The persistence of preschool effects: Do subsequent classroom experiences matter?

Using rich longitudinal data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten cohort (ECLS-K), we find that children who attended preschool enter public schools with higher levels of academic skills than their peers who experienced other types of child care (effect size of .14). This study considers the circumstances under which the preschool advantage persists, that is, the types of classrooms in which students who did not attend preschool “catch up” to their counterparts who did. Specifically, we focus on two dimensions of the early school environment—class size and the level of academic instruction provided. The findings suggest that most of the preschool-related gap in academic skills at school entry is quickly eliminated for children placed in small classrooms and classrooms providing high levels of reading instruction. Conversely, the initial disparities persist for children experiencing large classes and lower levels of reading instruction. These results point out that the longer-term effects of early childhood experience partly depend on classroom experiences during at least the first years of school.     

A pilot study of early childhood mental health consultation for children with behavioral problems in preschool

This study reports the findings of a pilot demonstration project called Together for Kids, which used a mental health consultation model to address the needs of young children with challenging behaviors who are identified in preschool classrooms. The study was conducted in four preschool programs and one Head Start program serving children ages 3–5, including both private-pay families and those using public subsidies. Rates of significant behavior problems as assessed by preschool teachers using a standardized scale were high, with 34% of all children enrolled in preschool classrooms in these sites over a 3-year period identified at-risk of externalizing or internalizing problems. Classroom teachers, as well as individual children and families identified as at-risk, were provided services, including, classroom observation and teacher training, individual child assessment and therapy, family assessment and support, and referrals for other family needs. Analysis of outcomes for 47 children and families with externalizing behavior problems who received individualized consultation, compared to 89 control children, and analysis of outcomes of a matched group of 19 intervention and 19 control children, revealed that the intervention was associated with significant improvements in classroom aggressive and maladaptive behavior, and growth in adaptive behavior. Improvements in child behavior were associated with total hours of individual child services provided, and with improvements in child developmental skills. Significant reductions in the rate of children suspended or terminated from child care programs were also found. Implications for further development of models of early childhood mental health consultation are discussed.     

Promoting turn-taking skills in preschool children with disabilities: The effects of a peer-based social communication intervention

The current study evaluated the turn-taking skills of preschoolers with disabilities who participated in a social communication intervention that targeted initiations, responses, and turn-taking skills, and taught children to repair and revise and to avoid interruptions and overlaps. Ten children who enrolled in an inclusive at-risk classroom met the inclusion criteria. A multiple baseline design across two dyads replicated across three additional dyads was used to determine the effects of the intervention. The social communication intervention was highly effective for five children, moderately effective for three children, and mildly effective for two children in increasing the rate of initiations with an immediate peer response from baseline to intervention. The social communication intervention was highly effective for one child, moderately effective for three children, mildly effective for two children, and ineffective for four children in improving turn-taking skills. Generalization results showed that nine out of ten participants demonstrated increased peer play following the intervention, increased levels of child-initiated interactions with a positive peer response, and decreased levels of solitary play. Several implications for practice were derived from the findings. By teaching children turn-taking strategies, the quality of social interactions that children have with their peers is likely to improve. The intervention offers a more systematic technique for teaching social communication and play skills than do informal strategies commonly used by teachers. Social validity assessments indicated that teachers found the intervention acceptable and produced important changes in behavior.     

Building support for language and early literacy in preschool classrooms through in-service professional development: Effects of the Literacy Environment Enrichment Program (LEEP)

There is a substantial and persistent gap in achievement between children from different backgrounds [National Center for Education Statistics. (2002). Children's reading and mathematics achievement in kindergarten and first grade. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office] that can be traced to the preschool years [Snow, C. E., Burns, M. S., & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Research Council, National Academy Press], highlighting the importance of ensuring that preschools that serve low-income populations provide strong support for children's language and early literacy development. The current project sought to improve program quality in Head Start classrooms throughout New England with the Literacy Environment Enrichment Program (LEEP), an in-service intervention that was delivered in the form of a credit-bearing course. The impact of LEEP was studied using a wait-list comparison group strategy to determine whether intervention group teachers (n = 30) showed more fall–spring growth in measures of classroom support for literacy than did comparison group teachers (n = 40). Multiple hierarchical regression analyses that controlled for background measures and fall scores on classroom measures revealed moderate to large positive effects on all measures of classrooms support for language and early literacy with the exception of writing, for which only a small effect was found.     

