying abroad: pros and cons
• Is there still a need for school-to-career programs?
• Addressing bullying in elementary and middle school classrooms
• What is STEM lacking?
• STEAM vs. STEM: compare & contrast
• Peer evaluation system in education
• The ways of integrating technology into the classroom
• College education: arguments for and against
• How to prevent students from being distracted by smartphones ?
• Continuing nursing education: a 3-5 year plan
• Psychology of the high school: why do students become bullies ?
• Adult education: reasons to continue studying
• How to prevent cyberbullying among teenagers?
• Flipped classroom in nursing schools
• Do virtual classrooms lack a personal connection between students and teachers?
• Classroom management and techniques to incorporate in student’s reinforcement plan
• Will virtual classrooms substitute real-life classes in the future?
• Children’s bullying in school
• Is the whole brain teaching method effective for college students?
• Gamification in education practice
• Uniforms : killing individuality or improving discipline?

• Perceptions about relationships around schooling
• Does the zero-tolerance policy violate the law?
• Academic dishonesty and its detrimental effects
• Online education and e-learning: potential and benefits
• The approaches to emotional development in early childhood education
• Understanding student’s professionalism
• Importance of sex education
• Sex education curricula as the factor that reduced the number of pregnancies in Fayette and Shelby counties
• School communication
• Encouraging students in reading and literacy
• The correct ways to minimize plagiarism and cheating
• The role of textbooks in education
• Why do college students drop out of school?
• Social skills vs. general knowledge: what is more important in early childhood education?
• Distance learning and social change
• A school without homework: a case study
• The role of history learning in society
• Public vs. private schools : what affects academic achievement?
• The impact of education on life quality
• Educational experiences and significant career goals
• The most advanced best practices in adult ESL instruction
• College entrance exams in the US and China: the competitiveness
• Information technologies & online learning
• An information overload: what are high school students’ limits?
• The impact of education on life qualityEducation: Internet courses versus traditional courses
• Multicultural education : how does it promote a positive attitude?
• Course evaluation methods
• Critical thinking in education
• Criterion and norm-referenced tests in education

🚌 Special Education Research Topics & Ideas

Special education makes it possible for students with special needs to receive all the individual support they require. There are plenty of interesting special education research topics you can choose from:

• Practical approaches to teaching students with an auditory processing disorder. The percentage of children diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder (APD) is rising. Despite the difficulty in diagnosing, there is believed to be at least 5% of students having this learning disorder. It doesn’t affect the hearing itself but makes it hard for children to process what they hear.
• Music therapy for children on the autism spectrum : what instruments are the most effective? Children on the autism spectrum find it difficult to interact socially. Some studies show that music therapy helps them become more flexible and responsive. In turn, it promotes the development of their social skills. For example, the didgeridoo playing showed significant results.
• Karaoke as a way to help children with learning disorders. Kids with learning disabilities need special care. It is one of the research paper topics on education which can bring a brilliant solution! It has been shown that children with learning disorders did much better in reading tests after doing karaoke-based exercises.

• How does peer support help children with disabilities socialize in the classroom? We have already mentioned a topic related to peer review, which is quite a good one for the thesis. Here, you can study how peers can help their classmates with special needs. It is especially relevant for schools with inclusivity policies.
• Cooperative learning & students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder . Cooperative learning is vital in early childhood. Most schools choose this approach because of its apparent benefits. However, kids with ADHD might see it as a real challenge. Look into the best ways to engage them in cooperative learning activities without harm.
• Social skills: the best time for children with EBD to learn them. It is one of the research topics in social studies education. Secondary school becomes a tough period for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. It is the time when social skills training is as relevant for them as never before. However, what is the best time to start SST?
• How to develop self-determination in children with disabilities? Self-determination is one of the most vital components of growing up. Every independent human being needs to have it developed. But what about children with special needs? Since they rely heavily on support, it is the educators’ responsibility to help them build self-determination.
• What are the negative sides of the response to intervention approach? Response to intervention is not a new method. However, it has appeared to be controversial. It not only focuses on children with special needs but on every student who struggles to achieve a specific level. Some evaluations show its ineffectiveness, though.
• Inclusive classes vs. special education. It is one of the most relevant child development research paper topics. Special education classes were created out of fear that students with learning disabilities cannot reach the same level of academic achievement in usual courses. However, it seems that the performance is the same in both approaches.
• How does grade retention affect children with learning disabilities ? Even frequent testing can be a stress for any student. How do children with learning disorders feel then? What’s more, they are put under more pressure if they need to repeat the year? Therefore, some particular approaches need to be applied to prevent it.
• Why should students with learning disabilities be included in the Adequate Yearly Progress evaluation?
• Is a foreign language learning disability a real thing?
• Learning disabilities: when is a child’s communication considered delayed?
• Are students more engaged in self-directed IEP classes?
• Teaching communication skills for students with autism
• Zero-tolerance policy & students with special needs
• Assessing students with learning problems
• Strategies for addressing individual needs in special education
• How effective is the Reading Recovery program?
• Inquiry in the field of education: critical and historical analysis of inclusion of students with disabilities
• Early intervention & students with hearing disabilities
• Inclusive classes & bullying prevention
• Technology integration for children with learning disabilities
• Education for students with autism in Saudi Arabia
• Blended learning & children on the autism spectrum: pros and cons
• Special education & trauma-informed learning
• Should twice-exceptional students still get a special education approach?
• What are the causes of disproportionality in special education?
• Self-monitoring & students with learning disabilities
• How does virtual reality help students with autism adapt to stressful real-life situations?
• Homeschooling children with learning disorders
• How to prevent special education teachers from burnouts?
• Co-teaching & special education
• Is full inclusion a good idea?
• Student-led planning to promote independence in special education
• Early detection & learning disabilities

