Spiritual education programme (SEP) for enhancing the quality of life of kindergarten school children

Based on an experiment with 5452 kindergarten school children from 15 cities, this article examines the effect of a customised spiritual education programme (SEP) on their quality of life. Results showed that treatment group kindergarteners who participated in the SEP had higher scores on the Pictured Child Quality of Life Self-Questionnaire in comparison to the control group. Kindergarteners from European cities, US, Canadian and Australian cities, boys, Christian children, those who had done three to four rounds of the SEP during the study period and those who self-practiced the lessons, were more likely to have higher post-test scores on the quality of life scale. Based on the study results, a broad frame for having SEP for kindergarten school children across cultures has been suggested comprising the spiritual domains of calmness, silence and quiet; listening; accepting; loving nature; and, using imagination, resilience and efficiency in everyday functioning.     

Effects of kindergarten retention at the end of first grade

The purpose of the study was to assess the effect of kindergarten retention on firstgrade achievement and adjustment. Forty children who had been retained in kindergarten were identified from schools that practiced kindergarten retention at a high rate. Control children were selected from schools matched on socioeconomic and achievement level, but that did not practice retention in kindergarten. Then, control children were selected individually to match retained children on sex, birthdate, socioeconomic level, second language, and beginning kindergarten readiness scores. The two groups, which were equally young and unready at the start of kindergarten, were compared at the end of first grade on seven outcome measures; the retained children were then completing three years of school and the control children two. There were no differences between the retained and control children on teacher ratings of reading achievement, math achievement, social maturity, learner self-concept, or attention. The groups also did not differ in CTBS math scores; the only difference occurred on the CTBS reading test, where the retained group was one month ahead. Based on parent interview data, children who had spent an extra year before first grade were not much different from those deemed at risk but not retained, except that, on average, retained children had slightly more negative attitudes toward school. The study findings are consistent with other available research on transition programs that show no academic benefit for the extra year and, when examined, a negative impact on social-emotional outcomes.     

Does the modality principle for multimedia learning apply to science classrooms?

This study demonstrated that the modality principle applies to multimedia learning of regular science lessons in school settings. In the first field experiment, 27 Dutch secondary school students (age 16–17) received a self-paced, web-based multimedia lesson in biology. Students who received lessons containing illustrations and narration performed better on subsequent transfer tests than did students who received lessons containing illustrations and on-screen text. In the second field experiment, 55 Dutch secondary school students (age 16–17) received similar multimedia programs that allowed more self-pacing and required students to record the time to learn. The illustrations-and-narration group outperformed the illustrations-and-text group on subsequent transfer tests for students who required less time to learn but not for students who required more time to learn. The interaction of learning time spent with modality of presentation on post-test scores was studied. Implications for testing of the robustness of cognitive theory of multimedia learning are discussed.     

Relative Contributions of Prekindergarten and Kindergarten to Children's Literacy and Mathematics Skills

Research Findings: A difficulty for developmental researchers is disambiguating children's general maturation from the influence of schooling. In this study, we use a natural experiment to examine the influence of prekindergarten and kindergarten schooling experiences on the development of literacy and mathematics. Children (n = 60) whose birthdates fell within 2 months of the state-determined cutoff date for prekindergarten and kindergarten entry were administered 4 subtests of the Woodcock–Johnson III Tests of Achievement in the fall and spring of the school year. Using hierarchical linear modeling coupled with propensity score matching, we found that children who were starting kindergarten and who had prior experience in prekindergarten had higher scores on measures of phonological awareness, early reading, and mathematics skills than did children who had not attended prekindergarten previously, even though they were essentially the same age. Fall vocabulary scores did not differ in relation to whether children had prekindergarten experience. In addition, although children who attended kindergarten as well as those who attended prekindergarten exhibited growth on all measures during the school year, children who attended kindergarten demonstrated greater gains in early reading and vocabulary during the school year. Practice or Policy: These findings highlight the potential of early schooling processes to facilitate children's intellectual growth.     

Preschool Literacy Intervention for Low-Income,Ethnically Diverse Children: Effects of the Early Authors Program Through Kindergarten

Contemporary perspectives on emergent literacy in preschool emphasize the importance of providing developmentally appropriate, authentic, early writing experiences and supporting students’ home language and culture. The current study analyzed kindergarten outcomes for 82 linguistically diverse, low-income children (60% Black, 40% Latino) who participated in the Early Authors Program (EAP) during preschool , and those for a demographically similar comparison group of 33 children who did not receive the intervention. The intervention emphasized family involvement and cultural sensitivity and involved children self-authoring books about themselves and their family. Children in the EAP program scored higher than comparison children on school readiness screeners a year or two later in kindergarten, and were more likely to be classified as “ready’ for school. EAP children also outperformed comparison children on emergent (English) literacy skills in kindergarten as measured by the DIBELS. Boys in the EAP group received higher grades in kindergarten than boys in the comparison group. The positive effects of the Early Authors Program appear to be sustained through kindergarten.     

