Concurrent and predictive validity of the Phelps Kindergarten Readiness Scale‐II

The purpose of this research was to establish the concurrent and predictive validity of the Phelps Kindergarten Readiness Scale, Second Edition (PKRS‐II; L. Phelps, 2003). Seventy‐four kindergarten students of diverse ethnic backgrounds enrolled in a northeastern suburban school participated in the study. The concurrent administration of the PKRS‐II and the Woodcock‐Johnson III Brief Intellectual Ability Scale (R.W. Woodcock, K.S. McGrew, & N. Mather, 2001a) occurred in the fall of the kindergarten year. To assess predictive validity, the Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Achievement (R.W. Woodcock, K.S. McGrew, & N. Mather, 2001b) was administered in the spring of that year. All concurrent and predictive correlations were significant. Based on the results of this study, the PKRS‐II may be used with confidence to screen for children who may be at risk for academic difficulties. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 355–359, 2005.     

Family Routines and School Readiness During the Transition to Kindergarten

Research Findings: Using data from 3,250 participants in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort, we used structural equation modeling to investigate whether family routines (e.g., bedtime routine, reading routine) established in preschool predict children’s school readiness (i.e., academic skills, social-emotional skills, and physical health) in kindergarten, a foundational year for establishing children’s academic trajectories. Analyses revealed that higher levels of routines in preschool were associated with greater declines in teacher-reported conduct problems and hyperactive/inattentive behavior and greater gains in prosocial behaviors from preschool to kindergarten. Higher routines also predicted greater gains in both reading and mathematics scores as well as greater improvements in physical health. Telling stories appears to be the most salient routine for children’s social-emotional outcomes, whereas bedtime routines most strongly predicts differences in children’s academic skills and health outcomes. Practice or Policy: The results suggest that family routines may be an important tool for preparing and supporting children and parents for the kindergarten transition even before school entry.     

Examining the Relationship Between Neighborhood Environment and School Readiness for Kindergarten Children

In the current research project, the relationship between neighborhood environment and school readiness was investigated. To measure neighbourhood environment, data from the 2001 Canadian Census were used, while school readiness was measured using the Early Development Instrument (EDI). EDI data were collected for kindergarten children across British Columbia, Canada, in the school years 2000/2001 through 2004/2005 by the Human Early Learning Partnership. A hierarchical linear modeling approach to data analysis was taken given the complex structure of the data (children nested within neighborhoods). Results from this study suggest that neighborhood environment is related to children's school readiness outcomes as measured by the EDI. Specifically, all 5 EDI domains were significantly predicted by between 2 and 8 of 13 neighborhood variables that were conceptually grouped into 8 categories accounting for family structure, income, education, Aboriginal status, language, labor force occupations, employment rates, and domestic work. Overall, 3 themes emerged from this study that suggest neighborhood-level sources of social wealth: the importance of neighborhood culture, stability, and heterogeneity in promoting better school readiness outcomes for children. Formulations regarding areas for future research are presented.     

Child‐Care Subsidies and School Readiness in Kindergarten

The federal child‐care subsidy program represents one of the government's largest investments in early care and education. Using data from the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort, this study examines associations, among subsidy‐eligible families, between child‐care subsidy receipt when children are 4 years old and a range of school readiness outcomes in kindergarten (sample n ≈ 1,400). Findings suggest that subsidy receipt in preschool is not directly linked to subsequent reading or social‐emotional skills. However, subsidy receipt predicted lower math scores among children attending community‐based centers. Supplementary analyses revealed that subsidies predicted greater use of center care, but this association did not appear to affect school readiness.     

Development and Validation of the Chinese Preschool Readiness Scale

Research Findings. A growing number of young children encounter group learning environment for the first time when entering preschool at age 3, yet their parents and teachers have no means to discern whether they are ready for this challenge. To address this uncertainty, this study developed and validated the Chinese Preschool Readiness Scale (CPRS), which assesses children’s readiness for successful adjustment to preschool. The scale was validated through EFA in Study 1, with 29 teachers who rated 288 children. The scale was further validated by ESEM and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in Study 2, with 46 teachers who rated 765 children. A five-factor CPRS was determined: self-care abilities and emotional maturity, cognitive and communications skills, social competence, learning dispositions, and classroom rules. The construct validity and internal reliability were satisfactory. Its concurrent validity was also established: (1) the CPRS scores were positively correlated with parent-rated self-regulation and (2) the social competence domain of CPRS was positively correlated with sensitive-cooperative behaviors and negatively correlated with anxious-withdrawn behaviors.Practice or Policy. The results supported further development and use of the CPRS to monitor children’s development upon entry at preschool. The findings also highlighted the need for more research on preschool readiness.     

幼儿园开展融合教育物理环境准备度的质性研究

在开展融合教育的幼儿园,创设一个合理的幼儿园物理环境,为有特殊需要的幼儿提供一个“最少受限制的环境”非常重要.本研究通过对浙江杭州市两所甲级幼儿园的实地调查,分析了当前开展融合教育的幼儿园物理环境创设的现状及问题,在此基础上,运用通用设计理念对开展融合教育的幼儿园在物理环境创设方面提出了一些建设性意见.     

