The Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters Program's Relationship with Mother and School Outcomes

Research Findings: This study investigated the relationship of the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program to mothers' involvement in education at home and school, student school readiness in kindergarten, and student academic outcomes at 3rd grade. HIPPY serves a mostly minority, low-income family population and employs home visitors that are mostly female and Spanish speaking. Using a within-group analysis, we found that HIPPY mothers increased educational activities in their home with their children after 1 year of home-based intervention. The majority (84.8%) of HIPPY kindergartners were rated as “ready for school” by their kindergarten teachers according to a within-group analysis. In addition, between-group analyses showed that HIPPY kindergartners had higher attendance rates, higher prekindergarten enrollment, and higher promotion to 1st grade compared to other kindergartners in the school district. HIPPY 3rd graders scored significantly higher on a state-mandated math achievement test than their matched peers. Practice or Policy: The results suggest that HIPPY had a positive relationship with families and schools through improved parent involvement and student school outcomes.     

Impact of HIPPY on home learning environments of Latino families

This study investigated effects of Home Instruction of Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), a paraprofessional home visiting program, on parents and children. The program site served low-income, Spanish-speaking families. On average, mothers were 31 years old (SD = 4.78) and children were 3 or 4 years old (M = 3.92, SD = .92). Participants (n = 54) had more parenting self-efficacy and more enriched home environments than families on a waiting list (n = 54). In a regression on home environment, participation in the intervention was a stronger predictor than maternal education, depression, and stress. A third-grade follow-up of children in the program showed significantly higher math achievement when compared to low-income Latino third graders in the same school district. These findings appear to validate the HIPPY model, which suggests that parents gain confidence as their children's teachers through their experiences in the program. HIPPY successfully addresses the need for culturally sensitive programming aimed at improving educational achievement among minority children.     

Use of Item Response Theory to develop a measure of first‐grade readiness

This paper describes the development of a measure of readiness for first grade. The Readiness Inventory (RI), consists of six items, uses a 4‐point rating scale, and has an alpha of 0.86. The RI was completed on 139 first‐grade children and analyzed using a polytomous rating scale model of Item Response Theory. The instrument shows a high level of item and case fit. Based on an item map which elucidates the latent trait of school readiness as perceived by first‐grade teachers, behaviors dealing with academic skills are less indicative of readiness than abilities dealing with role‐governed behaviors or strategic learning behaviors. The RI was then validated through the examination of two different groups of preschool children: those who underwent an intensive school readiness preparation training (the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters or HIPPY) and those who did not participate in any such program. Scores on the RI were significantly higher for HIPPY graduates versus non‐HIPPY graduates, a breakdown by sex revealed that only HIPPY boys out‐performed their non‐HIPPY boy peers on the RI. This validation study suggests that the RI is able to discriminate between ready and not‐ready children. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The effects of the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) on Children's school performance at the end of the program and one year later

The effectiveness of the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY)—a two-year, free, home-based, family-oriented, early childhood education intervention-was assessed in a longitudinal, two cohort, randomized experimental evaluation. One hundred and eighty-two low-income families (84 in HIPPY and 98 in the control group) were assessed at baseline, at the end of the program, and one year later. Outcomes included assessments of children's cognitive skills, adaptation to the classroom, and standardized achievement at the end of the two-year program, and classroom adaptation and standardized achievement one year later. Data were collected from objective measures, teacher ratings, and school records. Analyses of covariance were conducted controlling for baseline scores on child and family background variables. Results revealed that for Cohort I there were significant and educationally meaningful differences in children's school performance both at the end of the program and one year later. These results were not replicated in Cohort II. Attrition analyses did not reveal differences between groups and cohorts which would account for the lack of replication. Findings are interpreted as mixed support for the effectiveness of the HIPPY program to improve the chances that poor children will succeed in school.     

The Impact of the Home Instructional Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) on School Performance in 3rd and 6th Grades

A post hoc matching design was used to compare children who participated in the Home Instructional Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) throughout Arkansas to children from the same classrooms who had no preschool experience and children who had other preschool experiences in the third and sixth grades. The program showed modest positive impact on school suspensions, grades, classroom behavior, and achievement test scores at both grade levels.     

