Advisory Committee Chair
Kelly Hill
Advisory Committee Members
Julie Paul Flannery
Lynn Kirkland
Maria Hernandez-Reif
Shannon Mccarthy
Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
1-1-2025
Degree Name by School
Doctor of Education (EdD) School of Education
Abstract
This study addressed topics related to family engagement in early childhood education, emergent literacy skills, and the use of environmental print (EP) to support young children’s emergent literacy. The children of interest in this study were young children between the ages of birth and 5-years enrolled in licensed, private early care and education (ECE) centers in Alabama. The researcher employed an explanatory sequential mixed methods design using a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews to address the following mixed methods questions: How do families of young children perceive family engagement?, Which emergent literacy skills do families of young children value and which home literacy practices (HLPs) do they use to support these skills?, and How can environmental print be used to support young children’s emergent literacy and family engagement? Mixing of the data strands occurred after quantitative data were collected and again after qualitative data were collected. Quantitative data were used to develop the interview protocol for the qualitative phase of the study. The qualitative results helped the researcher to understand and expand upon the quantitative findings. These include that EP can be used to support emergent literacy skills and family engagement, families want their child to develop letter name knowledge before kindergarten, and families use many HLPs to support their child’s emergent literacy skills.
Recommended Citation
Sudduth, Melissa Dawn, ""It Says Mommy’s Coffee!": Environmental Print As A Tool To Support Young Children’S Emergent Literacy And Family Engagement In Early Care And Education" (2025). All ETDs from UAB. 6892.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/6892
Comments
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