Stability of performance on the PPVT-R for three ethnic groups attending a bilingual kindergarten

The degree of temporal stability of the PPVT-R was examined for Native American, Mexican-American, and Anglo-American kindergarten children. In addition, stability was examined for home language groups. The PPVT-R was administerd to 56 kindergarten children in September and May of the school year. Results indicated that strong temporal stability existed over an eight-month period for Native American, Mexican-American, and English-speaking kindergarten students.     

Impact of an Early Reading First program on the language and literacy achievement of children from diverse language backgrounds

This study used an age-cutoff regression discontinuity design to examine the impact of a well-resourced Early Reading First prekindergarten program designed to foster the language and literacy development of 4-year-old children from low-income homes. A special challenge for the application of the language-rich curriculum and professional development package implemented in this study was the presence of a large proportion of ELL children in essentially English-speaking classrooms. We, therefore, sought to determine whether the program was effective for improving English language and literacy outcomes for English-language learners as well as native English speakers. There were large and significant differences between treatment and control groups on literacy outcomes for all students. On the literacy tasks, ELL students in the treatment groups performed nearly as well or better than non-ELL students at the beginning of kindergarten, and reached national norms on standardized tests. There were also significant program impacts on some language outcomes for all students. ELL students who received the intervention significantly outperformed ELL students in the control groups on English receptive and expressive vocabulary. On the more complex oral comprehension skills, preschool did not have a significant impact for ELL students. Intervention effects on receptive vocabulary and oral comprehension for native speakers were found only for the third cohort and were not found for expressive vocabulary. These results provide evidence that, given material supports, coaching, professional development, and the use of a language and literacy-focused curriculum, prekindergarten classrooms can enable low-SES children from diverse language backgrounds to enter kindergarten with literacy skills at or near national norms and can significantly impact some language skills. While non-native speakers of English continued to score lower on language measures than their native-speaking peers, results show that 1 year of preschool can put all children on a positive trajectory for long-term success in school.     

Behavioral Assessment of Coping Strategies in Young Children At-risk,Developmentally Delayed,and Typically Developing

Research Findings: This study investigated the effects of full- and half-day kindergarten programs on classroom instructional quality and children's academic achievement. Considerations were given for how the length of the school day, language status (English language learner [ELL] and non-ELL), and children's attendance patterns influenced achievement. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected concurrently and were interpreted to note the convergence (or lack thereof) of the findings. Quantitative results revealed no difference in the quality of instruction being offered in full- and half-day classrooms. Additionally, full-day kindergarten positively impacted children's academic achievement in literacy but not in mathematics, regardless of children's language status. In regard to language development, ELL children benefited more from full-day kindergarten than did their English-speaking peers, whereas all (ELL and non-ELL) children enrolled in full-day kindergarten made greater language gains when they missed fewer than 10 school days. Practice or Policy: Findings from this study have significant policy and practice implications related to the overall quality, availability, and cultural and developmental appropriateness of kindergarten programming in the United States.     

Home language as a predictor of first-grade achievement for Anglo- and Mexican-American children

The utility of kindergarten screening measures in predicting first grade achievement was examined for 246 children classified as Anglo-American-English as home language (AA-E), Mexican-American-English as home language (MA-E), and Mexican-American-Spanish as home language (MA-S). All children were administered the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts, Draw-A-Design and Draw-A-Child subtests of the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities, and a Criterion Referenced Test at the beginning of kindergarten and at the end of kindergarten. The SRA Achievement Series was then administered during first grade. Stepwise multiple regression analyses were conducted for each group of children employing each set of kindergarten measures as predictors. All resulting equations were significant (p < .001) and revealed differential predictive power of the kindergarten measures as a function of ethnicity and home language, content of the criterion measures, and time of assessment. The Criterion Referenced Test was found to be a significant predictor of first-grade reading scores and the Draw-A-Design subtest emerged as a significant predictor of first-grade math achievement for the MA-S children, whereas the Boehm consistently emerged as a significant predictor and accounted for substantially more variance in first-grade reading and math scores for the AA-E and MA-E children. For all three groups, beginning kindergarten measures accounted for more variance in first-grade achievement than end of kindergarten measures. The importance of utilizing language measures, as well as predictive validity techniques, was discussed in relation to future cross-cultural research.     