The Impact of the Home Instructional Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) on School Performance in 3rd and 6th Grades

A post hoc matching design was used to compare children who participated in the Home Instructional Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) throughout Arkansas to children from the same classrooms who had no preschool experience and children who had other preschool experiences in the third and sixth grades. The program showed modest positive impact on school suspensions, grades, classroom behavior, and achievement test scores at both grade levels.     

Child development knowledge: Is it enough?

It would seem a foregone conclusion that early childhood program directors need a knowledge base in child development if they are to establish credibility in their role as directors (Kuykendall, 1990). The general assumption, then, is that directors' client base is young children. However, early childhood program directors in their daily experiences deal with opposite ends of the development continuum from children to adults.Sharon L. Wooden is Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM. Nancy E. Baptiste is Coordinator, Child Development Associate Program, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces.     

Community Engagement Project for Preservice Early Childhood Students

This article describes how a preservice early childhood program collaborates with a local agency in a community engagement project. The project was implemented in a family–community partnership class for preservice teachers. There were three purposes for this project. First, to build a partnership between the University of Alaska Anchorage Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood (BAEC) program and a local child care center; second, to provide support for the child care center’s administration and teachers based on their needs and interests; and third, to offer authentic opportunities and experiences for preservice BAEC students to work with the children and their families. This project was a semester-long endeavor, which evolved through rich collaborative experiences.     

Volunteers in the classroom: Guidelines for orientation

Fortunate child care directors have many volunteers in their centers. Parents, grandparents, student interns, and other community volunteers may work occasionally or regularly in the child care center. Directors should be prepared to host these volunteers by planning in advance for their orientation. This will make the director's task easier and the volunteers' work more meaningful to them and more useful to the children and staff. At the University of Tennessee's Child Development Laboratories we regularly host volunteers with little or no prior experience in child care. Volunteers from the Foster Grandparents Program, from other departments in the university, parents of the children enrolled in the program, as well as our own majors in the beginning stages of their field work, are frequent participants who require orientation and guidelines for working with young children in group care. Because it is not unusual for some volunteers to leave after a semester, training and orientation for new volunteers occurs regularly throughout the year. The information below is offered to directors to promote meaningful involvement of volunteers in their center.Jan Allen is Associate Professor in the Department of Child and Family Studies. Kathy Carlson is a Master Teacher in the Child Development Laboratories. They work together at The University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN. The authors wish to thank Dr. Carol Catron and Anne Miller Farmer for helpful comments.     

Parent perceptions of the effects of the Saturday enrichment program on gifted students’ talent development

Based on survey responses from 187 parents of students who attended the Saturday Enrichment Program (SEP) at the Center for Talent Development (CTD) of Northwestern University, this study showed that overall, parents perceived favorable effects of the program on their children's talent development, especially academic talent development. As a result of participation in the CTD program, parents perceived that their children gained scholastic skills or knowledge, were more motivated to learn and interested in the subject areas they studied, and gained academic competence. After the program parents had higher academic expectations for their children. Parents felt positively about instructional aspects of the program such as focusing on a single subject in depth and breadth, experiencing interdisciplinary perspectives across subject areas, and having experiential learning opportunities. They also perceived that the SEP classes provided their children with both challenge and enjoyment. Despite the perceived benefits of SEP, results also showed that the majority of parents were still reluctant to pursue additional further educational actions inside or outside of school for their children after completing the program. However, of those who contacted their children's local schools, almost half said that their children received more challenging work (e.g., accepted and/or placed into advanced enrichment programs or other gifted programs/groupings in school, recommended for gifted programs, given additional materials or work, or skipped grades) as a result.     