👶 Child Development Research Topics & Ideas

Child development is a vast area since it covers both the physical and mental development of a child from birth to adulthood. Below you can find 30 child development research topics suitable for your project or even a dissertation!

• Mother-child connection: how does stress affect a child’s wellbeing? Everyone knows about the mother-child connection, but not many know how deep it is. During pregnancy, a woman can get into a stressful situation. It may cause chemical reactions in the brain of a child, which, in turn, affects its future health.
• What role do genes play in child development ? Some of us are used to blaming genes for one thing or another. However, it appears that the environment in which we grow up is much more critical. You can debate on how a child’s environment cases chemical modifications in genes.
• How does living in a community affect child development ? Of course, parents are the primary caregivers for small children. On the other hand, there are advocates for shared responsibilities. In communities, kids interact mostly with close neighbors. A child is open to more experience this way. Elaborate on this topic.

• Child development : does it slow down after the third birthday? It is true that in the first three years of life, children develop the most basic brain functions very actively. However, it doesn’t mean that after that they can’t learn anything new! So what areas of the brain stop active development after the child’s third birthday, if any?
• How is neglecting and ignoring your child worse than physical punishment? Physical violence against children is addressed as one of the main issues in child development. Undoubtedly, it has incredibly adverse effects on a child’s mental health. However, neglect is often omitted. It may cause severe disruptions in the healthy social life and development of a child.
• Childhood trauma & happy life. Children who faced violence or any other unpleasant experience have a higher risk of developing stress-related disorders. On the other hand, it is not a rule. If a child gets sufficient support as soon as possible, traumas may just become a neutral life experience for them.
• What care should traumatized children be provided? It is not enough to just save a child from a traumatizing environment. They can still feel insecure even in safe and predictable surroundings. This situation would require more than one action. A child needs therapeutic care for sooner recovery.
• Child development: coping with troubles alone or in a team? Usually, parents try to teach their children to become more independent. Being brave and only relying on yourself is promoted as socially acceptable behavior. But scientists found out that it’s not individualism that helps to overcome obstacles but supportive relationships.
• Responsive relationships & child development . It appears that having a healthy relationship with parents in childhood is related to having good mental health. Parents should practice responsive relationships with their children. It promotes healthy brain development and resilience in kids. You can research this connection.
• Why should parents teach core life skills to their children? Children are capable of learning how to adapt to life on their own. But researchers highlight that parents can significantly help in this process by teaching core life skills to children. This scaffolding process helps kids learn, develop, and make healthy life choices.
• Why is reducing stress essential for child development?
• Family factors that shape children’s behavior
• How does the process of building neural connections change with time?
• Why is it essential to respond to the child’s interaction actions?
• Child development: using the early plasticity at full
• How emotional health and social skills affect a child’s future career?
• Toxic stress & child development
• What effect does divorce cause in child development?
• Video games & child development: pros and cons
• What does single parenting mean for the development of a child?
• Can a child develop normally without a father’s love?
• Can food supplements help to develop a child’s cognitive abilities?
• Postpartum depression & child development
• Does verbal abuse have the same effect on a child as physical punishment ?
• Should beauty pageants be banned as a threat to healthy child development?
• How soon should mothers end maternity leave?
• Child development in low-income families
• How does graphic violence in animations and movies affect child development ?
• Child development & mother’s mental illness
• Is daycare right for child development ?
• Child development : how do children adopt parents’ beliefs?

🤔 Education Research FAQs

Research in education is important because it contributes to the development in the field. Proving theories, creating new methodologies, and practical solutions are all the outcomes of the research in the education area. It plays a vital role – bringing innovation and progress. It also enables teachers to perfect the learning processes for the benefit of the students.