Kindergarten screens as tools for the early identification of children at risk for remediation or grade retention

This study was designed to compare the capability of three kindergarten screening instruments to correctly predict which children would be recommended for referral to remedial programs or for retention. The instruments used were a screen based on Piagetian theory that was specifically designed for the current study, a published general screening test, and a language-specific screen. The subjects were 95 White, middle-class children approximately 60 months of age at the time of testing. The predictor screens were given prior to kindergarten entry, with the follow-up assessment completed 11 months later as the children neared the end of kindergarten. The teachers who conducted the follow-up testing were blind to the initial results. The Piagetian-based instrument was found to have poor predictive qualities. Both published instruments, the general-purpose kindergarten screen and a language-specific screen, were found to be predictive of teachers' recommendations regarding referral and retention.     

Social‐Information‐Processing Skills of Kindergarten Children with Developmental Learning Disabilities

The study examined the social‐information‐processing skills of kindergarten children with developmental learning disabilities (LD) utilizing Crick and Dodge's (1994) model of children's social adjustment as a theoretical framework. Participants consisted of 20 kindergarten children with developmental LD who attended three integrated kindergartens and 20 children without developmental LD from the same kindergartens. Participants were assessed on social‐information‐processing skills, feelings of loneliness, sense of coherence, and teachers' ratings of behavioral problems and positive resources. The results indicated that girls with developmental LD performed significantly lower on two information‐processing steps—the response decision and the enactment steps—than did girls without LD. Such differences were not found for boys. The results also showed that the social‐information‐processing skills of children with developmental LD were correlated with teachers' ratings.     

Readiness for school of children having attended language immersion kindergarten in their teachers' and parents' opinions

In multicultural societies, much attention is given to children's language learning possibilities. In Estonia, the early language immersion programme for kindergarten children was started in the year 2000. The programme, while considered to be successful, has raised the question of whether the children participating in it are adequately prepared for school. The objective of the present study is to observe the readiness for school of those children who have participated in the early language immersion programme, taking into consideration the objectives of the curriculum and their teachers' and parents' assessments. The method of this study was a questionnaire employed over a three-year period (2009–2011) involving the teachers and parents of those children who were beginning their primary school education. The results of the study revealed that, according to the assessments of their teachers and parents, the readiness for school of the children having completed the early language immersion programme was very good. Data prove that language immersion programmes provide children with enough preparation to make a smooth transition from kindergarten to school life.     

The Role of Gender and Reading Competence in the Development of Motivational Orientations from Kindergarten to Grade 1

In Canada, child care for kindergartners typically combines part-day school and child care. Exploratory research examined parents', teachers', and child care staff views on coordination between these programs. Community-based research surveyed these three groups. There was general agreement, and some key differences, among the groups in priorities for programs for kindergarten-age children. Social and language skills were generally considered most important; reading and writing least. Parents were particularly enthusiastic about a coordinated, school-based program. Teachers and child care staff were somewhat less enthusiastic about the model, with teachers' reactions the least positive. Teachers' views on the advisability of an integrated program were varied—some thought it would be of benefit to children, others disagreed. All three groups felt that a coordinated program would benefit by being school-based. Direct experience with integrated programs seemed to produce strong opinions about the value of program integration, with those teachers who had on-site child care programs giving the integrated programs the highest and the lowest ratings. Arguments are made for small-scale demonstration programs to expand provision of child care services using kindergarten as a foundation—and for rigorous evaluation of program impacts and outcomes.     

Contributions of Children's Temperament to Teachers' Judgments of Social Competence From Kindergarten Through Second Grade

Research Findings: Children's social competence has been linked to successful transition to formal school. The purpose of this study was to examine the contributions of children's temperament to teachers' ratings of their social competence from kindergarten through 2nd grade. Children (N = 1,364) from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network participated in this study. Mothers rated children's shyness, attentional focusing, and inhibitory control with the Children's Behavior Questionnaire at 4½ years, and teachers rated children's social competence with three subscales (cooperation, assertion, and self-control) of the Social Skills Rating System at kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade. Latent growth curve analysis indicated that both shyness and effortful control contributed to children's social competence. Bolder children were likely to have higher assertion ratings, and shyer children with greater attentional focusing were likely to have higher assertion ratings. Shyer children and children with greater inhibitory control and attentional focusing were likely to have higher teacher ratings of self-control and cooperation. Practice or Policy: Findings highlight the importance of considering child temperament characteristics when understanding children's social competence and successful adjustment to kindergarten. Information may help parents, preschool teachers, and early elementary teachers prepare children who may be at particular risk for lower social competence.     

