Date of Award

2020

Document Type

Dissertation in Practice

Degree Name

Ed.D.

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education, Teaching and Learning Sciences, Curriculum and Instruction

First Advisor

Norma L. Hafenstein

Second Advisor

Paul Michalec

Third Advisor

Lindsey Reinert

Keywords

Curriculum, Early childhood, Gifted education, Instruction, Students of color

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine general early childhood educator knowledge and perceptions of curricula relevant for early childhood gifted students of color. The research questions that guided the study were the following: How does preschool through second grade curricula support or impede academic success for gifted students of color? How does preschool through second grade curricula support or impede social emotional learning for gifted students of color? What are the perspectives of educators regarding inclusive practices including Critical Race Theory, within a preschool through second grade gifted curricula?

In reviewing the literature and national data concerning representation of identified gifted students of color; two aspects were apparent: the lack of general early childhood educator’s voices explaining what he or she understands about gifted students of color and the lack of culturally responsive pedagogical professional learning opportunities for general early childhood educators. The relevant literature focused on areas in recognizing general early childhood educator knowledge and perceptions of giftedness and students of color. The theoretical frameworks were Critical Race Theory (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995) and GiftedCrit™ (Greene, 2017).

A Qualitative Educational Criticism guided this study (Eisner, 2017; Creswell, 2018). This research design was chosen to analyze curriculum practices used in general early childhood educator classrooms and aid in the construction of data collection procedures (Eisner, 2017; Creswell, 2018). Within the study, qualitative research aimed to recognize whether general early childhood educators were knowledgeable about gifted students of color and provided instructional practices that fostered access and opportunity (Creswell, 2018).

Upon data collection and analysis of the data, using an interview protocol and a classroom environment observation protocol, emerging themes arose. Using Eisner’s (2017) four dimensions, the collected data was described, interpreted, and evaluated for emerging themes. The emerging themes found were further analyzed to understand general early childhood educator’s knowledge regarding giftedness and students of color. The evaluation process included a comparison to The Culturally Relevant Early Childhood Gifted Curriculum and Instruction Guide (Peralta, 2020). Findings included discrepancies among general early childhood educator knowledge regarding students of color, giftedness, access to gifted services, social and emotional awareness, and early childhood curriculum and instruction.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Stephanie A. Peralta

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

249 p.

Discipline

Gifted education, Early childhood education, Curriculum development

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