Greetings from the Editor

The eight early childhood educators who participated in this study were admitted into a 60-credit statewide distance-delivered Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree program at the University of Alaska. All eight educators were women of Alaska Native ancestry who lived and worked in remote and rural Native communities. Seven of these teachers were employed by Head Start programs and one taught preschool for a rural school district. A major goal of the statewide distance-delivered AAS program is that participants will become skilled observers of children and learn to use observation to make decisions that foster developmentally appropriate and culturally responsive services. All the course work in our AAS degree program involves actively doing and using observations of children. This study is based on a principle that intrinsic changes can occur in program management, curriculum development, and teacher practice when teachers learn how to use observation of children rather than external evaluation to make decisions about their programs.     

Sexual abuse prevention education for young children: A comparison of teachers and parents as instructors

The purpose of this study was to compare teachers and parents as instructors of a personal safety program. One hundred seventy-two Head Start preschoolers were randomly assigned to a personal safety program taught by their teachers, parents, both teachers and parents, or to a general safety control program. Following program participation, children taught the personal safety program by their teachers, parents, or both, demonstrated greater knowledge about sexual abuse and higher levels of personal safety skills compared with those in the control group. Gains in knowledge and skills were maintained at the 5-month follow up. Children taught by their parents showed greater improvements in recognizing inappropriate-touch requests and in their personal safety skills compared with children taught by their teachers, and children who received the program both at home and school were better able to recognize appropriate-touch requests and to demonstrate higher levels of personal safety skills compared with children taught only at school. The emotional costs associated with participating in the program were minimal, and both parents and children rated the program positively. The advantages of home-based instruction for young children are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.     

The new challenge: An ethnically integrated enrichment program for gifted students

The New Challenge Program was established at the University of Texas‐Pan American's School of Education to provide enrichment experience for gifted children in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Over 125 students in grades K‐12 participate each spring in a course of their choosing designed to explore creativity or foster specialized interests, such as Videography, Engineering in the Real World, Discovering the Art in You, Blood and Guts, and Rocketry and Aviation. The majority of the gifted students in this program are Mexican Americans and are classified as economically disadvantaged. The New Challenge Program staff developed an informal system for selecting and preparing the experts who teach these courses to provide a learning environment that works for all gifted children and a curriculum that is thematic and expands upon the academic content that they learn in school.     

Writing reports for children: What do the children think?

Twenty children who attended a clinic for learning difficulties? were given a personal report following their assessment. Each report was simply written and explained the reasons for referral, the results of the tests and what would happen next in their remedial program. The children were then contacted by mail and asked questions about their reactions to receiving a report. The children's answers and the informal comments of parents and teachers were very positive. It is suggested that writing reports for children is a simple and effective way of encouraging children with learning difficulties to play a more active part in their remedial program.     

Short-Term,Home-Based Intervention for Child Noncompliance Using Behavioral Consultation and a Self-Help Manual

We examined the effectiveness of a self-help program designed to increase levels of compliance in children. Information was also collected regarding the integrity with which parents implemented program strategies. Additionally, the stage of change at which parents and children were functioning throughout the study was assessed. Four families were trained, via a manual, to modify the levels of compliance displayed by their children. Using a multiple baseline design, the effects of the program were evaluated using levels of compliance as the dependent variable. Results indicated that 3 of the children demonstrated increases in compliance and parents of those children were able to implement the program with integrity. Additionally, when assessed throughout the study, those parents and their children reported high stages of change. The fourth family reported lower stages of change, implemented the program with less integrity, and did not experience an increase in child compliance. Previous research is discussed in relation to these results and possibilities for future investigation are offered.     

First impressions are lasting for preschoolers,too!

Conclusion Longitudinal research on effective early childhood education programs has consistently demonstrated the importance of home-school communication (Berger, 1981). Ernest Boyer has stated it simply yet profoundly: “Good homes make good schools.” Child care programs must commit themselves to involving parents in their program with parent, child and staff acting as a unit (Yawkey & Bakawa-Evenson, 1975). This can be done by building a relationship with families that begins well and continues to develop in positive ways. Day care professionals can best enhance the development of children by planning programs which are responsive to the needs of families. Denise D. Shaffer is currently a granduate student in Early Childhood Education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She has worked as a day care teacher, family day care coordinator, and early intervention specialist with a Head Start program. She sincerely thanks Dr. Mary Renck Jalongo for her review of this article.     

