Early Primary Grades Research Articles

Comparative experiment of the effects of unplugged and plugged-in programming on computational thinking in primary school students: A perspective of multiple influential factors

Recently, the development of computational thinking (CT) skills has become widespread in the whole world. There is a consensus to develop students’ CT skills through unplugged and plugged-in programming. However, the choice of programming approaches taught in schools is arbitrary and few studies have compared the effectiveness differences between unplugged and plugged-in programming. This study aimed to explore the differences between unplugged and plugged-in programming in developing CT skills of students in Grades 1-2 students. It also explored the joint effects of students’ gender, programming experience, programming interest, and programming confidence with different programming approaches on CT skills. The quasi-experimental research approach was used to conduct 10 weeks of unplugged, plugged-in, and regular programming activities with 124 Grades 1-2 students. The results found that unplugged programming promoted CT skills more in the early primary grades than plugged-in programming. We found that boys and students with programming experience in unplugged group performed significantly better in CT skills than in plugged-in group. Moreover, the improvement of CT skills of students in unplugged group was positively correlated with the level of their programming interest and programming confidence. However, these were not observed in plugged-in group. The results of this study can provide precise guidance for teaching CT skills to early primary school students and provide references for CT education.

The development of social competence in students with General Learning Difficulties in early primary grades: The necessity of psychological support programmes in schools

AbstractStudents with General Learning Difficulties present low levels of social competence. In order to increase them, students participate in school psychological support programmes. There are no research data available in Greece regarding social competence in students with General Learning Difficulties in the first grades of elementary school. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the efficiency of an intervention programme, which focused on strengthening their social competence, in the first grades of primary school. The levels of social competence of the students were evaluated before and after the implementation of an 8‐month social empowerment programme, following a mixed‐methods approach with the use of semi‐structured interviews and observation in the school context. The participants were 21 students with General Learning Difficulties, 18 education professionals, whose classes the 21 students attended, together with the 21 parents of these students (one parent per student). The results showed that the social competence of the participants was low before and that it increased after their participation in the intervention programme. In addition, girls had higher social competence than boys both before and after their participation in the intervention programme. These results highlight the benefits of classroom intervention programmes for children with General Learning Difficulties.

Home literacy environment and early reading skills in Japanese Hiragana and Kanji during the transition from kindergarten to primary school.

We examined the reciprocal associations between home literacy environment (HLE) and children's early reading skills in syllabic Hiragana and morphographic Kanji in a sample of Japanese parent-child dyads. Eighty-three children were followed from kindergarten to Grade 3 and tested on Hiragana reading accuracy in kindergarten, Hiragana word reading fluency in kindergarten and Grade 1, and Kanji reading accuracy in Grade 1 to Grade 3. Their parents answered a questionnaire about HLE [parent teaching (PT) in Hiragana and Kanji, shared book reading (SBR), and access to literacy resources (ALR)], parents' needs for early literacy support by teachers, parents' expectations for children's reading skills, parents' worry about children's homework, and mother's education level. Results showed first that ALR, but not PT and SBR, was associated with reading skills in Hiragana and Kanji. Second, whereas Hiragana reading in kindergarten was not associated with PT in Hiragana in kindergarten, it negatively predicted PT in Hiragana in Grade 1. However, Kanji reading accuracy was not associated with PT in Kanji across Grades 1 to 3. Third, parents' worry was negatively associated with children's reading performance across Grades 1 to 3 but positively associated with PT in Hiragana and Kanji. Finally, while parents' expectations were positively associated with children's reading performance across Grades 1 to 3, they were negatively associated with PT in Hiragana and Kanji in Grades 1 and 2. These results suggest that Japanese parents may be sensitive to both their children's reading performance and social expectations for school achievement and adjust their involvement accordingly during the transition period from kindergarten to early primary grades. ALR may be associated with early reading development in both Hiragana and Kanji.

Learning Mathematics with Interactive Technology in Kenya Grade-one Classes

While countries in sub-Saharan Africa have made significant progress towards achieving universal school enrolment, millions of students lack basic numeracy skills. This paper reports the results of a pilot study that aimed at using the Emergent Literacy in Mathematics (ELM) software to teach mathematics in early primary grades in Kenya. Designed as a pre- and post-test non-equivalent group research, the study unfolded in 14 grade-one classes from 7 primary public schools. After having learned with ELM for about two terms, the experimental students (N = 283) considerably outperformed their peers (N = 171) exposed to traditional instruction with the effect sizes of +0.37 on the overall skills measured by a standardised test of mathematics. The impact of ELM activities was the greatest on students’ ability to take language and concepts of mathematics and apply appropriate operations and computation to solve word problems. On this set of skills, the magnitude of difference between the experimental and control groups was +0.77. This study also revealed some positive shifts in the teachers’ perceptions about their practice. The teachers who adopted ELM in their practice reported having gained more confidence in mathematics and comfort in teaching mathematics with computers.