The influence of examiners' ethnic attributes on intelligence test scores

The study investigated the effect of examiners' ethnicity on the intelligence test performance of Anglo and Mexican-American subjects. Two verbal subtests of the WISC and the Raven Progressive Matrices, a nonverbal intelligence test, were administered by two Anglo and two Mexican-American examiners. All subjects (N=96) were given half the items of each test by an Anglo and half by a Mexican-American examiner. On two of the three tests, the subjects' performance was unaffected by examiner's ethnic attributes. On the WISC Vocabulary, however, Mexican-American subjects scored significantly higher when the test was administered by Mexican-American examiners. The generalizability of these results and their implications for learning in schools are discussed.     

Parents' and Kindergarten Teachers' Beliefs About the Effects of Child Care

Parents' and kindergarten teachers' beliefs about the effects of child care on children's adjustment to school were investigated. Using a standardized behavioral rating scale, both groups were asked to rate two hypothetical children just entering kindergarten; one with full-day child care experience and one who had only experienced care in the home by a parent or relative. There was an interaction between the experience of the believer and their ratings of the two hypothetical children. Parents who had used child care for their own children rated the ‘day care child' most positively. Parents who had kept their own children at home rated the 'home care child' most positively. Kindergarten teachers rated both hypothetical children equally, but more negatively than parents. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Putting parents in the picture: Maternal reports of preschoolers' literacy as a predictor of early reading

Emergent literacy research has demonstrated that children begin constructing notions of literacy during the preschool years and that early experiences support children's literacy growth. Given that parents may have valuable insight into their preschool children's literacy development, we examined the hypothesis that parental reports from the preschool years could be good predictors of early literacy development once their children enter school. Drawing on data from a longitudinal study of literacy development among low-income children, we correlate reports prepared by parents when their children were three and four years old with the children's subsequent performance on individually administered tests in kindergarten and grade one and grade one teachers' evaluations of children. Correlational analyses reveal significant correlations between parental reports and grade one teacher reports and assessments. Regression models reveal that parental reports account for about a quarter of the variance in kindergarten tests and grade one teacher assessments and over a third of the variance in a decoding assessment given near the end of first grade.     

Factor Analysis of High School Variables and Success in University Subjects for the First Semester in the University

A stress management program was evaluated in sixth-grade classes of an urban public and a suburban parochial school. Sample 1, from the urban public school, and Sample 2, from the suburban parochial school, received pre- and posttests. Sample 3, from the suburban parochial school, was divided into pretest-only and posttest-only groups. Six self-esteem and 1 each stress and social-skills children's self-ratings and 1 each teachers' ratings of children's overall stress management and stress measures were used. All 10 measures showed improvement in the Samples 1 and 2 independently. Findings in Sample 2 replicated the positive effects in Sample 1. In both sixth-grade classes, children's stress level (self- and teachers' ratings), children's social skills and self-esteem self-ratings, and teachers' ratings of children's stress management skills improved significantly. Sample 3 posttest-only group scores did not differ significantly from the posttest scores of Sample 1 and 2 children. Rival hypotheses (e.g., history, maturation, testing) appeared implausible. Results support using skills-oriented stress management programs in regular grade school classes.     

Evidence of bias in predictive validity on the Kaufman assessment battery for children in samples of Anglo and Mexican American children

Possible bias in the differential predictive validity of the Kaufman Assessment Battery (K-ABC) was investigated with 76 Anglo and 90 Mexican American fifth- and sixth-grade boys and girls. All children were English-speaking and from similar socioeconomic backgrounds. The criterion variable was the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS; Language, Reading, Mathematics, and Total Scores). Several statistical techniques were used to investigate test bias (examination of predictive validity coefficients; two methods of examining homogeneity of slopes of the regression lines). The results showed considerable evidence of bias in differential predictive validity, indicating that the global cognitive score of the K-ABC (the Mental Processing Composite) was less effective in predicting CTBS scores for the Mexican American group than for the Anglo group.     

