African American Father Involvement and Preschool Children's School Readiness

A developmental ecological model was used to identify child attributes, father characteristics, and familial factors associated with multidimensional father involvement with preschool children enrolled in Head Start. The relations between father involvement and children's school readiness were also investigated. Eighty-five African American fathers and father figures were surveyed about their involvement in child care, home-based educational and school-based educational activities. Children's school readiness competencies were evaluated via teacher report or direct assessment. Father involvement in child care and home-based educational activities were predicted by different contextual factors and child attributes. Fathers were more involved in child care activities when they lived in a child's home and when a child was highly emotional. Fathers who perceived the existence of a strong parenting alliance reported more involvement in home-based educational activities. Father involvement in child care and home-based educational activities was associated with higher levels of children's emotion regulation. Findings are consistent with a contextual, multidimensional perspective of African American fathering and hold policy implications for fatherhood initiatives in the early childhood education field. Efforts to increase father involvement may be most effective when addressing the multitude of influences on fathering behavior and focusing on father-child activities that occur outside of the preschool setting.     

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。     

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。     

社会经济地位不利儿童的入学准备

入学准备状态是指学龄前儿童为了能够从即将开始的正规学校教育中受益所需要具备的各种关键特征或基础条件。国外关于社会经济地位不利儿童入学准备状态研究的新进展是:(1)低社会经济地位儿童的入学准备状况;(2)影响低社会经济地位儿童入学准备的背景因素;(3)改善低社会经济地位儿童入学准备状况的干预措施。     

Urban African American Children's Prerogative at Home and School

The study replicates a previous investigation done with middle class children to examine their conceptions of prerogative and restriction, Weber (1999). For the present study, forty nine first, third and fifth grade children who were primarily African American, were drawn from two public schools in a small aging midwestern industrial city. They participated in two interviews which elicited responses concerning personal prerogative at home and school. The children identified areas of prerogative in both settings. They distinguished between personal and conventional issues at school. Children's claims to prerogative appeared to increase with age, as did the amount of disagreement and conflict over such issues. There appeared to be a flattening out of opportunity at school however, that did not occur at home. Unlike the middle class sample, these children sometimes used prudential and punishment reasoning to justify restrictions. Direct responses from the children clearly indicated that school should be different from home in prerogative offered them. They appeared to accept more narrow and rigid boundaries at school with little reservation. The totality of the children's responses, however, suggests the possibility of more complex attitudes. The flattening of provision at school, combined with some presence of punishment reasoning, suggests that there may be some interesting differences in approach between middle class and working class schools.     

家长参与对学前儿童入学准备的影响

本研究以316名大班幼儿及其家长为研究对象,调查家长参与现状,同时探究家长参与及相关背景因素对学前儿童入学准备的影响,结果发现家长的家庭参与度显著高于学校参与和家校沟通;家长参与的各维度与学前儿童整体入学准备水平存在显著性正相关,其中家庭参与正向预测学前儿童的整体入学准备水平,但是学校参与和家校沟通对儿童入学准备没有显著影响;女孩的入学准备整体水平高于男孩,完整家庭的儿童入学准备水平显著高于单亲家庭,中等收入家庭的儿童入学准备水平显著高于低收入家庭。为进一步提高家长的参与水平和质量,进而促进儿童的入学准备,需要转变家长教育观念,充分利用社区资源,丰富家长参与的形式和内容。     

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.     

学前一年幼儿入学语言准备的城乡比较研究

入学语言准备是预测后续学业成绩的有力指标之一,提高儿童的入学语言准备水平有助于缩小儿童发展的阶层差距和城乡差距,促进实现教育公平。对浙江、江西和四川三省108所幼儿园中的1 359名学前一年幼儿进行了入学语言准备状况测查并比较了城乡差异发现,城乡学前一年幼儿语言发展普遍存在不同步、不均衡现象。无论是城市还是县城、乡镇、农村的幼儿,在听—动转换、细微差异识别、汉字结构意识、前阅读技能等维度上的发展水平都优于其他维度,阅读理解和口语表达能力发展水平最差;城乡学前一年幼儿入学语言准备存在极其显著的差异,而且差异体现在入学语言准备的各个维度上。城市和县城幼儿入学语言准备水平显著高于乡镇和农村幼儿。应尽快普及学前一年教育,优先在乡镇和农村地区有质量地普及学前一年教育。     

儿童入学准备的情绪和社会性方面的发展

文章分析了中国儿童入学准备五个领域发展的不平衡,详细探讨了儿童入学准备情绪和社会性发展方面所包括的具体内容,以及如何促进儿童入学准备情绪和社会性方面的发展。     

教师对儿童入学准备状况的团体评定

研究采用教师团体评定的方法,发现在入学准备的5个领域中,“学习方式”“情绪和社会性发展”领域存在问题的儿童最多,“身体和运动发展”领域存在问题的儿童较少。“言语发展”和“认知与一般知识”领域存在问题的儿童最少;儿童在“学习方式”领域存在的入学准备问题主要体现在“注意力”“学习主动性”“自省能力”方面;“情绪和社会性发展”领域的入学准备问题主要体现在“与教师交流”和“自拉能力”方面;儿童在“注意力”和“自我反省”两方面的入学准备存在性别差异。     

Preschool Contexts and Teacher Interactions: Relations with School Readiness

The majority of early education programs promote children’s learning through a mix of experiences in child- and teacher-managed contexts. The current study examined time spent in child- and teacher-managed contexts and the nature of children’s experiences with teachers in these contexts as they relate to children’s skill development. Participants were preschool children (N = 283, M age = 52 months, 48% girls, 70% Mexican or Mexican American) from families of a lower socioeconomic status. Observations captured children’s time in child- and teacher-managed contexts and experiences with teachers in each context. School readiness was assessed directly and through teacher reports. Research Findings: Time spent in teacher-managed contexts was positively related to children’s academic and social skill development. Experiences in child-managed context predicted vocabulary, math, and social skills when teachers were directly involved with children. Overall, the findings suggest that teacher engagement is related to positive outcomes even during child-managed activities. Practice or Policy: Given these findings, preservice and professional development programs for early childhood educators should have a component that focuses on how to enhance the teacher’s role during child-managed activities.     