Research is important in child development because it helps find ways to improve children’s quality of life. Environment, teachers, and relationships have a profound impact on child development. All the children’s basic needs should be met to secure their healthy development. Therefore, it is crucial to find the best solutions for any issues arising in those three aspects. That is why the research is done in child development.

It may not be easy to design and evaluate research in education, but comprehensive guidelines make the process much smoother. First of all, choose the topic you want to work on. Then think about the research methodologies and pick the one which works best. After that, be ready to spend quite a while on the steps like data analysis and writing research proposals.

Action research in education is anything related to evaluating and analyzing issues and weak spots in the learning process. Unlike other types of research, this one is very practical. It may help teachers transition from the old methodologies to newer and more effective ones. Teachers get practical solutions to solve problems in the education process and meet the special needs of their students.

Both culture and ethics influence child development research in many ways. It is especially important if your research is done internationally. Cultural differences should be taken into consideration while collecting and analyzing data. Ethics, on the other hand, influences the whole process. While researching early childhood development, for example, remember about consent and anonymity of the groups.

Learn more on this topic:

• 280 Good Nursing Research Topics & Questions
• 226 Research Topics on Criminal Justice & Criminology
• 204 Research Topics on Technology & Computer Science
• 178 Best Research Titles about Cookery & Food
• 497 Interesting History Topics to Research
• 110+ Micro- & Macroeconomics Research Topics
• 417 Business Research Topics for ABM Students
• 190+ Research Topics on Psychology & Communication
• 512 Research Topics on HumSS
• 281 Best Health & Medical Research Topics
• 501 Research Questions & Titles about Science
• A List of Research Topics for Students. Unique and Interesting
• Good Research Topics, Titles and Ideas for Your Paper
• Databases for Research & Education: Gale
• Top Tips on Choosing a Topic for Your Education Research Project: Acedemia
• InBrief: The Science of Early Childhood Development (Harvard University)
• Child Development: Research (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Topics in Early Childhood Special Education: SAGE Journals
• PhD Research Topics: Department of Education, University of York
• Early childhood education: UNICEF
• Early Childhood Education: Australian Council for Educational Research
• Do the Effects of Early Childhood Programs on Academic Outcomes Vary by Gender? A Meta-Analysis (2011 SREE Conference Abstract Template)
• Research in Education: Ontario Ministry of Education
• Center for Education Policy Research: Harvard University
• Research: School of Education, University of Queensland
• Faculty & Research: School of Education, University of Pittsburgh
• Education Research Section: Princeton University
• Engaging with educational research: free course (OpenLearn)
• Education in a Changing World: NSW Government
• Research areas: The University of Sydney, School of Education and Social Work
• Faculty & Research: Stanford, Graduate School of Education
• Special Education: UW College of Education
• Special Education: Michigan State University
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Ready or Not Kindergarten, Here We Come!

You are here

By Tracy Galuski

Sammy was a bit of a late bloomer. Maria, his mother, spent a lot of time helping him with the kindergarten readiness activities, but she wasn’t sure if he was really prepared. The morning of the first day of school was a whirlwind for the family. Maria dropped Sammy off with a kiss, then made her way to work, where she worried about him off and on all day.

While many of us focus on the basics of letter and number recognition or reading skills, kindergarten readiness encompasses more than a few isolated skills. We need to look at the whole child and all the skills and strengths each child has developed. That’s what makes them unique. As an example, Sasha may love books and have exceptional reading abilities, but she struggles with shyness that prevents her from engaging with other children. Joshua might be very strong socially but still has difficulty holding and using a pencil correctly. Emma can do both these things, but she can be very silly and wiggly and gets distracted in group settings. Despite these differences, all of these children are ready for school.

Here are some tips to help you prepare your child for Kindergarten:

• Help him to develop independence at home.  Encourage your child to dress himself, take his coat on and off and hang it up, use the bathroom without assistance and wash his hands without constant reminders, and put on his own shoes. Provide serving spoons so your child can serve himself at the table and clear his own dishes. These skills will take him from the coatroom to the lunchroom and beyond.
• Focus on self-help skills.  Your child should know how to wipe her face after lunch without prompting and blow her nose without assistance. But be sure she is also comfortable asking an adult for help when necessary.
• Teach responsibility.  Start transferring small responsibilities over to your child, if you haven’t already. After a family trip to the pool, you might put your child in charge of emptying the backpack, refilling the water bottles, or hanging up his wet swimsuit. Even when it may be easier for you to complete these tasks, let him accept the responsibility.
• Develop and follow routines . Set up morning routines that will transfer into a school setting. Getting up around the same time every day, getting dressed, and having an early breakfast together is a great way to transition to school.
• Read aloud to your child.  Get your child a library card, take her to the library to check out books, and be sure to read to your child every day. Read a variety of books, read the captions under pictures in the newspaper, even share the comics. Just read!
• Engage her in meaningful literacy activities.  Encourage your child to help you with thank you cards, shopping lists, or notes. They may start with scribbles or pictures, move into scattered letters, and finally some recognizable words as they enter school. Appreciate their attempts and watch their skills develop with practice.
• Acknowledge his feelings.  Avoid talking about school too much, or wait until the end of summer is near. Your child may express being nervous, not wanting to go or, alternately, feeling very excited to start school. Whatever they feel, take time to appreciate where they are.

