How nutrition affects preschool and kindergarten children’s academic performance

please use the following resources the movie FED UP the website http://www.childtrends.org/ and Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of human development; family systems theory; sociocultural theory grounded in Vygotsky’s ideas

ECFS Senior Capstone Paper and Presentation
ECFS 456, 2017
University of Washington, College of Education,
Early Childhood & Family Studies
Introduction:
How you integrate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to be an effective early childhood
professional is central to your success in the ECFS program and beyond. Whether your goal is to
become an administrator, go on to graduate school, or enter some other related field, this course is
designed to support you in synthesizing your learning. To demonstrate this, you will develop a Senior
Capstone Paper & Presentation. Your final presentation will fulfill a performance assessment portion of
the graduation requirements for your degree .
Purpose:
At times, it may not be clear how to tie all you are learning through the ECFS program together. A major
purpose of the Senior Capstone Paper & Presentation is just that; to help you see and understand your
growing knowledge and skills and to set goals for yourself. The Senior Capstone Paper & Presentation
allows you to demonstrate your knowledge in early childhood development, early learning, and family
studies. In addition, this is an opportunity to review the most recent research/current understandings
of your selected topic with the purpose of facilitating optimal child development and becoming an
agent for institutional and societal change.
Senior Capstone Paper Description & Organization:
Length: 10-15 pages double-spaced (not including References and the one-page Resource [see below]).
Subheadings: Use the ones below to begin organizing your paper. You will want to use additional ones
to highlight important themes. Also ‘linking’ sentences between sections or transitional sentences that
link sections will contribute to the coherence of this paper.
Introduction: Thesis statement or question and review of the problem your research and paper
addresses. Why is this issue important to early childhood education? Include descriptive data that
represents the breadth of the problem (see Child Trends website). What claim are you intending to
make; a review of what we know is best practice or evidence for the importance of a policy/practice or
evidence for an argument?
Provide a theoretical lens here for understanding your topic (e.g. Bronfenbrenner’s
bioecological model of human development; family systems theory; sociocultural theory grounded in
Vygotsky’s ideas; etc.) or thesis. What is the foundational belief system that influences how you think
about your topic/thesis? What premises does your audience need to know about to better understand
your thesis?
And finally, end this section with a summary statement about what we can expect to read in
your paper, i.e. include ‘subheadings’ or guiding questions your paper will address [In this paper, I will
provide a brief literature review, policy perspectives, and insights from those practicing in the field…..] (3-
5 paragraphs for the introduction)
Part 1: Review of the Literature: What did you find out about current research and knowledge
related to your selected thesis or question? Use your summary of research studies from ECFS 401 for
this section. Do not go into the detail about each study that you did for ECFS 401, just summarize the
findings that are relevant to your thesis. Conclude this section with a summary paragraph; what do all
these studies tell us about your topic and what are the remaining research questions? What has your
review helped you learn about current knowledge on this issue; what do we know from research, and
what do we still need to know? Anything you state as knowledge should have a citation from which it
came. Use APA format in citing your sources. Part 1 needs to be 3 to 5 pages.
Part 2: Policy Perspectives/Efforts: The next part of the paper provides a summary of policy
efforts related to your topic. Using the matrix assignment from ECFS 402, write a thorough
overview/description of a few policies or if you focus only on one, please provide an explanation for
why other policies do not relate to your topic. You need to address state or national government
policies that relate to your thesis. This section needs to be at least four paragraphs.
Part 3: Wisdom of Practice Perspective: Finally, what do those working in the field have to
say about your issue/topic? Summarize the main ideas shared in the interview in the first paragraphs
of this section of your paper. Do not include the whole interview. What does their experience add to
our understanding of ‘what works’, as well as ‘challenges’ about this topic?
Include in this section a professional organization that advocates for your issue; provide a
description of this organization, what it provides for advocates in the field, and a summary of their
position paper on your issue.
Note: Please see the section below for an expanded description of how to prepare for and write
Part 3: Wisdom of Practice.
Conclusion/Recommendations: How you will use this knowledge in your work with children &
families? What recommendations would you provide for others working in this field? What seems
really important for us to know? What questions remain? What challenges are still present? Share
your commitment to institutional and societal change (at least 3 paragraphs).
References: List in APA format the references you used for this paper. See APA Format
document in the course Canvas website.
More on How to Do Part 3: Wisdom of Practice
Purpose:
The purpose of this component of the Senior Capstone Paper is to have you revisit your selected topic
through the eyes of experience. You will access the ‘wisdom of practice’ by interviewing someone
working in the field of early learning and by finding an organization that advocates for your issue.
Those who are working directly with children and families have, most likely considered the questions
that drew you to your topic or those that emerged as you worked on your paper. Their insights and
‘wisdom from practice’ will be part three of your Senior Capstone Paper. This may build from part one
from ECFS 401 (Understanding Research in ECFS) and from part two from ECFS 402 (Social Policy for
Children and Families).
The steps in the Wisdom of Practice component of the Senior Capstone Paper are:
1) During the first weeks of the quarter, find and contact someone who is working with children
and/or families at an organization that involves or relates to your selected topic. Some ideas of
people/places to consider are: current practicing teachers/school psychologists/special
educators/health care providers; students in the graduate programs you are interested in; your
service learning colleagues; someone involved in policy, (e.g. in the Seattle area: Thrive by Five,
CQEL, Seattle Universal PreK, Neighborhood House or Children’s Home Society, etc.).
I can help with ideas and contact information so let me know if brainstorming together would
help.
2) Interview this person, ideally in person, or if necessary, by email or phone. Plan before you
conduct the interview, writing a list of interview questions grounded in what you discovered in
your literature and policy review on your topic. Here are two examples of interview questions:
• In the research I have done on [topic], I also became aware of a number of issues and
challenges. How might you describe issues and challenges you notice while working
with children and families related to [topic], and what have been some of the strategies
you have tried for addressing them?
• If someone were to ask you about why this [topic] is important, what would you say to
him/her? What is it you think the public should know about this [topic]?
3) Find a professional organization that supports those in the field that are interested in your
topic (see list of professional organizations document provided in this course or check with
course instructor).
• Read the Position Paper on your topic found at this website. Position Papers may have
this term in the title, or may be a paper put forth by this organization on this topic.
What insights does this organization, through their paper, provide on your topic from a
practitioner point of view? Do they take a ‘stand’ on this topic?
4) Synthesize your findings from your interview and from information at the professional website
into the final section of your paper. This section needs to be 3-4 pages, double-spaced.
Senior Capstone Presentation & One-page Resource:
The presentation is an opportunity for you to share what you learned with a panel of early childhood
educators (faculty, community partners, graduate students, past ECFS students). It is also an
opportunity to have a ‘conversation’ about this topic with others who care about the work.
Using PowerPoint, create a 15-minute slideshow that is organized in the same way as your paper,
selecting the main ideas on the topic (remember: visuals and fewer words are most effective in the
slides; you will be able to talk beyond the slides themselves). Allow 5 minutes at the end for
questions/discussions.
Create a one-page resource about your topic to share with those who work with children and families
(i.e., suggested websites, suggested position papers, articles you have come across in publications for
those working in the field, organizations dedicated to this work). You will also share this resource with
your presentation audience. This document can help you think about how to share what you have
learned with a wider audience, and perhaps be helpful as you take your next steps in the profession.
For example, some students have used this one-page resource in an interview as a way of sharing their
Senior Capstone with potential employers.
Please see examples of this from previous students’ work, provided on the course website.

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