美国学前教育改革的新动向——入学准备研究

学龄前儿童的入学准备研究,是目前美国学前教育改革的一个热门话题。文章揭示了影响入学准备的两个重要因素:学生和学校,并概述当前美国各州入学准备研究的情况以及对我国学前教育改革的一些启示。     

The role of ethnic school segregation for adolescents’ religious salience

Public concerns over the possible effects of school segregation on immigrant and ethnic majority religiosity have been on the rise over the last few years. In this paper we focus on (1) the association between ethnic school composition and religious salience, (2) intergenerational differences in religious salience and (3) the role of ethnic school composition for intergenerational differences in religious salience. We perform analyses on religious salience, one five-point Likert scale item measuring religious salience among 3,612 16-year-old pupils in Belgian secondary schools. National origin was used as a proxy for ethnicity. Ethnic minority pupils in schools with a higher share of ethnic minorities tend to be more religious. This relation holds for Muslim as well as other religious and ethnic minorities. Ethnic school composition also moderates the relationship between migrant generation and religious salience: second generation migrants tend to be more religious in ethnic minority dominated schools. For ethnic Belgians the association is moderated by their religious affiliation: Catholics tend to be more religious, while non-affiliated ethnic Belgians are less religious in schools with a higher share of ethnic minority pupils.     

Measuring School Readiness: Conceptual and Practical Considerations

Recent interest and investment in early childhood education as a means of promoting children's school readiness has prompted the need for clear definitions of school readiness. Traditionally school readiness has been viewed within a maturationist frame, based on a chronological set-point, which led to the emergence of readiness testing. Following a brief review of this literature, this article provides an overview of the conceptual and practical considerations that must be given to such a definition. Among conceptual concerns are the lack of agreement about the key components of school readiness and theoretical models to connect them. Also of concern is the need to consider multiple purposes of assessment, and the appropriate use of assessments. Practical considerations include the need to incorporate multiple stakeholders' views in a definition, the availability of adequate measurement tools and how resultant data can be used. The article closes with a discussion of possible future directions by laying out a series of assumptions about the nature of school readiness.     

Daily variation in ethnic identity,ethnic behaviors,and psychological well-being among American adolescents of Chinese descent

This study examined the links among Chinese American adolescents' (N = 96) global ethnic identity and their ethnic behaviors, ethnic identity salience, and psychological well-being based on daily diaries collected over a 2-week period. The daily association between engagement in ethnic behaviors and ethnic salience was positive regardless of overall ethnic identity. The daily-level association between ethnic identity salience and well-being, however, was dependent on adolescents' global ethnic identity. Among adolescents who were moderate or high in global ethnic identity, ethnic identity salience was consistently associated with positive well-being at the daily level. In contrast, the daily association between ethnic identity salience and well-being was less strong for youths who were low in ethnic identity. Additionally, a higher level of salience and a weaker association between salience and negative symptoms was found for girls than for boys, and older youths reported a weaker association between salience and positive symptoms than did younger youths.     

School Readiness: Are There Social Prerequisites?

The position advocated within this article is that the construct of "school readiness" has a social component, and that attempts to evaluate children's interpersonal readiness for kindergarten should be judged in relation to their likely success at mastering specific social school entry tasks. Social school entry tasks, which most likely stem from diverse sociocultural sources, are conceptualized here as interpersonal challenges that children confront as they enter formal schooling—challenges that are inherent within kindergarten classrooms and predictive of children's future school adjustment. A related contention is that attempts to enhance children's readiness for kindergarten should be guided by research on the prerequisites of social task mastery—that is, evidence gathered during the preschool years that forecasts children's later success at social school entry tasks. Evidence bearing on these premises is reviewed as a means of considering the validity and heuristic utility of these propositions for future research on school readiness.     

Motivational readiness and the participation of children with learning and behavior problems in psychoeducational decision making

Efficacy of a brief cognitive-affective intervention to enhance motivational readiness for participating in a psychoeducational decision-making conference was explored. Although outcomes specific to the preconference intervention were not found, findings of relevance to the hypothesized positive relationship between motivational readiness and actual participation in decision making are reported. The positive and negative findings are discussed in terms of implications for enhancing motivational readiness and for understanding the limited impact of skill training to improve participation and decision making.     