Rather than worry about whether your child is ready to read and write, think about his or her skills as a whole. What can they do well that will help them succeed? The quiet child who has reading abilities will find her way to the social butterfly that needs help writing his name. The silly, wiggly child will find a spot as the classroom helper. Rest assured, they will all navigate kindergarten together.

Tracy Galuski is an associate professor and mentor at Empire State College where she shares her experiences as a mother, teacher, and child care administrator with her early childhood students. She teaches online courses in child development and classroom environments.

School Readiness

75 Best Children's Books for Kindergarten Kids

Reading to children is crucial in preparing them for kindergarten. It helps develop vocabulary, language skills, and comprehension abilities. Reading also enhances concentration, stimulates imagination, and nurtures a lifelong love for books. Furthermore, it introduces children to the structure of stories, helps them recognize letters and words, and fosters listening skills and memory. Early exposure to reading sets the foundation for academic success and cognitive development for Kindergarten students and beyond!

Welcome to our comprehensive guide on the 100 must-read books for kindergarten students! As parents and educators, we understand the crucial role early literacy plays in a child's development. Reading not only enhances vocabulary and comprehension skills but also sparks imagination, fosters emotional growth, and creates lasting bonds between children and adults. With so many wonderful books out there, selecting the best ones for your kindergarteners can be overwhelming. That's why we've curated this list of timeless classics and modern favorites that are perfect for young readers. Dive into this treasure trove of stories and watch your child's love for reading blossom!

Children are often drawn to the same book repeatedly because of the comfort and familiar topics it provides for kindergarten kids and younger. Repeated readings help them master the content, boosting their confidence and sense of accomplishment.  It is completely normal for a child's interest to drive the repetition of reading a book with beloved characters.

Familiar stories and characters create a sense of security, and the predictability of the narrative allows children to anticipate what happens next, enhancing their comprehension and enjoyment. Additionally, repetitive exposure reinforces language patterns, vocabulary, and phonemic awareness, contributing to their literacy development. The emotional connection to favorite stories also plays a significant role, as children often find joy and reassurance in the consistent, predictable world of a beloved book.

Concepts of Early Readers / Emerging Readers

Kindergarten teachers use a variety of strategies to teach early reading skills, focusing on building a strong foundation in literacy. Here are some common methods and techniques they employ for working on strengthening Kindergarten reading level through popular series, guided reading levels, non-fiction books and a wide range of books to find books that are engaging.

1. Phonemic Awareness

Activities : Clapping syllables, playing rhyming games, and identifying beginning and ending sounds in words.

Goal : Helps young readers understand that words are made up of individual sounds (phonemes).

2. Phonics Skills

Instruction : Teaching the relationship between letters and their sounds to young students.

Activities : Letter-sound matching games, using phonics worksheets, and guided reading sessions.

Goal : Enable children to decode (sound out) simple words.

3. Sight Words

Focus : Recognizing common words by sight to build reading fluency in Kindergarten children.

Activities : Flashcards, word walls, and repetitive reading of simple books.

Goal : Improve reading speed and confidence by memorizing frequently used words.

4. Reading Aloud

Approach : You will see Kindergarten teacher read books aloud to the class, modeling fluent reading.

Techniques : Using expressive voices, pausing to ask questions, and encouraging predictions.

Goal : Develop listening comprehension, vocabulary, and a love for reading.

5. Shared Reading

Method : Reading a big book or a text on a projector where students can see the words.

Activities : Group discussions about the text, pointing to words while reading, and choral reading (reading together as a class).

Goal : Engage children in the reading process and teach concepts of print (like reading left to right).

6. Guided Reading Groups

Setup : Small group instruction tailored to each child's reading and skill level.

Activities : Reading leveled books with teacher support, discussing the text, and practicing reading strategies.

Goal : Provide individualized support to develop reading skills.

7. Interactive Writing

Process : Teachers and students write together, sharing the pen.

Activities : Writing stories, sentences, or lists on chart paper.

Goal : Teach letter formation, spelling, and the writing process.

8. Independent Reading

Encouragement : Providing access to a variety of books in a classroom library.

Activities : Designated quiet reading time where children choose their own books.

Goal : Foster a love for reading and allow little readers to practice reading independently.

9. Literacy Centers

Setup : Stations with different literacy activities that children rotate through.

Activities : Phonics games, word puzzles, listening to audiobooks, and writing centers.