Teacher expectations in the early primary grades: A scoping review

AbstractTeachers are the single most important in‐school factor affecting student learning outcomes. As a result, researchers and policy makers are particularly interested in the ways that teacher‐level factors influence the learning opportunities that teachers provide in their classrooms. A growing body of research suggests that the expectations a teacher sets for individuals and groups of students can significantly affect the learning opportunities that are provided to them. This is highly problematic, especially since teacher expectations can be inaccurate evaluations of student abilities and teacher expectations differentially affect the learning outcomes of racialised students as well as children living in poverty. Much of the research base regarding teacher expectations has focused on upper elementary and secondary grades with little research focus on the ways that teacher expectations are formed and impact children in the first years of formal schooling. Given the potential impact of sustained teacher expectation effects, an in‐depth review of teacher expectation research in the early primary grades is warranted. This study uses a scoping review methodology (H. Arksey and L. O’Malley, ‘Scoping Studies: Towards a Methodological Framework, International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 2005, 8(1), 19–32) to analyse research on teacher expectations in the early primary grades. Five themes encapsulate the scope of research published from 2000–2021: (1) teacher expectations of school readiness skills, (2) factors that influence the formation of teacher expectations, (3) teacher expectation effects, (4) stability of teacher expectations, and (5) intervention studies. This paper presents the current state of knowledge surrounding expectations in the early primary grades, as well as highlights challenges in need of further research.

Classrooms are Complex Host Environments: An Integrative Theoretical Measurement Model of the Pre-K to Grade 3 Classroom Ecology

ABSTRACT Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to test a theoretical measurement model representing four proposed dimensions of the classroom ecology in pre-K to third-grade classrooms. The four proposed dimensions of Classroom Composition, Peer Network and Norms, Teacher Practices, and Student Experiences were evaluated using data collected in 182 classrooms and 2,662 students in two districts spanning rural, suburban, and urban settings. Overall, the theoretical measurement model supported the multi-dimensional nature of the classroom ecology across the early primary grades, although specific characteristics and relations within the four dimensions may vary somewhat in pre-kindergarten settings compared to kindergarten through third grade. Practice or Policy: The overarching goal is to advance research that conceptualizes the classroom ecology more broadly to reflect both the academic and peer environment. The study is important for advancing understanding of salient characteristics of the classroom ecology that may foster learning and achievement.

The Doll. By Nhung N. Tran-Davies and Illustrated by Ravy Puth

This book is about a refugee who comes to Canada with her mother and six siblings as a young child. When she first arrives, a girl around her age gives her a doll. The refugee who receives the doll grows up to become a doctor and sees that another group of refugees is coming to Canada. Remembering her own experience, she goes to the airport to give the doll to another little girl arriving in Canada. This book shows young children about the importance of kindness and welcome. By paying an act of kindness forward, the author shows how human beings are connected. Illustrated with colourful pictures, the book is written in a poetic style. The repetition of keywords and events would appeal to children in early primary grades. However, the vocabulary and indirect telling of key events are more appropriate for an...

Development and initial validation of productive vocabulary tests for isiZulu, Siswati and English in South Africa

Multilingualism in education is encouraged in South Africa, and children are expected to become bilingual and biliterate during the early primary grades. Much focus has been placed on measuring literacy in children’s first language, often the medium of instruction (MOI), and English, the language typically used as MOI from fourth grade. However, vocabulary development in African contexts is underexplored, owing to the cost of existing English standardized tests, and the comparatively fewer linguistically and contextually appropriate vocabulary assessments in African languages. To address this gap, we document the development of corpus-informed contextually appropriate tests of productive vocabulary in isiZulu, Siswati, and English, which were used for a project evaluation. The initial validation phase included 412 children. Both tests were reliable and were concurrently validated with reading comprehension tests in each language, and oral language skills in English. This study contributes to our understanding of the factors that affect the variation in vocabulary knowledge in an African context, including age, grade repetition, and vocabulary in the other language. Only English vocabulary was affected by the remote rural location of the school. We recommend some modifications to the tests before they are validated further in other populations.