Early achievement in rural China: The role of preschool experience

Two studies examined the relationship between preschool experiences and the early academic achievement of rural Chinese children. In both Study 1 (n = 165) and Study 2 (n = 205), the school preparedness, and the literacy and mathematics attainment of first graders with different preschool experiences (kindergarten, separate pre-primary class, “sitting-in” a Grade 1 class, no preschool experience) were assessed. In Study 1, educational attainment was evaluated using end-of-semester examinations designed by local educational authorities; whereas in Study 2, better-constructed and identical tests were administered at the beginning and end of the academic year. Further, in Study 2, the different types of preschool programs attended by participating children were directly observed. Findings from both studies showed that children with developmentally appropriate preschool experiences (kindergartens or separate pre-primary classes) had higher school readiness scores than other children. Results from Study 2 also indicated that (i) disparities in children's school attainment were associated with the type of their preschool experience; and (ii) children from the developmentally appropriate kindergarten program showed higher mathematics and literacy achievement at the end of Grade 1 than children who merely “sat in” Grade 1 classes or had no preschool experience. Implications of the findings for the scaling up of preschool services in rural China are discussed.     

Child welfare characteristics in a sample of youth involved in commercial sex: An exploratory study

BackgroundHomeless, runaway, and youth exiting foster care are vulnerable to sexual exploitation, but little research has parsed the societal, community, and individual factors that contribute to their risk.Objectives(1) To estimate child welfare characteristics in a sample of homeless young people who engaged in commercial sex (CS); and (2) To compare young people who were sex trafficked (ST) to those who engaged in some other form of CS.Participants and settingThis study includes 98 homeless young people in Philadelphia, PA, Phoenix, AZ, and Washington, DC, who were interviewed for a larger study of ST and endorsed engagement in CS.MethodsWe used a non-probability, purposive, maximum variation sampling procedure. Interviews were recorded and responses were simultaneously noted on a standardized interview form. Data were analyzed through means, frequencies, and bivariate tests of association.ResultsAverage age of the full sample of 98 homeless young people was 20.9 years; 48% were female and 50% were Black/African American. Forty-six percent of the full sample was sex trafficked. The full sample and the victims of ST differed significantly in three child welfare characteristics, with the ST group more likely to have been maltreated as children, more likely to have had family involvement with the child welfare system (CWS), and more likely to report higher rates of living someplace other than with their biological parents as children.ConclusionsST victims differ from those who engaged in other forms of CS in histories of maltreatment, involvement with the CWS, and exposure to residential instability while growing up.     

Timing of the first report and highest level of child protection response in association with early developmental vulnerabilities in an Australian population cohort

BackgroundChildhood maltreatment is associated with early childhood developmental vulnerabilities. However, the extent to which higher levels of child protection responses confer benefit to developmental competencies, and the impact of earlier timing of first reports in relation to early childhood vulnerability remains unclear.ObjectiveWe examined associations between early developmental vulnerabilities and (1) the highest level of child protection response (where OOHC was deemed the highest response among other types of reports/responses), and (2) the developmental timing of the first child protection report.Participants and SettingParticipants included 67,027 children from the New South Wales Child Development Study, of whom 10,944 were reported to child protection services up to age 5 years.MethodsA series of Multinomial Logistic Regressions were conducted to examine focal associations.ResultsChildren with substantiated maltreatment reports showed the strongest odds of vulnerability on three or more developmental domains (adjusted OR = 4.90; 95% CI = 4.13–5.80); children placed in OOHC showed slightly better physical, cognitive and communication competencies (adjusted ORs from 1.83 to 2.65) than those with substantiated reports that did not result in OOHC placements (adjusted OR from 2.77 to 3.67), when each group was compared to children with no child protection reports. Children with first maltreatment reports occurring in the first 18 months of life showed the strongest likelihood of developmental vulnerabilities on three or more developmental domains (adjusted OR = 3.56; 95% CI = 3.15–4.01) relative to children with no child protection reports.ConclusionEarlier reports of maltreatment may signal the need for targeted remediation of early developmental competencies to mitigate early developmental difficulties.     