California's emergency credential teachers: examining program conditions for sustainability and effectiveness

The Summer Institute for Teacher Education (SITE), a one-year program, emerged in response to a California State University directive to increase the number of credentialed teachers. This article explains the rationale and program approach, describes the participants of the first two cohorts—SITE 1999 and SITE 2000, and uses yearly program evaluations to discuss the program goals and outcomes. It concludes with implications for the preparation of teachers of color and the institutional conditions needed to promote sustainability and teacher effectiveness. Three goals differentiated SITE from the regular program: (1) to create a one-year credential program to increase the yearly number of credentialed elementary teachers, (2) to offer a program for training the growing number of California's emergency credentialed teachers, and (3) to provide the contextual conditions and?culturally responsive curricular content needed for successful sustained service to children, especially those attending high-poverty, low performing urban schools.     

Big Math for Little Kids

Big Math for Little Kids, a comprehensive program for 4- and 5-year-olds, develops and expands on the mathematics that children know and are capable of doing. The program uses activities and stories to develop ideas about number, shape, pattern, logical reasoning, measurement, operations on numbers, and space. The activities introduce the mathematical ideas in a coherent, carefully sequenced fashion, and are designed to promote curiosity and excitement about learning and doing mathematics. The program produces playful but purposeful learning of deep mathematical ideas, and encourages children to think about and express their mathematical thinking. Throughout the program, great emphasis is placed on the development of mathematical and mathematics-related language. Our observations suggest two broad questions for future research: What kinds of competence can children develop in the context of a rich mathematics environment? In what ways can mathematics learning promote language and literacy?     

Parent education: The Dreikurs model

The effects of a 10-week Dreikurs parent education program was investigated in terms of maternal attitudes, expressed practices, and parent-child behaviors. Variables assessed included maternal control, maturity demands, communication and nurturance. Using a Posttest-Only Control Group design, 60 mothers of kindergarten children in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, were randomly selected from a pool of 81 volunteers. The mothers (Ss) were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions: experimental and control. Ss in the experimental group participated in the Dreikurs parent education program, while control Ss received delayed treatment. Using Baumrind's (1967) Parent Interview Schedule and Scales, Ss were interviewed and rated regarding their child-rearing attitudes and practices. Ss were videotaped interacting with their kindergarten children in a structured situation and tapes were rated using Baumrind's (1967) Home Visit Sequence Analysis. Results indicated that Ss who participated in the Dreikurs program had more positive attitudes toward independence training and independence granting. Specific suggestions were made for further studies in terms of research design and revision of instruments. Additional suggestions included focus on personality characteristics of parents.The study formed the basis of a doctoral dissertation by the first authorThe paper was presented at the Eight International Conference and Seminar of Counseling, Oslo, Norway in July, 1978.The first author has moved to the University of Calgary since the study was completedInquiries or request for reprints should be directed to Dr. S. Robertson, Department of Educational Psychology, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 1N4.University of Alberta     

An Ethic of Caring: The Fuel for High Teacher Efficacy

In this article I discuss ways of increasing teacher efficacy identified as a key belief system in the enhancement of teacher effectiveness. Teacher efficacy is defined and its impact on teacher effectiveness explored. The need to increase teacher efficacy to enhance the design, implementation and outcomes of instruction is discussed with special focus on caring and its potential as a catalyst for expanding teachers’ perception of their power to make a difference in the lives and performance of their students. Dr. Marta D. Collier is a tenured associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Dr. Collier earned her undergraduate degree in elementary education from Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana and her masters and Ph.D. degrees in elementary education from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. Her research interests include the impact of caring on teaching and learning, the incorporation of culturally relevant children and youth literature into literacy instruction, and the design of preschool, primary and elementary classrooms that promote active teaching and learning. Dr. Collier’s teaching interests include early childhood pedagogy and program development, classroom learning theory and children’s literature.