Principals' Preferences for Developmentally Appropriate and Traditional Practices in Georgia's Prekindergarten Program

<p>The intent of this descriptive study was to determine principals' preferences and prekindergarten teachers' perceptions of their principal's preference for developmentally appropriate or traditional teaching practices in Georgia's Prekindergarten Program. The research design was quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative data was collected through surveys administered to Georgia public school principals and prekindergarten teachers. Qualitative data consisted of comments received on the survey instrument. Data was analyzed and return rates, demographic data, frequencies and percentages for traditional and developmentally appropriate practices were presented separately. Responses to traditional and developmentally appropriate items were summed to create a traditional and developmentally appropriate score. Independent t-tests were used to determine if significant differences existed in the survey items as well as the traditional and developmentally appropriate scores of principals and prekindergarten teachers.</p> <p>Findings in the study revealed that principals did prefer developmentally appropriate teaching practices in Georgia's Prekindergarten Program. Prekindergarten teachers perceived their principals as having more of a preference for developmentally appropriate teaching practices in Georgia's Prekindergarten Program. Principals and prekindergarten teachers did not differ in their perceptions of principals as preferring developmentally appropriate teaching practices. No significant differences were found between principals and prekindergarten teachers in either developmentally appropriate or traditional scores.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education in Educational Administration

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation (restricted to Georgia Southern)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Leadership, Technology, and Human Development

Year dc:date.available

2002

Author dc:creator

• Stoddard, Deanna K.

Contributors dc:contributor

• T. C. Chan
• Michael T. Moore
• Cordelia Douzenis

• ETD
• Developmentally appropriate teaching methods
• Prekindergarten programs
• Principal preferences
• Educational Administration and Supervision

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd_legacy/188

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu:etd_legacy-1052