Academics of the Early Primary Grades: Investigating the Alignment of Instructional Practices from Pre-K to Third Grade

ABSTRACT Research Findings: The present study examined the extent to which instructional practices, including curriculum, in pre-K through third grade are vertically aligned. Attention was directed to teachers’ grouping practices, academic content, and pedagogical methods given their importance for students’ learning. Variable- and person-centered analyses examined these practices for a sample of 1,095 students in 179 pre-K through third-grade classrooms. A comparison of practices indicated that pre-K practices were significantly mis-aligned from those used in kindergarten through third grade, whereas kindergarten practices were well aligned with practices used in the older grades. Examination of profiles of classroom practices showed there to be four profiles, one of which was considered as “academic-light group work,” which was dominated by pre-K and kindergarten classrooms. Practice or policy: Overall, this study found that instructional practices in pre-K were starkly different from those in kindergarten through third grade, and that kindergarten appears to be highly academic for about two-thirds of classrooms. This work underscores the importance of practices and policies that promote alignment from pre-K into the primary grades and how it might be enhanced.

A Yoga Intervention for Young Children: Self-Regulation and Emotion Regulation.

Yoga-based interventions have been implemented in schools and demonstrated promising results on students’ self-regulation outcomes. Nevertheless, there is limited literature on the effects that yoga may have for children in the early primary grades, despite the evidence demonstrating that this is an opportune period in development for early self-regulation. Few studies have focused on young children living in the context of economic difficulty, which can hinder children’s development of self-regulatory skills and educational trajectories. The effects of an eight-week yoga intervention on economically disadvantaged pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children’s self-regulation and emotion regulation were examined via a paired within-subjects comparison study. Nine classrooms were assigned to the yoga intervention (Treatment First, TxFirst; n = 90) or a wait-list control group (Treatment Second, TxSecond; n = 64). All children were assessed at pre-intervention (Time 1), post-intervention assessment for TxFirst (Time 2), and post-intervention assessment for TxSecond (Time 3). Children demonstrated significant predicted gains on a behavioral task of self-regulation and declines in teacher-rated submissive venting and total behavior problems. Implications for future research are discussed, with a focus on including follow-up assessments and multiple dimensions of fidelity of implementation.

The Impacts of COVID-19 on Early Childhood Education: Capturing the Unique Challenges Associated with Remote Teaching and Learning in K-2

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools across North America closed to in person learning in March 2020. Since then, it has become increasingly clear that physical distancing will need to be prolonged in the 2020/2021 school year and possibly resumed in the future. In response, education ministries shifted teaching and learning online. Research is urgently needed to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on teaching and learning, particularly in the foundational early primary years. This research directly responds to this concern by examining the unique challenges associated with remote teaching and learning in early primary contexts. Given that learning in kindergarten and early primary grades is largely play- and inquiry- based, there is a particular need to investigate the impacts of this move for teachers, parents, and children in K-2. As such, the purpose of this research is twofold: (1) to capture the unique challenges and unanticipated successes associated with remote teaching and learning, and (2) to utilize findings to provide recommendations for remote learning as well as strategies for supporting in-person learning in the COVID-19 era (and post COVID-19 era). Data collection included 45-min semi-structured interviews with K-2 teachers (n = 25) and parents (n =11). All participants were from Ontario Canada. Data were collected from April-June 2020. The sample size was chosen to ensure saturation while uncovering a variety of perspectives. Data were analyzed in NVivo using an emergent thematic approach (Patton, 2016). The emergent thematic approach to analysis revealed five themes: equity considerations, synchronous versus asynchronous teaching and learning, social and emotional effects on students, academic impacts, and effects on parents/families.