The impact of Child Development Associate training on the beliefs and practices of preschool teachers

This study examined the impact of Child Development Associate (CDA) training on the beliefs and practices of early childhood teachers who did not have college degrees or early childhood college coursework. Preschool teachers who were enrolled in CDA classes (n = 76) and a comparison group of teachers (n = 50) completed two surveys of beliefs and practices. Repeated measures Multivariate Analyses of Variance indicated that the CDA training teachers decreased the amount they endorsed beliefs and practices that contrast with Developmentally Appropriate Practice over time more than the comparison teachers. Results suggest that CDA training can be an effective means of increasing the developmentally appropriateness of beliefs and self-reported practices of early childhood teachers, which past research suggests will ultimately impact classroom quality.     

Parent-child and teacher-child relationships in Chinese preschoolers: The moderating role of preschool experiences and the mediating role of social competence

Based on two samples of Chinese preschoolers (Study 1: N = 443; Study 2: N = 118) and their parents and teachers, the present research examined the associations between parent-child and teacher-child relationships, and how the associations were moderated by children's preschool experiences and mediated by their social competence. Using a cross-sectional design, Study 1 showed that children's years of preschool experiences moderated the associations between parent-child and teacher-child relationships. Both father-child and mother-child relationships were associated significantly with teacher-child relationships for the first-year preschoolers, and these associations were mediated fully by children's social competence. For the second- or third-year preschoolers, however, neither father-child nor mother-child relationships correlated significantly with teacher-child relationships. Using a longitudinal design, Study 2 also showed the moderating role of children's preschool experiences in the associations between parent-child and teacher-child relationships. Relationships with mothers were associated significantly with relationships with teachers at 3 months after the children's preschool entrance and, again, this association was mediated fully by children's social competence. In contrast, neither mother-child nor father-child relationships correlated significantly with teacher-child relationships at the end of the first or second preschool year.     

Multigrade teaching and age composition of the class: The influence on academic and social outcomes among students

This article presents innovative analyses on the effects of the age composition of the class using the first wave of a large-scale longitudinal study of nine year old children, the Growing Up in Ireland study. The analyses focus on both academic and social outcomes. Taking account of a rich set of control factors, few overall differences were found in student outcomes between single-grade and multigrade classes. However, girls were found to experience a range of negative effects, depending on the age composition of the class.     

Making sense of children's sexual behavior in child care: An analysis of adult responses in special investigation reports

This paper investigates how adults respond to sexual behavior among children in child care. Culturally, childhood sexuality is variously understood as natural curiosity, a sign of sexual abuse, or a symptom of a sex-offender in the making. Given these competing cultural meanings, how are sexual-like behaviors by children managed by the adults who care for them? An analysis of qualitative data from Special Investigation Reports by childcare licensing consultants in the state of Michigan is used to examine how parents, child care providers, and child care licensing consultants manage and respond to sexual behavior between children in the context of child care. How sexual behavior is responded to depends primarily on who is doing the responding – parent, childcare provider, or state licensing consultant – rather than what type of behavior is being responded to. Parents respond to a wide range of behaviors between children as if they are incidents of sexual abuse. Childcare providers respond to many of those same incidents as misbehavior. Licensing consultants understand these incidents as violation of rules of supervision, but they were also the only group to ever ask if children's sexual behavior was potentially a sign of a child having been sexually abused in another setting. Providers and parents need more education about what kinds of sexual behavior to be concerned about and what kind to understand as common. More education that sexuality that is “rare” and persistent could be a sign of sexual abuse is needed by all parties.     