The effects of the use of activities of sapa on the oral communication skills of disadvantaged kindergarten children

The study investigated the effects of participation in the activities of Science-A Process Approach (SAPA) on the oral communication skills of disadvantaged kindergarten children. Experimental-control group, pretest-posttest research design was employed. The investigator designed the Test of Oral Communication Skills (TOCS) to measure students' oral communication skills. Two experimental groups (one morning and one afternoon, N = 52) and two control groups (one morning and one afternoon, N = 48) were randomly assigned from two kindergarten classrooms (morning and afternoon classes in each) in an inner-city school in Columbus, Ohio. The investigator provided the science instruction to all students. Experimental subjects received 22 half-hour lessons from exercises a through k of Part A, SAPA. Control subjects received 22 lessons from Springboards to Science, a teacher demonstration, class discussion type of kindergarten curricuoum used in the school system. The treatment period spanned 12 academic weeks. Analysis of variance of TOCS pretest scores showed no significant differences among any of the means of the four groups. Analysis of covariance of TOCS posttest scores revealed differences significant at .05 or beyond in the mean scores of the experimental groups and control groups for total oral and total receiving skills and for six of the eight subskills measured by TOCS. Application of the Tukey (b) test revealed that experimental group mean scores exceeded control group mean scores in every TOCS skill and subskill area and that in total oral transmitting subskills both experimental group mean scores were significantly greater at .05 level or beyond than corresponding mean scores for both control groups. Within the parameters of this study, it may be concluded that when the activities and teaching strategies of SAPA curriculum are presented to disadvantaged kindergarten children, their oral communication skills, especially the transmitting (speaking) skills, are clearly enhanced.     

Promotion of literacy skills in early childhood: a follow-up study from kindergarten to Grade 1 / Fomento de habilidades de lecto-escritura en la primera infancia: estudio de seguimiento desde la educación infantil al primer curso de educación primaria

Several researchers have shown that invented spelling activities in kindergarten foster preschool children’s early literacy skills. However, few studies have assessed its impact on learning to read and write in the first year of primary school. Our goal was to analyse the impact of an invented spelling programme with kindergarteners on their literacy skills until the end of Grade 1. A follow-up study was conducted with 45 five-year-old Portuguese children attending two classes of two schools in Lisbon. The teaching effect was controlled as children from each class were randomly assigned into two groups (experimental/control) — equivalent on letter knowledge, cognitive abilities and phonological awareness. The participants were assessed in kindergarten with a pre-test, immediate post-test and delayed post-test (spelling; reading; phonemic awareness) and at the end of Grade 1 (spelling; reading). The experimental group participated in invented spelling sessions, while control children participated in storytelling activities. Data analysis revealed statistically significant differences between the two groups. The experimental group scored higher, not only in kindergarten but also in the follow-up year for all literacy measures.     

The Effect of a Classroom-Based Intensive Robotics and Programming Workshop on Sequencing Ability in Early Childhood

This paper examines the impact of programming robots on sequencing ability during a 1-week intensive robotics workshop at an early childhood STEM magnet school in the Harlem area of New York City. Children participated in computer programming activities using a developmentally appropriate tangible programming language CHERP, specifically designed to program a robot’s behaviors. The study assessed 27 participants’ sequencing skills before and after the programming and robotics curricular intervention using a picture-story sequencing task and compared those skills to a control group. Pre-test and post-test scores were compared using a paired sample t test. The group of children who participated in the 1-week robotics and programming workshop experienced significant increases in post-test compared to pre-test sequencing scores.     

Age of Entry to Kindergarten and Children's Academic Achievement and Socioemotional Development

Research Findings: Data on more than 900 children participating in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care were analyzed to examine the effect of age of entry to kindergarten on children's functioning in early elementary school. Children's academic achievement and socioemotional development were measured repeatedly from the age of 54 months through 3rd grade. With family background factors and experience in child care in the first 54 months of life controlled, hierarchical linear modeling (growth curve) analysis revealed that children who entered kindergarten at younger ages had higher (estimated) scores in kindergarten on the Woodcock—Johnson (W-J) Letter-Word Recognition subtest but received lower ratings from kindergarten teachers on Language and Literacy and Mathematical Thinking scales. Furthermore, children who entered kindergarten at older ages evinced greater increases over time on 4 W-J subtests (i.e., Letter-Word Recognition, Applied Problems, Memory for Sentences, Picture Vocabulary) and outperformed children who started kindergarten at younger ages on 2 W-J subtests in 3rd grade (i.e., Applied Problems, Picture Vocabulary). Age of entry proved unrelated to socioemotional functioning.