Rural Kindergarten Teachers' Perceptions of School Readiness: A Comparison with the Carnegie Study

This study examines the construct of school readiness as understood by rural kindergarten teachers. Kindergarten teachers in 11 rural Missouri communities were surveyed to assess their perceptions of the readiness levels of their incoming children. These data were then compared to the results of the national Carnegie study of 7000 kindergarten teachers' perceptions of school readiness. The rural Missouri sample judged their students as generally more ready than did the national sample; they viewed the incoming kindergarten students as having fewer language, social, and physical problems. A greater portion of the rural sample believed that children are more ready now than 5 years ago (36% vs. 25%). They attribute the improvement to high quality early preschool programs. The diversity within the rural sample as well as the rural/urban distinctions are discussed.     

Teacher ratings in the validation of Guglielmino's Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale

The complexity of life and the increasing importance of learning across the lifespan puts an added emphasis on self-direction in learning. Guglielmino's Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) is one of the most frequently reported instruments designed to measure self-directed learning readiness. Therefore, the validity of the instrument is an important topic. This is the second study by the authors that is designed to contribute to knowledge of the validity of the SDLRS. In the first study, the authors concluded that general findings support the validity of the instrument. Questions generated by the lack of association between faculty ratings on self-direction and student scores on the SDLRS, however, needed further study.The second study, reported here, was specifically designed to examine the effects of two teacher rating scales as used in the two investigations. The extremely low(0.03) correlation between faculty ratings and the SDLRS scores noted in the first study is compared to the findings in the second study. A correlation of 0.20, significant at the 0.056 level, was noted in this study. It is concluded, therefore, that the rating scale as used in the first study may have been seriously flawed. A persistent tendency of the faculty to rate black students lower in self-direction and older students higher in self-direction raises additional questions concerning faculty rating procedures. Other findings reported in this study are similar to those reported in the earlier study     

Family and Sociodemographic Predictors of School Readiness Among African American Boys in Kindergarten

Research Findings: Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–1999, were used to examine the relation between parenting, sociodemographic characteristics, and school readiness among (N = 1,136) African American boys in kindergarten. Parenting was defined as parenting style (i.e., warmth and control), home learning stimulation, and culturally relevant parenting. Two child outcomes previously linked to school readiness were examined: kindergarten reading and approaches to learning. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed to address 2 research questions. First, does parenting predict kindergarten reading above and beyond the contribution of sociodemographic characteristics? Second, does parenting predict kindergarten approaches to learning above and beyond the contribution of sociodemographic characteristics? Practice or Policy: Children with parents who set consistent bedtimes, provided more books in their homes, and read to them more frequently had better kindergarten reading scores after socioeconomic status, environmental safety, and maternal education were controlled. Similarly, children with parents who provided more books in their home and read to their children more frequently had more positive teacher-rated approaches to learning scores in kindergarten. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Measurement Invariance of a School Readiness Screener for Use in Preschool and Kindergarten

Research Findings: Public policy has increasingly focused on expansion of preschool access for underserved students and systematic evaluation of preschool quality and students’ readiness for school. However, such evaluation is limited by a lack of thoroughly validated assessments for use with preschool populations. The present study examined the measurement and structural invariance of the Kindergarten Student Entrance Profile (KSEP) across kindergarten and prekindergarten groups to evaluate its potential use across developmental groups. Participants included 522 kindergarten and 548 prekindergarten students in central California. Invariance was tested by fitting a series of multiple-groups confirmatory factor analysis models with parameter constraints across groups. Results indicated that measurement and structural parameters of the KSEP were invariant across kindergarten and prekindergarten groups. Prekindergarten means on both Social–Emotional Readiness and Cognitive Readiness were significantly lower than kindergarten means. Practice or Policy: These results suggest that the KSEP may potentially be used with prekindergarten students to assess school readiness and inform intervention before kindergarten entry.     

Development and validation of Kindergarten Environment Rating Scale

The authors present the development and the validation of the four‐dimensional, twenty‐five‐item, five‐point Kindergarten Environment Rating Scale (KERS). The Cohen’s Kappa of the items indicates acceptable reliability for the instrument. The content validity and confirmatory factor analysis indicates that the data obtained using the KERS could differentiate the kindergarten environmental quality in reality, as they proposed to do. As previous literature pointed out, the quality of kindergartens in this study varied greatly across different types and different areas. How to create and utilise the physical environment and how to interact with and provide appropriate support for young children are still common difficulties for kindergartens.     