Goal : Provide hands-on practice and reinforce skills through engaging activities.

10. Vocabulary Building

Focus : Expanding children's vocabulary through direct instruction and exposure.

Activities : Introducing new words during read-alouds, word-of-the-day activities, and thematic units.

Goal : Enhance comprehension and expressive language.

Do not get too stressed by the grade level or reading books level - find books that are engaging for your emergent reader.  Do a mix of independent reading, group reading, and read alouds and get a feel for what picture books or chapter books are most interesting. 

75 Best Read Aloud Fun Books for Confident Readers

These best seller read-aloud books are classic popular books that you likely grew up reading and will love sharing with your students and children.  The goal is to make reading fun so early readers will continue their love of good books forever.

As an amazon affiliate, I earn a small commission based on purchases made through affiliate links at no additional cost to you.

"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle

A caterpillar eats through various foods before becoming a butterfly. Teaches counting, days of the week, and metamorphosis.

"Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown

A soothing bedtime story where a little bunny says goodnight to various objects in his room. Encourages a calming bedtime routine.

"Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak

Max's imaginative journey to an island of wild creatures. Emphasizes imagination and emotions.

"Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle

A repetitive and rhythmic book that introduces colors and animals. Enhances memorization and prediction skills.

"Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

An alphabet adventure where letters race up a coconut tree. Teaches the alphabet in a fun, rhythmic way.

"If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" by Laura Numeroff

A story about the chain reaction of events that happens when you give a mouse a cookie. Highlights cause and effect.

"Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss

A whimsical tale encouraging children to try new things. Develops rhyming and simple word recognition.

"The Cat in the Hat" by Dr. Seuss

The mischievous Cat brings chaos and fun on a rainy day. Stimulates imagination and creativity with familiar words and repetition.

"Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" by Mo Willems

A pigeon tries to persuade readers to let him drive a bus. Interactive and teaches decision-making.

"We're Going on a Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury

A family's adventurous quest to find a bear. Repetitive phrases and onomatopoeia make it engaging.

"Guess How Much I Love You" by Sam McBratney

Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare express their love for each other. Teaches about expressing emotions.

"The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats

A boy's exploration of the snow-covered world. Celebrates discovery and simple pleasures.

"Llama Llama Red Pajama" by Anna Dewdney

Llama Llama's bedtime routine and anxieties. Comforts children about bedtime separation.

"Corduroy" by Don Freeman

A teddy bear's adventures in a department store. Highlights themes of friendship and acceptance.

"Room on the Broom" by Julia Donaldson

A witch and her cat make room for new friends on their broomstick. Encourages teamwork and kindness.

"Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes" by James Dean and Eric Litwin

Pete's white shoes change colors as he steps in different substances. Teaches colors and resilience.

"Harold and the Purple Crayon" by Crockett Johnson

Harold creates his world with a purple crayon. Encourages creativity and problem-solving.

"Make Way for Ducklings" by Robert McCloskey

A family of ducks finds a home in the city. Shows the importance of family and community.

"Giraffes Can't Dance" by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees

A giraffe finds his own rhythm. Promotes self-confidence and individuality.

"The Mitten" by Jan Brett

Various animals seek warmth in a lost mitten. Illustrates sharing and the sequence of events.

"Madeline" by Ludwig Bemelmans

The adventures of a brave little girl in Paris. Celebrates bravery and adventure.

"Olivia" by Ian Falconer

The adventures of a spirited pig. Encourages creativity and individuality.

"Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type" by Doreen Cronin

Cows use a typewriter to make demands. Introduces negotiation and problem-solving.

"Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale" by Mo Willems

A girl loses her beloved stuffed animal. Shows the importance of communication and family support.

"The Little Engine That Could" by Watty Piper

A determined little engine overcomes obstacles. Teaches perseverance and optimism.

"Each Peach Pear Plum" by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

A rhyming, seek-and-find book featuring nursery rhyme characters. Enhances observational skills and rhyming.

"The Day the Crayons Quit" by Drew Daywalt

Crayons write letters of complaint to their owner. Encourages empathy and understanding different perspectives.

"I Want My Hat Back" by Jon Klassen

A bear looks for his lost hat. Introduces mystery and humor.

"Bear Snores On" by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman

Animals gather in a little bear den while he sleeps. Teaches about hibernation and friendship.

"No, David!" by David Shannon

David's mischievous antics and his mother's responses. Highlights behavior and boundaries.

"The Kissing Hand" by Audrey Penn

A raccoon receives a comforting kiss from his mother. Eases separation anxiety.

"Swimmy" by Leo Lionni

A little fish finds a way to protect his friends. Teaches teamwork and creativity.

"Julius, the Baby of the World" by Kevin Henkes

A mouse adjusts to a new sibling. Addresses sibling rivalry and acceptance.