Practice: The fact that age-of-entry effects were small in magnitude and dwarfed by other aspects of children's family and child care experiences suggests that age at starting school should not be regarded as a major determinant of children's school achievement, but that it may merit consideration in context with other probably more important factors (e.g., child's behavior and abilities).     

Age of Entry to Kindergarten and Children's Academic Achievement and Socioemotional Development

Research Findings: Data on more than 900 children participating in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care were analyzed to examine the effect of age of entry to kindergarten on children's functioning in early elementary school. Children's academic achievement and socioemotional development were measured repeatedly from the age of 54 months through 3rd grade. With family background factors and experience in child care in the first 54 months of life controlled, hierarchical linear modeling (growth curve) analysis revealed that children who entered kindergarten at younger ages had higher (estimated) scores in kindergarten on the Woodcock—Johnson (W-J) Letter-Word Recognition subtest but received lower ratings from kindergarten teachers on Language and Literacy and Mathematical Thinking scales. Furthermore, children who entered kindergarten at older ages evinced greater increases over time on 4 W-J subtests (i.e., Letter-Word Recognition, Applied Problems, Memory for Sentences, Picture Vocabulary) and outperformed children who started kindergarten at younger ages on 2 W-J subtests in 3rd grade (i.e., Applied Problems, Picture Vocabulary). Age of entry proved unrelated to socioemotional functioning.

Practice: The fact that age-of-entry effects were small in magnitude and dwarfed by other aspects of children's family and child care experiences suggests that age at starting school should not be regarded as a major determinant of children's school achievement, but that it may merit consideration in context with other probably more important factors (e.g., child's behavior and abilities).     

The Incidence of Delayed School Entry: A Twelve-Year Review

Delaying school entry for a year beyond a child's chronological eligibility for kindergarten is a controversial practice. However, it is unclear from the available literature exactly how common this practice is. The purpose of this study was to examine the incidence of delayed kindergarten entry in a suburban school district over a 12-year period. In this district, school personnel did not make formal recommendations to parents to delay kindergarten entry for their children. A review of the incidence data indicated that, in general, there had been a significant increase in the number of children who had delayed school entry. Furthermore, significantly more males than females had delayed kindergarten entry, and the majority of children who delayed school entry had autumn birthdates, making them the youngest group of children in this study. Implications for school practices are discussed.     

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.     

The Incidence of Delayed School Entry: A Twelve-Year Review

Delaying school entry for a year beyond a child's chronological eligibility for kindergarten is a controversial practice. However, it is unclear from the available literature exactly how common this practice is. The purpose of this study was to examine the incidence of delayed kindergarten entry in a suburban school district over a 12-year period. In this district, school personnel did not make formal recommendations to parents to delay kindergarten entry for their children. A review of the incidence data indicated that, in general, there had been a significant increase in the number of children who had delayed school entry. Furthermore, significantly more males than females had delayed kindergarten entry, and the majority of children who delayed school entry had autumn birthdates, making them the youngest group of children in this study. Implications for school practices are discussed.     

Children at risk for early academic problems: the role of learning-related social skills

Increasing evidence suggests that aspects of children’s learning-related social skills (including interpersonal skills and work-related skills) contribute to early school performance. The present investigation examined the association of work-related skills to academic outcomes at the beginning of kindergarten and at the end of second grade as well as characteristics of children with low work-related skills. Children were selected from a sample of 540 children based on low work-related skills scores on the Cooper-Farran Behavioral Rating Scales, a teacher-rated scale. Results indicated that work-related skills predicted unique variance in academic outcomes at school entry and at the end of second grade, after controlling for kindergarten academic score and important background variables. In addition, children with poor work-related skills (n = 82) were found to differ from the overall sample on a number of child, family, and sociocultural variables including: significantly lower IQs, more behavior difficulties, and more medical problems, such as hearing and language problems. Finally, children with low work-related skills scored lower on academic outcomes at the beginning of kindergarten and at the end of second grade. Findings highlight the importance of early work-related skills in understanding successful school transition and early academic achievement.     

Classroom keyboard instruction improves kindergarten children’s spatial-temporal performance: A field experiment

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of classroom music instruction featuring the keyboard on the spatial-temporal reasoning of kindergarten children. Sixty-two kindergartners were assigned to one of two conditions, keyboard or no music. All children were pretested with two spatial-temporal tasks and one pictorial memory task. The keyboard group was provided with 20-min lessons two times per week in groups of approximately 10 children. Children were then retested at two 4-month intervals. The keyboard group scored significantly higher than the no music group on both spatial-temporal tasks after 4 months of lessons, a difference that was greater in magnitude after 8 months of lessons. Pictorial memory did not differ for the two groups after the lessons. These data support studies that found similar skills enhancements in preschool children, despite vast differences in the setting in which the instruction occurred. The results have strong implications for school administrators and educators.     

