7 research outputs found
Education in the United States and Nigeria: policies and advocacy, and inclusion of children with disabilities
No full textThe world is now a developed, modern village, and countries around the world are borrowing a leaf from other countries’ policies. This paper presents a picture of the inter-locking relationships between the United States of America’s educational policies and the Nigeria’s educational policies and early childhood education. This paper looks at education in the United States and that of Nigeria, viz-a-vis, its differences and similarities. This paper also looks at the inclusion of children with disabilities in education of both countries.
 
Building Resilience: A Mixed Methods Exploration of Head Start Teachers Coping During the COVID-19 Pandemic
No full textThe purpose of this study was to explore the resiliency of Head Start teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study explored the role social support (as an external factor of resilience) and self-efficacy (as an internal factor of resilience) played in the resilience of Head Start teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study employed a sequential explanatory mixed methods design involving two phases: a quantitative and a qualitative phase. Participants in this study were 99 teachers in rural eastern Tennessee and some rural parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and New Mexico, who were Head Start teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three survey instruments were used to collect quantitative data. The Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale was used to measure self-efficacy, the Comprehensive Evaluation of Social Support (CESS) was used to measure the level of social support, and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) was used to measure resilience. The survey was followed by qualitative interviews with 6 participants randomly selected from 23 participants in phase 1 of the study who agreed to participate in the interview. The results showed that social support (p = .036) and self-efficacy (p ≤ .001) impacted resilience in Head Start teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, self-efficacy was a better predictor of resilience in Head Start teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic than social support. There was no interaction effect of social support and self-efficacy on the resilience of Head Start teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic (p = .078). Also, none of the six dimensions of social support used in this study (supervisor emotional, supervisor instrumental, coworker emotional, coworker instrumental, organizational emotional, and organizational instrumental) significantly predicted resilience in Head Start teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The themes that emerged from the teacher interview were acquisition of skills, families of children, increase in children’s challenging behavior, within-school support, outside-school support, and increase in confidence as a teacher. The limitations of the study and recommendations for practice and future research are included
Educational in the United States and Nigeria: Policies and Advocacy, and Inclusion of Children with Disabilities
No full textThe world is now a developed, modern village, and countries around the world are borrowing a leaf from other countries' policies. This paper presents a picture of the inter-locking relationships between the United States of America's educational policies and the Nigeria's educational policies and early childhood education. This paper looks at education in the United States and that of Nigeria, viz-a-vis, its differences and similarities. This paper also looks at the inclusion of children with disabilities in education of both countries.
 
Teaching Programme in Nigerian Higher Institutions: Challenges of Implementation and Way Forward: Teaching Programme in Nigerian Higher Institutions: Challenges of Implementation and Way Forward
No full textThis article discusses the challenges militating against effective teaching programme in Nigerian higher institutions. Secondary data were used to support the points raised in the article. The secondary data were sourced from print materials and publications by recognized institutions and individual authors. The article identified inadequate funding of teaching programme, inadequate professional academic staff, poor motivation, inadequate infrastructural facilities, ineffective supervision, unstable academic calendar, brain drain, poor working environment and poor staff development. To address the issues raised, the following suggestions were made: adequate funding of teaching programme, employment of more academic and professional staff, in-service programs for staff development, provision of conducive working environment, provision of adequate infrastructural facilities, and motivation of personnel, effective supervision and implementation of union agreement
Using Parent and Teacher Authentic Assessment Results to Guide Preschool to Kindergarten Transition for Multilingual Learners
No full textMost traditional assessment tools often have shortcomings supporting children who are multilingual during their transition from preschool to kindergarten. Teachers and families active collaboration during assessments supports children during the transition process. The results from a study conducted with Head Start teachers and families highlighted possible areas in which transition practices could be strengthened through individualized child assessment by parents and teachers. The implication of the similarities and differences of scores across domains highlighted potential needs in assessments and transition practices. This paper shares research to practice connections by looking at several key challenges in assessing children during kindergarten transition, and specific strategies for implementing authentic assessment with multilingual learners. The paper also shares specific recommendations for program implementation that emerged from current research
Transition to Kindergarten for Preschoolers with Multilingual Abilities: Do Parents and Professionals See Eye to Eye?
No full textMany traditional assessment approaches lack specific strategies for supporting preschoolers who are multilingual learners during their transition to kindergarten. Our mixed method study sought to understand parental and professional assessment collaboration during transition to kindergarten for preschoolers who are learning multiple languages. Specifically, we examined the congruency between teachers and families of children who speak Spanish at home who are enrolled in rural Head Start preschool and transitioning into kindergarten. Overall, parents and professionals had similar views on child development for adaptive, cognitive, fine motor, gross motor, literacy, and social emotional domains. However, there were meaningful discrepancies between parent and teacher ratings for math and social communication domains. Results of this reliability study have implications for creating positive and supportive transitions for preschoolers using an authentic and collaborative assessment approach with prioritizing individualized strategies for children, their families, and professionals during the move to kindergarten
Using Parent and Teacher Authentic Assessment Results to Guide Preschool to Kindergarten Transition for Multilingual Learners
No full textMost traditional assessment tools often have shortcomings supporting children who are multilingual during their transition from preschool to kindergarten. Teachers and families active collaboration during assessments supports children during the transition process. The results from a study conducted with Head Start teachers and families highlighted possible areas in which transition practices could be strengthened through individualized child assessment by parents and teachers. The implication of the similarities and differences of scores across domains highlighted potential needs in assessments and transition practices. This paper shares research to practice connections by looking at several key challenges in assessing children during kindergarten transition, and specific strategies for implementing authentic assessment with multilingual learners. The paper also shares specific recommendations for program implementation that emerged from current research