"Duck on a Bike" by David Shannon

A duck's adventure riding a bike. Encourages trying new things and adventure.

"Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" by Judith Viorst

Alexander's bad day and how he copes. Teaches resilience and that everyone has bad days.

"The Runaway Bunny" by Margaret Wise Brown

A mother's love follows her runaway bunny. Highlights unconditional love.

"Dragons Love Tacos" by Adam Rubin

Dragons' love for tacos and the trouble with spicy salsa. Entertains and teaches about preferences.

"Big Red Barn" by Margaret Wise Brown

The peaceful life of animals in a barn. Offers a calming, rhythmic story.

"Leo the Late Bloomer" by Robert Kraus

A tiger cub develops skills at his own pace. Encourages patience and understanding of individual growth.

"The Napping House" by Audrey Wood

A cumulative tale of a napping household. Enhances memory and sequence understanding.

"Stellaluna" by Janell Cannon

A baby bat learns to embrace her differences. Promotes acceptance and understanding.

"Gossie" by Olivier Dunrea

A gosling who loves her red boots. Introduces themes of independence and attachment.

"Planting a Rainbow" by Lois Ehlert

A mother and child plant a garden. Teaches colors and the process of planting.

"How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?" by Jane Yolen

Dinosaurs' bedtime routines. Encourages positive bedtime behaviors.

"Snowmen at Night" by Caralyn Buehner

Snowmen's nocturnal adventures. Stimulates imagination and creativity.

"The Story of Ferdinand" by Munro Leaf

A gentle bull prefers smelling flowers to fighting. Promotes peace and individuality.

"Elmer" by David McKee

A colorful elephant learns about being different. Teaches diversity and self-acceptance.

"Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes" by Mem Fox

Celebrates babies from around the world. Highlights diversity and common humanity.

"One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" by Dr. Seuss

A rhyming exploration of fun creatures. Enhances imagination and rhyming skills.

"Whistle for Willie" by Ezra Jack Keats

A boy learns to whistle for his dog. Teaches perseverance and practice.

"The Little House" by Virginia Lee Burton

A house in the country changes over time. Introduces change and history.

"The Paper Bag Princess" by Robert Munsch

A princess rescues herself and her prince. Promotes independence and resourcefulness.

"The Carrot Seed" by Ruth Krauss

A boy's faith in growing a carrot. Teaches patience and belief in oneself.

"The Tale of Peter Rabbit" by Beatrix Potter

A mischievous rabbit's garden adventure. Emphasizes consequences and curiosity.

"Are You My Mother?" by P.D. Eastman

A baby bird searches for his mother. Highlights persistence and identity.

"The Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister

A fish learns to share his shimmering scales. Teaches sharing and generosity.

"Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse" by Leo Lionni

A mouse wishes to be a toy. Explores friendship and envy.

"Blueberries for Sal" by Robert McCloskey

A child and a bear cub get mixed up while picking blueberries. Emphasizes family and nature.

"Freight Train" by Donald Crews

A colorful train's journey. Teaches colors and motion.

"Harry the Dirty Dog" by Gene Zion

A dog dislikes baths and gets dirty. Explores themes of identity and acceptance.

"The Pout-Pout Fish" by Deborah Diesen

A gloomy fish learns to smile. Promotes positivity and emotional awareness.

"Good Night, Gorilla" by Peggy Rathmann

A sneaky gorilla escapes his cage. Encourages observation and humor.

"Llama Llama Mad at Mama" by Anna Dewdney

Llama Llama's frustration with shopping. Validates emotions and coping mechanisms.

"How to Catch a Star" by Oliver Jeffers

A boy's quest to catch a star. Encourages dreaming and determination.

"Owl Moon" by Jane Yolen

A child's nighttime adventure with their father. Celebrates nature and bonding.

"Mr. Tiger Goes Wild" by Peter Brown

A tiger breaks free from societal norms. Promotes self-expression and authenticity.

"The Gruffalo" by Julia Donaldson

A mouse outwits predators with tales of a Gruffalo. Teaches cleverness and courage.

"The Monster at the End of This Book" by Jon Stone

Grover worries about the monster at the end of the book. Introduces suspense and self-awareness.

"Is Your Mama a Llama?" by Deborah Guarino

A baby llama questions other animals about their mothers. Teaches rhyme and animal recognition.

"Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes" by James Dean and Eric Litwin

Pete's adventures in school. Eases school anxiety and promotes a positive attitude.

"There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" by Simms Taback

A cumulative tale of an old lady swallowing various animals. Enhances memory and sequencing.

"The Wheels on the Bus" by Paul O. Zelinsky

A classic song brought to life with illustrations. Encourages singing and interaction.

"The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein

A tree's selfless love for a boy. Teaches generosity and unconditional love.

"Little Blue Truck" by Alice Schertle

A friendly truck helps others. Promotes kindness and teamwork.

