First Advisor

Sheldon Loman

Date of Publication

Spring 5-29-2019

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership: Special and Counselor Education

Department

Special Education

Language

English

Subjects

Early childhood education -- Activity programs, Literacy programs, Public librarians -- In-service training, Readiness for school, English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers

DOI

10.15760/etd.6881

Physical Description

1 online resource (x, 150 pages)

Abstract

Library storytime programs provide opportunities for preschool children to develop readiness skills in early literacy that are linked in research to later success in learning to read and write. Children with disabilities that do not demonstrate school readiness skills upon entry to kindergarten are often placed in self-contained special education settings where opportunities to learn to read and write are diminished. English Language Learners (ELL) who have disabilities face additional challenges in benefiting from the models of language that are optimal for learning literacy when placed in self-contained settings. Despite the critical role that storytime programs play in equalizing the opportunities for children to learn early literacy skills, librarians report having few children with disabilities in their programs, and those that do attend experience difficulty participating due to sensory, behavioral, motor and communication challenges. Librarians in public libraries report minimal training in how to support children with disabilities and their families in meaningful participation in preschool storytime sessions. This study explored the impact of professional development, utilizing the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to increase the accessibility of early literacy content associated with foundational skills in reading and writing during preschool storytime. This mixed methods study incorporated elements of both descriptive and quasi-experimental design, and is one of the first conducted in a public library to measure pre and post data on how librarians plan and implement storytime before and after professional development. Parents' experiences attending preschool storytime were also collected and analyzed in order to inform future policies and practices in the public library.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/29004

Download

Share

COinS