Por los ojos de madres: Latina mothers’ understandings of college readiness

In this study, data from six focus groups with 30 Latina mothers in South Texas were analyzed utilizing a “funds of knowledge” approach to uncover their understandings of college readiness and their role in ensuring their children are college ready. Findings indicate that Latina mothers perceived college readiness in a holistic fashion, similar to the concept of educación, in that being college ready encompasses academic preparation and other particular personal attributes that ensure success in college. Mothers also believed they had a shared responsibility in college readiness efforts by providing emotional, financial, and moral support while school personnel and students were responsible for other aspects. Such findings are crucial given that current college readiness research does not explicitly consider the role of parents in college readiness efforts or how parents perceive this notion.     

Pathways to School Readiness: Executive Functioning Predicts Academic and Social–Emotional Aspects of School Readiness

The current study specified the extent to which hot and cool aspects of executive functioning predicted academic and social‐emotional indicators of school readiness. It was unique in focusing on positive aspects of social–emotional readiness, rather than problem behaviors. One hundred four 3–5‐year‐old children completed tasks measuring executive functioning, social–emotional readiness, academic readiness, and vocabulary. As expected, age predicted executive functioning components and social–emotional readiness. Moreover, working memory and inhibitory control directly predicted academic readiness, whereas delay of gratification predicted social–emotional readiness. Working memory and inhibitory control predicted delay of gratification, consistent with the notion that simpler executive functions may set the stage for more complex executive functions. Interestingly, social–emotional readiness predicted academic readiness. These findings confirm that hot and cool aspects of executive functioning are related to social–emotional and academic school readiness.     

Social Relationships and School Readiness

Definitions of school readiness tend to focus on social and academic competencies that children are presumed to need to start school ready to learn. However, a child-focused definition of school readiness is limited because it neither identifies processes that lead children to acquire these competencies, nor does it recognize children's dependence on opportunities within settings that support development of these competencies. The model of school readiness presented in this article broadly defines school readiness as a function of an organized system of interactions and transactions among people (children, teachers, parents, and other caregivers), settings (home, school, and child care), and institutions (communities, neighborhoods, and governments). We propose that the primary mechanisms through which children acquire readiness-related competencies are social relationships children form with peers, parents, and teachers. This perspective on school readiness, emphasizing the mediating role of relational processes, offers guidance for designing interventions to improve school readiness through strengthening relationships between parents and children, parents and teachers, and teachers and children.     

The Case for a Middle School College Readiness Index: Rejoinder to Lazowski,Barron, Kosovich,and Hulleman and Mattern,Allen, and Camara

This rejoinder provides a reply to comments on a middle school college readiness index, which was devised to generate earlier and more nuanced readiness diagnoses to K‐12 students. Issues of reliability and validity (including construct underrepresentation and construct‐irrelevant variance) are discussed in detail. In addition, comments from Lazowski et al. and Mattern et al. provide a useful summary of areas where more college readiness research is needed. This rejoinder elaborates on those essential next steps, including deploying readiness indicators in school settings. Advances in the measurement of noncognitive skills will require more validity research using more contemporary data from authentic school settings. Still, the middle school college readiness index is a promising proof of concept, demonstrating the utility of diverse, early measures to support targeted, timely interventions.     

Establishing empirical links between high school assessments and college outcomes: An essential requirement for college readiness interpretations

As states evaluate whether they should continue with their current assessment program or adopt next-generation college readiness assessments, it is important to ascertain the degree to which current high school assessments can be used for college readiness interpretations. In this study, we examined the ability of a state assessment to serve as an indicator of college readiness. Empirical evidence is presented summarizing relationships between performance on the standards-based high school assessment and performance in college. Benchmarks were set on the Reading, Mathematics, and Science tests by linking assessment scores directly to grades in college courses. The accuracy of the benchmarks was similar to that of a traditional college admission test. Students who met the college readiness benchmarks earned higher grades in general education college courses and had higher first-year college grade point averages. Implications for states and other stakeholders are discussed.     

Exploring patterns of Latino/a children's school readiness at kindergarten entry and their relations with Grade 2 achievement

This study contributed to the school readiness literature by taking an intrachild perspective that examined the relations between Latino/a children's school readiness profiles and later academic achievement. Teachers rated the school readiness of 781 Latino/a kindergartners during the first month of school using the Kindergarten Student Entrance Profile (KSEP). Latent class analysis (LCA) examined KSEP profiles across social-emotional, physical, and cognitive domains and identified five distinct school readiness classes that described students’ strengths and weaknesses at kindergarten entry. Among the predictors examined, gender was the only significant difference among the top two readiness classes, with girls less likely to be in the lower of these two classes (OR = 0.38). In addition, children in the bottom three readiness classes were significantly less likely than students in the top readiness class to have preschool experience (ORs = 0.02–0.19) and had significantly lower levels of English proficiency (ORs = 0.51–0.72). Class membership was significantly associated with scores on the Grade 2 California Standards Tests and only the top two readiness classes had reading fluency rates near or above a national benchmark at the end of Grade 2. The variation of early achievement found across readiness classes also showed that considering the pattern of a child's social-emotional and cognitive readiness might enhance school readiness assessment. Implications for integrating universal school readiness screeners within a comprehensive multigating assessment model are also discussed.     