Behavior Concerns Among Low-Income,Ethnically and Linguistically Diverse Children in Child Care: Importance for School Readiness and Kindergarten Achievement

Research Findings: Recent research and teacher reports have highlighted the importance of early behavior skills for children’s school readiness and academic success in elementary school. Significant gaps in school readiness and achievement exist between children in poverty and those more affluent. Low-income children are also more likely to exhibit behavior concerns than their more financially advantaged peers. The current study examined the importance of behavior skills at age 4 for school readiness and academic achievement in kindergarten among an ethnically diverse sample of 1,618 low-income children (63% Latino, 37% Black) in an urban setting. Children’s early behavior concerns at age 4 were significantly associated with children’s school readiness scores and end-of-year kindergarten grades above and beyond the contributions of family and child demographics and children’s early cognitive and language skills. In addition, behavior problems were more strongly related to school readiness and kindergarten performance within English-dominant Latino children as opposed to Spanish-dominant Latino children. Practice or Policy: The findings from the current study provide support for targeting behavior skills, and not just preliteracy and/or number skills, prior to school entry as a strategy to increase the likelihood of low-income diverse children’s school readiness and school success. Behavior interventions are discussed.     

PREFERENCES AND VALUES AMONG ADOLESCENT BOYS AND GIRLS

The aim was to determine whether attendance at a coeducational or single‐sex school was associated significantly with happiness of marriage. The questionnaire method was used, and it was distributed via GP doctors for postal return. Subsidiary questions on social class, type of schooling (Grammar, Modern, etc.), religious denominations etc. were asked so as to make a preliminary investigation into other factors affecting happiness of marriage.

The most important finding was that for those who spent five years or more in any type of secondary school, the coeducational group had significantly higher happiness scores, both for men and for women. Subjects believed strongly that coeducational schooling helped them in making a happy marriage, and in their everyday relationships with the opposite sex.     

Prediction of academic achievement with the McCarthy screening test and metropolitan readiness test

There is a need for accurate, efficient assessment of children's readiness, to provide information concerning strengths and weaknesses of children and to identify those children who may be at risk for school failure. This necessitates determining the relative usefulness of instruments in predicting later school achievement. This study examined the efficacy of the McCarthy Screening Test (MST) and Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT) to predict academic readiness at the end of kindergarten and achievement at the end of first grade. Eighty-eight children were screened upon entering kindergarten, using the MST. As a measurement of academic readiness, the MRT was administered at the end of kindergarten, and the Scott and Foresman Achievement Test (SFAT) was administered at the end of first grade as a measure of achievement. Regression analyses indicated that the MST significantly predicted children's scores on the MRT and SFAT. Additionally, the MRT was a significant predictor of the SFAT.     

Is Full Day Better Than Half Day? A Propensity Score Analysis of the Association Between Head Start Program Intensity and Children’s School Performance in Kindergarten

Research Findings: This study used data from a national sample to examine differences in school outcomes at the end of kindergarten between Head Start children who attended full-day and half-day programs. Propensity scores were used to match children who experienced different intensities of the program on a series of demographic characteristics in order to achieve a more unbiased estimation of the intensity effect. Analyses were performed on 2 different age cohorts: 3-year-olds who enrolled in the program for 2 years and 4-year-olds who enrolled in the program for 1 year. The results showed that in comparison to a demographically comparable group of children who attended the Head Start half-day program, children who experienced the more intensive full-day program showed no significant differences on any of the 5 academic and social outcome measures examined. Practice or Policy: Policy and practice implications, as well as future research ideas, are discussed within this context.     

Parent Satisfaction with Educational Experiences scale: A multivariate examination of parent satisfaction with early childhood education programs

The study investigated a scale developed to measure parents’ satisfaction with experiences of various aspects of their child's early education program. The Parent Satisfaction with Educational Experiences (PSEE) scale was co-constructed with parents and teachers in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade programs in a large urban school district. Demographic and PSEE data were collected from a representative sample of 648 parents. Factor analyses yielded three dimensions of parent satisfaction with teacher contact experiences, classroom contact experiences, and school contact experiences. Multivariate analyses showed that parents with children in Head Start or kindergarten were more satisfied in all three dimensions than were parents of children in child care or first grade. Married parents were more satisfied with their teacher contact than were single parents and parents who were not employed full-time were more satisfied with their contact across all three dimensions than were parents who were employed full-time. Implications for fostering parent involvement were discussed.