Raising the Educational Requirements for Teachers in Infant Toddler Classrooms: Implications for Institutions of Higher Education

This article describes preschool teachers' espoused mental models (EMMs) or, in other words, their naïve understanding of young children's learning. Our research goal was to examine differences within the teachers' EMMs regarding the minds and learning of young children from different cultural backgrounds. The subjects included 18 preschool teachers from the center of Israel, all of whom belonged to the mainstream cultural background and taught in the national school system. Their classes consisted of 5- to 6-year-old children from the mainstream cultural group as well as children from Ethiopian immigrant families. We conducted individual semistructured interviews that were transcribed and analyzed to identify the original EMM structure. While analyzing the parts of the narratives that referred to Ethiopian children, we discovered a metacategory that did not exist in the original model: Culture. This finding contributes to the construct of espoused mental models for teachers of children from diverse populations.     

The McCarthy scales and Kaufman's McCarthy short form correlations with the comprehensive test of basic skills

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the predictive validity of Kaufman's short form version of the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities for samples of English-speaking and Spanish-speaking Mexican-American children. Comparisons of the observed correlations between the McCarthy General Cognitive Index (GCI) and Kaufman's estimated GCI with academic achievement (as measured by the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills) showed that the conventional McCarthy and Kaufman's short form predicted achievement about equally well. Implication of this finding was discussed in light of supportive evidence for the validity of the Kaufman short form and in the context of screening of culturally diverse children.     

The utility of kindergarten teacher ratings for predicting low academic achievement in first grade

The purpose of this study was to assess the predictive value of kindergarten teachers' ratings of pupils for later first-grade academic achievement. Kindergarten students were rated by their teachers on a variety of variables, including math and reading performance, teacher concerns, and amount of learning relative to peers. These variables were then analyzed with respect to outcome measures for math and reading ability administered in the first grade. The teachers' ratings of academic performance were significantly correlated with scores on the outcome measures. Analyses were also carried out to determine sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of the different teacher ratings. The results indicated high overall accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive value for the ratings. Positive predictive value tended to be lower. A recommendation to follow from these results is that teacher ratings of this sort be used to determine which children should receive cognitive screening measures to further enhance identification of children at risk for learning disability. However, this recommendation is limited by the lack of empirically supported screening measures for math disability versus well-supported screening tools for reading disability.     

Differentiating children with school-related problems after four years using the Miller assessment for preschoolers

In a four-year follow-up study, the performance of 338 children on the Miller Assessment for Preschoolers was compared to indices of school functioning. Criterion measures included: retention in school, poor teachers' observations, assignment to special services or special classes, and below average report card grades. Results showed that preschoolers with low MAP scores were significantly more likely to be represented in school problem categories than were preschoolers with higher MAP scores. MAP Total scores differentiated problem and no-problem school children under all eight problem categories. These results confirm the predictive value of the MAP. Implications for refining school outcome variables in validity research on preschool screening instruments are discussed.     

Parental Beliefs and Children's School Performance

Immigrant parents from Cambodia, Mexico, the Philippines, and Vietnam and native-born Anglo-American and Mexican-American parents responded to questions about child rearing, what teachers of first and second graders should teach their children, and what characterizes an intelligent child. Immigrant parents rated conforming to external standards as being more important to develop in their children than developing autonomous behaviors. In contrast, American-born parents favored developing autonomy over conformity. Parents from all groups except Anglo-Americans indicated that noncognitive characteristics (i.e., motivation, social skills, and practical school skills) were as important as or more important than cognitive characteristics (i.e., problem-solving skills, verbal ability, creative ability) were to their conceptions of an intelligent first-grade child. Parental beliefs about conformity were correlated with measures of kindergarten (5- and 6-year-olds) and first- (6- and 7-year-olds) and second-grader (7- and 8-year-olds) children's school performance (i.e., teacher ratings of children's classroom performance; Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills reading, math, and language scores; and Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test scores).