"Bear Wants More" by Karma Wilson

Bear's friends help him find food after hibernation. Emphasizes friendship and sharing.

If you want to really work on independent readers and their ability to read leveled readers, these recommendations will be so helpful for classroom or home. Have students work on writing simple sentences after reading any of these best books as a great addition to learning!  Parents and students will be so proud of the immense progress made from beginning of the year to the end with their Kindergarten readers.

Reading these books to children not only prepares them for the academic challenges of kindergarten but also fosters a love for reading that can last a lifetime. These stories introduce fundamental concepts, promote emotional intelligence, and provide a platform for parents and children to bond over shared reading experiences.

We hope this carefully curated list of 100 must-read books has inspired you and provided valuable resources for fostering a love of reading in your kindergarten students. Each book on this list offers unique opportunities for learning, imagination, and bonding. By introducing these engaging stories, you'll not only support your child's literacy development but also create cherished memories that will last a lifetime. Happy reading, and may your journey through these wonderful books be filled with joy and discovery!

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Harvard-led study IDs statin that may block pathway to some cancers

Cholesterol-lowering drug suppresses chronic inflammation that creates dangerous cascade

Tracy Hampton

MGH Communications

Statins, commonly used cholesterol-lowering drugs, may block a pathway that leads to the development of cancer from chronic inflammation, according to a new study led by investigators from Harvard-affiliated  Mass General Cancer Center .

The team’s experiments showed that environmental toxins, such as those caused by exposure to allergens and chemical irritants, create a cascade effect that stimulates inflammation in the skin and pancreas that, when chronic, can result in cancer. Their findings suggest that using statins to suppress this pathway may have a protective effect.

The findings are published in Nature Communications.

In mice, pitavastatin suppressed environmentally induced inflammation in the skin and the pancreas and prevented the development of inflammation-related pancreatic cancers. 

“Chronic inflammation is a major cause of cancer worldwide,” said senior author Shawn Demehri, a principal investigator at the Center for Cancer Immunology and Cutaneous Biology Research Center of Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School and the Bob and Rita Davis Family MGH Research Scholar 2023-2028 .

“We investigated the mechanism by which environmental toxins drive the initiation of cancer-prone chronic inflammation in the skin and pancreas. Furthermore, we examined safe and effective therapies to block this pathway in order to suppress chronic inflammation and its cancer aftermath,” Demehri said.

The study relied on cell lines, animal models, human tissue samples, and epidemiological data. The group’s cell-based experiments demonstrated that environmental toxins (such as exposure to allergens and chemical irritants) activate two connected signaling pathways called the TLR3/4 and TBK1-IRF3 pathways. This activation leads to the production of the interleukin-33 (IL-33) protein, which stimulates inflammation in the skin and pancreas that can contribute to the development of cancer.

When they screened a library of U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs, the researchers found that the statin pitavastatin effectively suppresses IL-33 expression by blocking the activation of the TBK1-IRF3 signaling pathway. In mice, pitavastatin suppressed environmentally induced inflammation in the skin and pancreas and prevented development of inflammation-related pancreatic cancers. 

In human pancreas tissue samples, IL-33 was overexpressed in samples from patients with chronic pancreatitis (inflammation) and pancreatic cancer compared with normal pancreatic tissue. Also, in analyses of electronic health records data on more than 200 million people across North America and Europe, use of pitavastatin was linked to a significantly reduced risk of chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer.

The findings demonstrate that blocking IL-33 production with pitavastatin may be a safe and effective preventive strategy to suppress chronic inflammation and the subsequent development of certain cancers.

“Next, we aim to further examine the impact of statins in preventing cancer development in chronic inflammation in liver and gastrointestinal tract and to identify other novel, therapeutic approaches to suppress cancer-prone chronic inflammation” said Demehri.

Research support was provided by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the LEO Foundation, the Sidney Kimmel Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health.

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Traumatic brain injury strikes 1 in 8 older Americans

Some 13% of older adults are diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI), according to a study by UC San Francisco and the San Francisco VA Health Care System. These injuries are typically caused by falls from ground level.

Researchers followed about 9,200 Medicare enrollees, whose average age was 75 at the start of the study, and found that contrary to other studies of younger people, being female, white, healthier and wealthier was associated with higher risk of TBI.

The study publishes in JAMA Network Open on May 31, 2024.

The researchers, led by first author Erica Kornblith, PhD, of the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and the San Francisco VA Health Care System, tracked TBI Medicare claims of participants enrolled in the Health and Retirement Study, a long-term study of a representative sample of older Americans.

While TBI can be successfully treated, these injuries increase the likelihood of a number of serious conditions, including dementia, Parkinson's disease and seizures, as well as cardiovascular disease and psychiatric conditions like depression and anxiety.

