(Your Choosing) Focus on families, the role they play in creating a caring community of learners, different methods and strategies that could be used to support them, or opportunities that you could provide to help them feel welcome and included.

Develop a 5-7-page research paper with a focus on families, the role they play in creating a caring community of learners, different methods and strategies that could be used to support them, or opportunities that educators could provide to help them feel welcome and included. This paper must have a minimum of 4 references, two of which must be peer-reviewed journal articles, professional web sites, or government-sponsored studies. The text may count for one, but it should not be used predominantly. Popular information is not acceptable for this research. The paper must be in your own words and incorporate appropriate citations and bibliography.  

What is a peer-reviewed journal? 

If you have taken other classes in educational studies, you may have read articles from Young Children, which is edited by the largest early childhood professional organization in the country. You could start by locating that journal at the ESC library, and search for terms such as special education or inclusion.

Guides for proper APA style and using the ESC library can be found in this course’s Research and Library Tips page. Please review the rubric below to see how your work will be evaluated.

How do I select a topic?

Gupta, S., Rous, B., & Schertz, H. (2016). Understanding Change and Implementation: How Leaders Can Support Inclusion. YC Young Children, 71(2), 82-91.

Someone who would like to explore issues of cultural diversity, materials that support diversity, or who wants to learn more about English Language Arts (ELA) in their program might select the following article:

Price, C., Ostrosky, M., & Santos, R. (2016). Reflecting on Books That Include Characters With Disabilities. YC Young Children, 71(2), 30-37.

Locate the article and be sure to save the citation. For many articles, the ESC library will have button to “cite” the article for you. If not, you have to do the work. Just be sure to use APA style such as the examples above.

The next step is to print/save the article to you can read it over closely. For this research project, one article is just the starting place, but if you read it through, you will likely find other articles in a similar place, or review the bibliography for others. 

Be sure to discuss the articles IN YOUR OWN WORDS, and explain some of the key points that you can take away from the article. How does it connect with our readings, and what might you do differently or integrate into your classroom as a result?  

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