Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which preschool programs and the 10 research-based components that develop language are present in Florida public school districts. Based on qualitative methods of analysis, the study utilized two primary sources of data collection to answer the two research questions that follow: 1. Of the 67 traditional public school districts in Florida, which have language development programs for children under the age of 5, excluding those subsidized by Part B of the IDEA? 2. How do components of the programs in the sample of school districts that have language development programs align to components recommended in the literature? The Florida School Districts' Language Development Programs Data Gathering Template was created to list the preschool programs provided by school districts. It was determined that each school district in Florida had at least one preschool program, and the mean number of preschool programs for each school district was 2.2. Florida school districts do have programs to develop children's language before they enter kindergarten; however, their accessibility should be further researched. Ten components identified in research as important for preschool programs were: assessment, communication, instruction, class size, standards, duration of the program, teacher education and professional development, and family involvement and education. Each of the preschool programs was analyzed to determine the presence or absence of these components. Each of the 10 components was scored either 1.0 for present or 0.0 for not determined to be present. The component scores were then summed, and a mean was determined for each of the preschool programs. The mean score for the school district's preschool program(s) was used as a representative score for each school district. There is ample research on the effectiveness of these components on language development in preschool, yet less than 50% of Florida school districts' programs received a score of 1.0 for any one component.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2019

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Taylor, Rosemarye

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College

College of Community Innovation and Education

Department

Educational Leadership and Higher Education

Degree Program

Educational Leadership; Executive Track

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0008096; DP0023235

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0023235

Language

English

Release Date

2-15-2021

Length of Campus-only Access

1 year

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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