The impact of vouchers on preschool attendance and elementary school readiness: A randomized controlled trial in rural China

Although preschool has been shown to improve children's school readiness in many developing countries, preschool attendance in poor rural areas of China is still low. The high cost of preschool is often regarded as a major barrier to attendance. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of a one-year voucher/CCT intervention on preschool attendance and school readiness. To do so, we conducted a randomized controlled trial among 150 young children in a poor, rural county in China. Our analysis shows that the intervention, consisting of a tuition waiver and a cash transfer conditional on attendance, raised attendance by 20 percentage points (or by 35%). However, the intervention did not have measurable impact on children's school readiness. We believe that poor quality of preschool education in rural China (in terms of both teaching and facilities) contributes to our findings.     

Suggestibility in neglected children: The influence of intelligence,language, and social skills

We administered the GSS-2, a standardised measure of suggestibility, to 5- to 12-year-old children to ascertain whether neglected children’s responses to leading questions distinguish them from those of their non-neglected counterparts. Neglected children (n = 75) were more likely than an age-matched sample of non-neglected children (n = 75) to yield to leading questions, despite no difference in their ability to recall the test stimuli. Subsequent collection of individual difference data from the neglected sample revealed that this effect could not be attributed to intelligence, language ability, problem behaviours, age at onset of neglect, or time spent in out-of-home care. With respect to social skill, however, suggestibility was positively correlated with communicative skill, and marginally positively correlated with assertion and engagement. While on the surface our social skills findings seem counter-intuitive, it is possible that maltreated children with relative strengths in these areas have learned to comply with adults in their environment as a way to protect themselves or even foster belonging. Our data, while preliminary, raise interesting questions about whether targeted interventions could help these children to more actively participate in decisions about their lives.     

The impact of childhood abuse on inpatient substance users: Specific links with risky sex,aggression, and emotion dysregulation

Adults with substance use disorders (SUDs) report a high prevalence of childhood abuse. Research in the general population suggests specific types of abuse lead to particular negative outcomes; it is not known whether this pattern holds for adults with SUDs. We hypothesized that specific types of abuse would be associated with particular behavioral and emotional outcomes among substance users. That is, childhood sexual abuse would be associated with risky sex behaviors, childhood physical abuse with aggression, and childhood emotional abuse with emotion dysregulation. 280 inpatients (M age = 43.3; 69.7% male; 88.4% African American) in substance use treatment completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), HIV Risk-Taking Behavior Scale, Addiction Severity Index, Difficulties with Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS), and Affect Intensity and Dimensions of Affiliation Motivation (AIM). Consistent with our hypotheses, the CTQ sexual abuse subscale uniquely predicted exchanging sex for cocaine and heroin, number of arrests for prostitution, engaging in unprotected sex with a casual partner during the prior year, and experiencing low sexual arousal when sober. The physical abuse subscale uniquely predicted number of arrests for assault and weapons offenses. The emotional abuse subscale uniquely predicted the DERS total score, AIM score, and DTS score. Among substance users, different types of abuse are uniquely associated with specific negative effects. Assessment of specific abuse types among substance users may be informative in treatment planning and relapse prevention.     

Buffering boys and boosting girls: The protective and promotive effects of Early Head Start for children's expressive language in the context of parenting stress

Children's characteristics, including gender, influence their development by eliciting differential responses from their environments, and by influencing differential responses to their environments. Parenting-related stress, associated with poverty environments, negatively influences children's language, likely through its impact on parent–child interactions, but may impact boys’ and girls’ development differently. Early intervention represents one tool for supporting development in at-risk toddlers, but gender-differences in effects of intervention are rarely described. The current studies assessed the effects of Early Head Start (EHS) on children's productive vocabulary in the context of parenting stress and examined gender differences in program effects on vocbulary. Data were from the national EHS Research and Evaluation (EHSRE) study (Study 1, N = 3001), and from a dataset associated with one EHSRE site (Study 2, N = 146) where additional data on productive vocabulary were collected. Study 1 found that at 24 months of age, the EHS program protected girls’ productive vocabulary from the negative effects of parenting stress, but had little impact on boys’ vocabulary. In Study 2, the local EHS site promoted girls’ vocabulary development over time from 14 to 36 months despite the negative effects of parenting stress, and protected boys’ vocabulary from the negative parenting stress effects. These results suggest differential ways in which at-risk toddlers are affected by early intervention.     