مستوى معرفة معلمات الصفوف الأولیة ومعلمـات غــرف المصـادر بمهـارات الـوعی الصـوتـی کمــؤشــر للتَّعــرُّف على الطلبـــة ذوی صعــوبـــات التَّعلُّـم Early Primary Grades and Resource Room Teachers’ Knowledge Level of Phonemic Awareness Skills as an Indicator to Identify Students with Learning Disabilities

هدفت هذه الدراسة إلى التعرف على مستوى معرفة معلمات الصفوف الأولية ومعلمات غرف المصادر بمهارات الوعي الصوتي (الفونيمي) کمؤشر للتعرف على الطلبة ذوي صعوبات التعلم بمحافظة جدة. ولتحقيق أهداف الدراسة؛ استخدم المنهج الوصفي المسحي، وقد طورت الباحثتان اختبار تکون من (26) فقرة يقيس مستوى المعرفة في أربع مجالات، وهي: (أ) مفاهيم الوعي الصوتي، و(ب) تدريس مهارات الوعي الصوتي، و(ج) قياس مهارات الوعي الصوتي، و(د) علاقة الوعي الصوتي بصعوبات القراءة والکتابة، وطبق على عينة قصدية تکونت من (299) معلمة، منهن (233) معلمة لغتي للصفوف الأولية، و(66) معلمة غرف مصادر. وأظهرت النتائج مستوى معرفة متوسطا لدى المعلمات بمهارات الوعي الصوتي على الدرجة الکلية للاختبار بمتوسط بلغ (11,90). The study aimed to identify early primary grades and resource room teachers’ knowledge level of phonemic awareness skills as an indicator to identify Learning Disabilities students in Jeddah. To achieve these objectives, the descriptive survey method and a 26-item test developed by the researchers were used to measure the knowledge level in four fields: concepts of phonemic awareness, teaching phonemic awareness skills, phonemic awareness skills measurement, and the relationship of phonemic awareness to reading and writing disabilities. The study purposeful sample consisted of (299) teachers; (233) “Loghaty” (My Language) early primary grades teachers, and (66) resource room teacher. The results showed an average knowledge level among the teachers on the total score of the test (11.90).

Gender gaps in cognitive and social-emotional skills in early primary grades: Evidence from rural Indonesia.

This paper examines the magnitude and source of gender gaps in cognitive and social-emotional skills in early primary grades in rural Indonesia. Relative to boys, girls score more than 0.17 SD higher in tests of language and mathematics (cognitive skills) and between 0.18 and 0.27 SD higher in measures of social competence and emotional maturity (social-emotional skills). We use Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition to investigate the extent to which gender differences in early schooling and parenting practices explain these gender gaps in skills. For cognitive skills, differences in early schooling between boys and girls explain between 9% and 11% of the gender gap whereas differences in parenting practices explain merely 3%-5% of the gender gap. This decomposition result is driven largely by children living in villages with high-quality preschools. In contrast, for social-emotional skills, differences in parenting styles toward boys and girls explain between 13% and 17% of the gender gap, while differences in early schooling explain only 0%-6% of the gender gap.

PEDAGOGICAL ASPECTS OF COLLABORATION BETWEEN TEACHERS AND PARENTS

When speaking about the quality and success of teaching in the early primary school grades, it should be noted that they depend on many factors. The key factor that numerous theoreticians and practitioners focus on is the collaboration between teachers and parents, which is separated in this paper from the broader context of school and family collaboration, since it has its own historical dimension. Modern times and social development have led to a crisis in collaboration between teachers and parents, because communication, which is the basis of their relationship, has been disrupted. Communication most often defines the relationship between parents and teachers, which further reflects on the child’s relationship towards the teacher and the school in general. For this reason, both parties in this communication process must be aware of the importance of good communication and the good interpersonal relationships, since their relationship is the basis for proper child development, primarily social. In the process of upbringing and education, family is not sufficiently qualified to solve numerous and varied issues that children are faced with at school. Therefore, family needs help from the school as an institution and from its professional staff. On the other hand, school cannot know all the details and characteristics of each child’s family, so it cannot evaluate the family situation and circumstances. Coordinated activities of these two parties is the solution that gives the best results. Modern practice has shown that family and school are interested in collaboration, and that they always have great expectations from it. Parents expect support from school when it comes to their own children’s upbringing, while school always expects active support from parents in order for it to fulfill all its obligations and ensure the conditions for the overall development of every child, which is its main goal. Teacher is the person who initiates collaboration with parents, he is a planner, programmer, coordinator, organizer of this collaboration, and parentshave to accept it and participate in all the activities offered at school. There are three types of collaboration between teachers and parents: individual, group and collective collaboration. The individual type of collaboration is a very convenient type of cooperation between the parents and one expert, where all the relevant information about the student is presented and there is as much time as necessary for both parties to discuss. Group collaboration happens with a group of parents, and this type of activity differs from the individual because it follows only when a certain educational situation is analyzed. The collective collaboration includes all parents of children attending aschool class. The advantage of this type of collaboration is the fact that it presents all the relevant information to all the parents, after which conclusions are made and solutions are identified. This topic is important due to the fact that successful communication between parents and teachers is invaluable for the successful development of children’s personality, therefore, the goal of this paper is to analyze the pedagogical aspects of their collaboration.