The construct validity and predictive validity of a self-efficacy measure for student teachers in competence-based education

This study intends to investigate the validity of a self-efficacy measure which is developed for predictive and diagnostic purposes concerning student teachers in competence-based education. CFA results delivered converging evidence for the multidimensionality of the student teacher self-efficacy construct and the bi-factor model as underlying structure, reflecting a teacher competence framework. Factor loadings of the bifactor model evidenced the theoretical assumption that incipient student teachers enter the programme with a global undifferentiated sense of teacher self-efficacy, having teaching experiences a further differentiation takes place to a partly differentiated sense of teacher self-efficacy. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the measure succeeds in predicting students’ first-year outcomes and delivered evidence for the diagnostic value of the scale.     

The Career Myths Scale: its validity and applicability

The Career Myths Scale (CMS) was developed to assess the extent to which students subscribe to irrational beliefs regarding careers. The CMS was administered to a sample of university students (n=153) and a principal components analysis of the CMS identified the following components: Test Myths, Self-Esteem Myths, Misconceptions of Exactitude, and Career Anxiety Myths. The usefulness of the CMS in counselling students is discussed.A preliminary version of this article was presented at the International Round Table for the Advancement of Counselling Conference, Porto, Portugal, 2–6 April, 1991.     

Assessing School Readiness: Validity and Bias in Preschool and Kindergarten Teachers' Ratings

As a part of efforts to evaluate and monitor the increasing public investment in early childhood education, teachers are being asked to assess children's school readiness. In this study, preschool teachers and kindergarten teachers rated children's skills in three areas (kindergarten readiness, academic skills, and communication skills), and these ratings were compared with direct assessments of the children's skills. Ratings by both groups of teachers tended to be more highly related to basic skills, such as counting and number naming, than to abilities such as solving applied problems and using expressive and receptive vocabulary. Preschool teachers' ratings had a lower association with children's observed skills and abilities than kindergarten teachers' ratings. Ratings of children attending Head Start were systematically inflated, but this relationship was mediated to a significant extent by the teachers' levels of education. More educated teachers rated children in a manner consistent with the children's directly assessed skills. Implications of these findings for informing future efforts to assess school readiness by using teacher ratings are discussed.     

Parents' Conceptions of Kindergarten Readiness: Relationships With Race,Ethnicity, and Development

Abstract

Data from the National Household Education Survey (1993) were used to examine parents' conceptions of kindergarten readiness and home-learning activities. Parents reported reading to their children an average of several days each week; a majority of children watched educational television programs such as Sesame Street. African American and Hispanic parents, and other parents of color, were significantly more likely than Caucasian parents to express concerns about their childís readiness for kindergarten. However, Caucasian parents were significantly more likely than other parents to comment that they would delay sending their child to kindergarten until he or she was older. Parent concerns about their child's kindergarten readiness were unrelated to learning activities and educational television viewing at home.     

江苏省幼儿园教师规模现状及其“十二五”需求预测

为实现《江苏省中长期教育改革与发展规划纲要(2010-2020年)》提出的全省学前教育“十二五”发展目标,需要科学地预测和估算江苏省“十二五”期间新增幼儿数及幼儿教师数.本研究结果显示,按照35/2的师生比,江苏省现有幼儿教师数量不仅总量不足,而且存在显著的地区分布差异,主要是经济欠发达地区幼儿教师缺口较大.未来5年,根据江苏省人口出生率与在园幼儿数推算,江苏省幼儿教师缺口将达到3万人左右,其中专科及以上学历者缺2.7万名,本科及以上学历者缺1.05万人.为弥补幼儿教师数量与质量的不足,各级政府应继续加大财政投入,并逐步主要投向幼儿教师的培养、培训及待遇保障;教育行政部门应合理规划幼师生培养规模,多渠道增加幼儿教师培养数量,同时应加强现有幼儿教师学历培训.     

Concurrent and predictive validity of the LET-II for average children

Memory tests, such as the Learning Efficiency Test-II (LET-II), have frequently been used to describe the memory characteristics of special populations such as persons with learning disabilities, brain damage, or Alzheimer's disease. Yet, few research studies have examined the memory characteristics of normally functioning children and compared these characteristics to their performance on ability tests or real-life achievement criteria. This study investigates the predictive and concurrent validities of the LET-II for performance on the Kuhlmann-Anderson Tests (K-A), class grades, and actual grade level functioning in reading and mathematics for third and fourth grade children of average intelligence. The LET-II memory factor scores correlated significantly with the K-A scores, class grades and actual grade level functioning in reading. The relevance of these findings for norm-referenced psychological tests, and in particular memory tests, in real-life settings is examined. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The predictive validity of kindergarten readiness judgments: Lessons from one state

Recent federal investments in early childhood assessment systems are the result of a national need for developmentally appropriate, psychometrically sound instruments to monitor young children and evaluate the effectiveness of their learning programs. In this paper, we examined the association between teachers’ perceptions of their students at the start of kindergarten and academic achievement in Grade 3 with hierarchical linear modeling using state-level data from nearly 30,000 students. The analyses showed that such an association exists even after accounting for student-level and school-level demographic variables and is moderated by the percentage of free-lunch-eligible students in a given school. Implications of these findings related screening and assessment at kindergarten entry are discussed.