Ready,steady, learn: school readiness and children’s voices in English early childhood settings

Internationally, school readiness is increasingly the rationale for early childhood education and care (ECEC). This is the case in England, yet the statutory English Early Years Foundation Stage framework for children 0–5 years also requires practitioners to listen to children’s voices: discourse indicates dissonance between school readiness and listening to children’s voices so this paper discusses an intrinsic case study that investigated beliefs and practices of 25 practitioners in the English midlands regarding school readiness and listening to children’s voices. In survey responses and semi-structured interviews, practitioners indicated they listen to – and act on – children’s voices but are confused about school readiness; their beliefs and practices align more strongly with social pedagogy than pre-primary schoolification. Findings carry messages for policy-makers regarding the need for coherent policy concerning the purpose of ECEC, with practitioner training and a framework aligned fully with that policy. A larger study is indicated.     

Gesell's developmental testing: What purpose does it serve?

This study examined the usefulness of the Gesell Preschool Test (GPT), a developmental readiness test used by teachers and school psychologists to determine a child's readiness to begin formal instruction. Results of a discriminant analysis revealed that, after the effects of math and reading achievement had been accounted for, the GPT failed to contribute to the discrimination of 30 retained and 58 promoted kindergartners. Problems with the assessment and classification of immature children based on Gesell's developmental readiness concept are discussed.     

The genetic-environmental etiology of cognitive school readiness and later academic achievement in early childhood

Using a genetic design of 840 60-month-old twins, this study investigated the genetic and environmental contributions to (a) individual differences in four components of cognitive school readiness, (b) the general ability underlying these four components, and (c) the predictive association between school readiness and school achievement. Results revealed that the contribution of the shared environment for cognitive school readiness was substantial. Genetic effects were more important for the core abilities underlying school readiness than for each specific skill, although shared environment remained the largest factor overall. Genetic, shared, and nonshared environmental factors all accounted for the predictive association between school readiness and early school achievement. These results contribute to a better understanding of the early determinants of school readiness.     

The Problem with Constructivism

This paper argues that constructivism is a needed educational reform that will succeed only when three types of readiness are in place: teacher, curricular, and societal. The failure of constructivism and other reform movements can he attributed to the fact that these three forms of readiness were never in alignment. The author contends that technological innovation may have sufficient impetus to encourage the three types of readiness. Nonetheless, reform will be truly successful only if it incorporates a constructivist philosophy of education.     

Socially constructed readiness for school

Educational researchers, early childhood educators, and parents often think of readiness for school as a measurable child characteristic. This ignores the social process by which readiness is used to group, rank, and compare children and the variability in the term's use from community to community. This study proposes that readiness for school should be conceived as being “socially constructed.” Using a conceptual framework based on Vygotskian theory and cultural anthropology, we develop the concept of “activity setting” as a social process in which cognitive processes and meaning structures develop. The emerging meaning of readiness is examined by using an activity‐setting analysis in three different communities and kindergarten settings.     

The Answer Is Readiness—Now What Is the Question?

Although readiness is often posed as the answer in early childhood education, there is typically confusion about exactly what question this complex term responds to. In this article, I explore common uses of the term readiness, examine their theoretical and empirical problems, and suggest a more synthetic conception that merges attention to the child, the school, and the community. I argue that readiness is an ethical responsibility we have to children that encompasses coordinated systems of early care and education and receptive schools that are developmental, inclusive, and accountable to all.     

Cognitive readiness assessment and reporting: An open source mobile framework for operational decision support and performance improvement

Cognitive readiness (CR) and performance for operational time‐critical environments are continuing points of focus for military and academic communities. In response to this need, we designed an open source interactive CR assessment application as a highly adaptive and efficient open source testing administration and analysis tool. It is capable of evaluating the CR of individual personnel and combining these results into intuitive, visually based summaries of readiness. The components, logic, and architecture are presented.