Prospective primary teachers’ perceptions about the use of mathematics homework

ABSTRACTThe benefit of homework (HW) has been the subject of ongoing debate among various stakeholders. Within this debate, and in relation to teacher development, prospective teachers’ views of HW have received limited attention. In this study, we survey primary pre-service teachers’ (‘PSTs’) views of HW use (n = 45 teaching grades 2–5; n = 39 teaching grades 6 and 7) in a single discipline (mathematics) at one large Australian university.The literature suggests students in upper primary and secondary grades will benefit from the use of mathematics HW. Results of the study, in contrast, suggest our PSTs teaching early primary grades planned to give proportionally (but not significantly) more mathematics HW than those teaching later grades. Reasons for this disparity are discussed. We argue there is a need in teacher development to equip PSTs with a better understanding of how classroom and home-based learning work together in the development of mathematical understanding.

Development of word awareness skills in typically developing english language learners during early primary grades

Background:The paucity of developmental data on phonological underpinnings in English Language learners in the Indian context poses a special concern to professionals in the identification of reading disabilities. Aim: To explore the developmental

Supporting Young Children’s Learning in a Dramatic Play Environment

<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span>Vygotsky and his followers believe that make- believe play is the leading activity in preschool, kindergarten, and the early primary grades. Play-based curricula are common in early childhood classrooms today, but what does this look like in practice? Does it mean that children get some time for free play in centres between blocks of direct instruction? What could learning in a play-learning environment look like? Prospective ECE teachers often show difficulty integrating play for learning. In their experiences, play is often something to do in between their guided instruction. In this paper I challenge those beliefs and show, based on an example, how learning and teaching are possible through play when the whole classroom is transformed into a museum. Teachers will not only be addressing curricular goals, but also encouraging imagination, creativity, social development, and many other learning goals at the same time. Based on Vygotsky’s theory on play, I present ways to enrich, support, and foster play while learning within a play-learning environment. </span></p></div></div></div></div>

Predicting the integrated development of word reading and spelling in the early primary grades

Word reading and spelling processes are assumed to be highly related to each other and to early literacy measures. However, the debate on how reading and spelling interact in early development is far from resolved yet. The present study examined the singular and integrated word reading and spelling development during the first two grades of primary education in relation to kindergarten precursor measures of short-term memory, vocabulary, rapid naming, and early literacy (phonemic awareness, grapheme-to-phoneme knowledge) in 487 Dutch children. Structural equation models showed that word reading and spelling development separately were highly stable and consistently autoregressive in nature during first and second grade. Both word reading and spelling development were predicted by early literacy, and word reading development was additionally predicted by rapid naming. An integrated model for word reading and spelling development showed that word reading skill predicted subsequent spelling skills in Grade 2 over and above the autoregressive prediction. No reciprocal relation of spelling to subsequent word reading has been found.

Peer selection and influence on children’s reading skills in early primary grades: a social network approach

This longitudinal study from Grades 1 to 4 investigated (a) the extent to which children select peers based on similarity in reading skills and (b) the extent to which children are influenced by the level of their peers’ reading skills. The sample consisted of 1003 Finnish children in Grades 1–4, for whom reading fluency and comprehension were assessed. The same children were interviewed about their self-concept of reading ability at the end of kindergarten. The results of social network analysis showed that children had a tendency to choose new friends based on earlier similarity in reading fluency but not in reading comprehension. Furthermore, children became more similar to their friends in reading fluency and reading comprehension. Children with a high self-concept of reading ability and high reading fluency were particularly likely to be positively influenced by peers with high reading fluency.

A Vaccination for Education: Early Childhood Development Programme and the Education of Older Girls in Rural India

Girls lag behind boys in education in India and relatively more provide childcare at home. This paper investigates whether provision of childcare services by India’s largest child development programme narrows the gender education gap by reducing childcare costs. Using logit, village fixed effects and mother fixed effects, I find that girls 6–14 years old, whose younger sibling 0–5 years old is receiving any of the programme services intensely, are at least three percentage points more likely to be in school than similar boys. Further, I find that these girls are also more likely to complete early primary grades than boys.