The use of social robots in classrooms: A review of field-based studies

Social robots are being adopted in PreK-12 schools around the world and have the potential to initiate far-reaching changes in education. Analysis from high-quality field studies is essential for educational researchers, administrators, and practitioners to make informed decisions about using these robots. We identified 23 studies between 2000 and 2020 that examined social robots in classroom settings. The 23 studies illustrated the feasibility of using social robots in natural school settings but revealed how difficult it was to obtain long-term, highly autonomous interaction between robots and children.The studies varied considerably on key conditions (e.g., length of deployment, the autonomy of robotic action, and length of interaction time). The studies did not demonstrate that social robots are more effective than human teachers (or even other forms of technology), and only occasionally explored important ethical and safety issues.     

Assessing perceptions of the environment in elementary classrooms: the link with achievement

This paper examines students' perceptions of their classroom environment and the possible effect of these perceptions on math and reading achievement. Additionally, the paper investigates the significance of gender and grade level on students' perceptions of the classroom environment.

Participants were elementary school students in a large urban school district in the western part of the US. Data collected were based on test scores on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) and scores on the My Classroom Inventory (MCI) to measure perceptions. Correlation analyses and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) procedures were used to analyse the data. The results indicated that the perceptions of the general classroom environment were significantly related to math and reading achievement, although this was not the case for the individual dimensions of the classroom environment. Gender had no statistically significant association with the students' perceptions of the classroom environment, whereas the grade level had a statistically significant relationship with the perceptions.     

The problem with English: the exploration and development of student teachers' English subject knowledge in primary classrooms

This paper explores the relationship between student teachers' behaviour and their underlying thoughts and beliefs as they learn to teach English in the primary school. It draws on data from a study involving student teachers at a range of points in their Initial Teacher Education programmes at a university in England. It uses these data to explore the knowledge frameworks that appear to underpin the actions that participants take in the classroom as they teach primary English. This is related to an exploration of the values, beliefs and professional identity held by the student teachers, and conclusions are drawn concerning key factors to be considered in the construction of Initial Teacher Education programmes.     

Pathways to delinquent and sex offending behavior: The role of childhood adversity and environmental context in a treatment sample of male adolescents

BackgroundExposure to greater Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) has been associated with increased likelihood of general and sex offending behaviors. However, few studies consider both the impact of varied ACE exposures and other early experiences on pathways to offending behaviors in adolescents who have engaged in sexually abusive behaviors.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to examine the impact of ACEs and sexual boundary problems within the home on the development of delinquent and sexually abusive behavior.Participants & settingData were collected from archival records of male adolescents (N = 285) who had received treatment for sexually abusive behavior at a youth facility.MethodsThis study investigated the effects of individual adverse experiences on delinquent nonsexual and sexually abusive behaviors through structural equation modeling.ResultsStructural equation modeling revealed a three-factor model for ACEs. Direction and significance of paths between ACEs and the onset, persistence, and nature of maladaptive behaviors differed. Household dysfunction was related to an earlier onset (β = 1.19, p = 0.013) and more persistent nonsexual delinquent offending (β = 1.05, p = 0.048) and contact sexual offending (β = 1.19, p = 0.010). Conversely, sexual abuse and exposure to sexual boundary problems were associated with an earlier onset of sexually abusive behavior (β = −1.08, p = 0.038) as well as indicators of adolescent-onset (β = −1.30, p = 0.002), less persistent (β = −1.53, p = 0.001), and nonviolent (β = −1.89, p = 0.001) delinquency.ConclusionsFindings suggest variations in ACE exposures differentially influence the onset, severity, and persistence of delinquent and sexually abusive behaviors among these youths.     

Supports for children with disabilities in regular education classrooms: an account of different perspectives in Flanders

This paper presents the experiences and interpretations of children, parents, teachers and support persons concerning the implementation of supports in regular school environments in Flanders, Belgium. The data were gathered through observations, interviews and focus group meetings. Those multiple perspectives provide insights into the complexity of implementing supports in a regular education context. The conclusions offer some possibilities for debate and alternative ways of thinking about supports that facilitate inclusive school communities by tapping into resources such as the children, the environment, creativity and courage to leave the beaten path.