"The number of people 65 and older with TBI is shockingly high," said senior author Raquel Gardner, MD, formerly of the UCSF Department of Neurology and the San Francisco VA Health Care System. "We need evidence-based guidelines to inform post-discharge care of this very large Medicare population, and more research on post-TBI dementia prevention and repeat injury prevention."

The researchers sought to identify the factors that made some patients more vulnerable than others, during a follow-up period of up to 18 years.

Earlier TBI studies have found that males, non-whites and those of lower socio-economic status were more likely to be diagnosed with TBI. But the current study found that females and whites were overrepresented among the 1,148 participants with TBI. While 58% of the HRS participants were female and 84% were white, among those with TBI, the figures were 64% and 89%. In addition, 31% of those with TBI were in the highest quartile of wealth, while 22% were in the lowest.

Activities of healthier seniors may place them at higher risk

Participants who went on to be diagnosed with TBI were less likely when they enrolled in the study to have lung disease and to have trouble with the activities of daily living, like bathing, walking and getting out of bed. They also were more likely to have normal cognition.

"It's possible that our findings reflect that adults who are healthier, wealthier and more active are more able or likely to engage in activities that carry risk for TBI," said Kornblith, who is also affiliated with the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences.

"While most TBIs in older people occur from falls at ground level, if you are in a wheelchair or bedbound, you don't have as many opportunities for traumatic injuries," she added. "It's also possible that participants with cognitive impairment are more limited in their activity and have less opportunity to fall."

But the findings may mask the true incidence of injury, since the data only reflect cases of TBI in which patients were diagnosed and received care. A 2007 study found that 42% of respondents to an online survey did not seek medical attention after TBI.

"We know that older adults who experience falls, the largest segment of Americans with TBI, as well as lower-resourced adults -- including those subjected to racial and ethnic micro-aggressions in a medical setting -- are less likely to seek care," Kornblith said. "It's possible that our data did not capture the true burden of TBI in this population."

The study's findings may raise questions at a time when physical activity is vigorously recommended to reduce or slow the development of dementia.

"The overall evidence still overwhelmingly sides with physical activity being neuroprotective," said Gardner, who is now at the Sheba Medical Center in Israel. "However, taking measures to optimize safety and mitigate falls is critical. These measures need to change over the life-course as an individual accumulates physical or cognitive disabilities, or both."

• Today's Healthcare
• Mental Health Research
• Health Policy
• Disorders and Syndromes
• Mental Health
• Intelligence
• Traumatic brain injury
• Social cognition
• Brain damage
• Cerebral contusion
• Head injury
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• West Nile virus

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of California - San Francisco . Original written by Suzanne Leigh. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference :

• Erica Kornblith, L. Grisell Diaz-Ramirez, Kristine Yaffe, W. John Boscardin, Raquel C. Gardner. Incidence of Traumatic Brain Injury in a Longitudinal Cohort of Older Adults . JAMA Network Open , 2024; 7 (5): e2414223 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.14223

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Early menopause linked to greater risk for breast, and possibly ovarian cancer

by The Endocrine Society

Some women who experience menopause early—before age 40—have an increased risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer, according to research being presented at ENDO 2024 , the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Boston, Mass.

"There is also higher risk of breast, prostate and colon cancer in relatives of these women," said Corrine Welt, M.D., chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes at the University of Utah Health in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Welt and colleagues began the study with the hypothesis that some women with primary ovarian insufficiency and their family members might be predisposed to reproductive or hormone-related cancers. Primary ovarian insufficiency is a condition that occurs when a woman's ovaries stop working normally prior to age 40.

The researchers identified 613 women with primary ovarian insufficiency and 165 women who experienced early menopause from two health care systems in Utah that serve 85% of the population. The researchers reviewed medical records dated 1995–2021.

They used Utah Population Database genealogy information to find relatives and focused on cancer diagnoses among the women and their family members using the Utah Cancer Registry. Specifically, the researchers looked at those who were diagnosed with breast, ovarian, endometrial, colon, testicular, and prostate cancers.

They discovered that women with early menopause had two times greater risk for breast cancer. This risk was increased by almost four times (borderline risk) for ovarian cancer .

Breast cancer risk was increased 1.3 times and colon cancer by 1.5 times in second-degree relatives (i.e., aunts, uncles, grandparents, nieces, or nephews, etc.).

Prostate cancer was increased by 1.3–1.6 times in first-, second-, and third-degree relatives (i.e., great grandfathers, first cousins).

"Women who have infertility from low egg numbers or experience early menopause should make sure they are regularly screened for breast cancer, especially if they have family members with cancer," Welt said.

"Doctors who practice general medicine, gynecology and fertility treatment should be aware that early menopause increases risk for a number of diseases, and they should now be aware that breast cancer may be one of these diseases to watch for."

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