Low‐Income Ethnically Diverse Children's Engagement as a Predictor of School Readiness Above Preschool Classroom Quality

This study examined whether children's observed individual engagement with teachers, peers, and tasks related to their school readiness after controlling for observed preschool classroom quality and children's baseline skills. The sample included 211 predominately low‐income, racially/ethnically diverse 4‐year‐old children in 49 preschool classrooms in one medium‐sized U.S. city. Results indicated that children's positive engagement with (a) teachers related to improved literacy skills; (b) peers related to improved language and self‐regulatory skills; and (c) tasks related to closer relationships with teachers. Children's negative engagement was associated with lower language, literacy, and self‐regulatory skills, and more conflict and closeness with teachers. Effect sizes were small to medium in magnitude, and some expected relations between positive engagement and school readiness were not found.     

幼儿园教师与小学教师入学准备观的研究

幼儿园教师和小学教师的入学准备观影响着他们的教育行为,进而影响儿童的发展.本研究采取问卷法调查了北京地区幼儿园教师和小学教师的入学准备观,在对幼儿园教师和小学教师入学准备观的特点进行归纳分析的同时,还比较了两者的异同.     

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.     

Parental Involvement and African American and European American Adolescents' Academic,Behavioral, and Emotional Development in Secondary School

This study examined longitudinal trajectories of parental involvement across middle and high school, and how these trajectories related to adolescents' academic, behavioral, and emotional adjustment. In addition, ethnic and socioeconomic status differences in longitudinal associations and the potential moderating role of parental warmth were assessed. Longitudinal growth modeling technique was used to describe trajectories of different types of parental involvement and adolescent outcomes over 7th, 9th, and 11th grades (mean ages = 12.9, 14.3, and 17.2 years, respectively) on an ethnically and economically diverse sample of 1,400 adolescents (51% female, 56% African American, 39% European American, 5% others). Each aspect of parental involvement contributed differentially but significantly to adolescent outcomes. Finally, parental warmth moderated the associations between providing structure at home and adolescent grade point average and problem behavior.     

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.     

流动学前儿童教育中的社区参与研究

流动学前儿童的社区教育问题值得关注.通过采用深度访谈、实地观察等研究方法,对已入园的流动学前儿童的社区教育进行了微观层面的研究.研究结果表明:社区缺乏参与流动学前儿童教育的意识,教育内容单一,方式被动.在探讨这些问题存在的原因基础上,提出社区要主动服务流动学前儿童家庭教育,为幼儿园教育提供便利资源;幼儿园要关注流动学前儿童,为他们的教育争取更多的社区帮助;家长要提高自身素质,克服困难积极参与孩子的社区教育;社区、幼儿园、家庭应共同努力以便为流动学前儿童提供良好的"三位一体"教育.     

美国缩小入学准备差异研究

入学准备问题近年来一直是美国学前教育中的焦点问题,其中有关缩小入学准备差异的研究获得了丰富的研究成果与研究经验:一是进行跨测验的差异比较可以使用标准差作为准绳;二是差异的形成是多因素交互作用的结果;三是缩小差异的有效策略应以儿童为直接干预对象。     

农村地区父亲参与现状及其与幼儿发展的关系

父亲参与对儿童发展的重要性受到越来越多的关注,为考察当前我国农村地区父亲参与现状,探究父亲参与和幼儿发展的关系,本研究以620名农村幼儿及其家长作为调查对象,使用自编问卷从父亲是否缺位、父亲参与时间以及父亲参与活动内容等方面测查农村地区父亲参与状况,运用Achenbach儿童行为量表(CBCL)及相关测试评定幼儿行为、社会性、情绪、认知、动作发展水平,结果发现当前我国农村地区父亲参与现状不容乐观,缺位现象普遍且严重;父亲参与可以显著预测幼儿社交退缩、抑郁、注意力发展水平,父亲参与越积极,幼儿社交退缩越少、抑郁情绪越少、注意力发展越好。农村地区父亲应加强自身参与意识,农村家庭应积极支持父亲参与并提高参与质量,政府在发挥正确引导作用的同时应鼓励社会组织助力父亲参与。     

Preschool to kindergarten transition patterns for African American boys

This study focused on the transition patterns of African American boys from preschool to kindergarten using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) dataset. Analyses were conducted to examine whether socioeconomic status, parenting (i.e., emotional support, intrusiveness), and attendance in a center-based program predicted likelihood of being in a particular transition pattern. Four patterns emerged from the data: (1) Increasing Academically, (2) Early Achiever: Declining Academically & Socially, (3) Low Achiever: Declining Academically, and (4) Consistent Early Achiever. There was heterogeneity in the school transition patterns of African American boys, with many showing stability from preschool to kindergarten. Family income and parenting practices and interactions were associated with an increased probability of being in the group that showed a significant increase in academics, suggesting the importance of parents’ provision of enriching opportunities and experiences for African American boys as they transition from preschool to kindergarten.