Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Rebecca Curtis

Abstract

AbstractEarly literacy has been a topic of interest in early childhood education for centuries, but the effects of early literacy teaching practices are an ongoing and unresolved topic amongst early educational programs. The problem was that in urban areas many students read below their expected grade level, preventing them from achieving literacy success. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore pre-k teachers’ perspectives in a large urban school district regarding the support needed to meet challenges implementing Georgia Early Learning and Development (GELD) Standards, while teaching pre-k students literacy, specifically phonemic awareness. The conceptual framework that guided this study was Vygotsky's sociocultural theory that specifically describes the zone of proximal development. Data was collected from 10 pre-k teachers at five different schools using one on one interviews and was analyzed using thematic coding. Six themes were revealed that included: challenges regarding implementing GELD standards, ways literacy is implemented into lessons, teachers’ perceptions regarding GELD, views on students and their levels of literacy, teachers’ role in improving literacy, and the teachers’ views about curriculum and how it can improve literacy. Results of this study indicated that teachers felt more support is needed in the form of phonemic awareness and promoting literacy was essential inside and outside of the classroom. Implications for social change include identifying needed support to improve literacy teaching practices; thereby, increasing students’ literacy rates.

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