Observed classroom quality profiles in state-funded pre-kindergarten programs and associations with teacher,program, and classroom characteristics

In the past decade in the United States, pre-kindergarten programs for four year olds have expanded rapidly as a potentially powerful intervention intended to promote school readiness for children at-risk for future school failure. This paper describes in detail multi-dimensional profiles of observed quality across 692 classrooms in 11 states representing 80% of these available programs and examines teacher, program, and classroom characteristics associated in these profiles. Cluster analysis enabled the detection of patterns that fit profiles of high and low overall emotional and instructional support along with “mid-range” patterns in which emotional support is somewhat higher than instructional support. Associations between teacher characteristics and program characteristics were generally not significant. However, the poorest quality profile was associated with classroom poverty level, suggesting that the children who need the highest quality educational experiences have teachers who are struggling the most to provide it.     

Emergent literacy profiles among prekindergarten children from low-SES backgrounds: Longitudinal considerations

This study represents a longitudinal follow-up to a prior investigation that identified five profiles of emergent literacy skills among children in the fall of their prekindergarten year. Here, we examined: (a) how profile patterns changed from fall to spring, (b) the extent to which children remained stable in their profile membership, and (c) possible factors that may explain children's movement in profile membership from fall to spring. Participants were 484 children enrolled in needs-based programs. Eight measures of emergent literacy, across oral language and code-related domains, were administered in both the fall and the spring of the prekindergarten year. Latent profile analysis was used to classify children into fall and spring profiles (N = 484, 369, respectively). Although there were fewer profiles identified in the spring, children's membership within the profiles was characterized by a degree of stability, especially in the extremes of performance. Among children who shifted membership from fall to spring (35%), movement to a more desirable profile was primarily associated with children's emergent literacy skills, particularly oral language, at the beginning of the prekindergarten year.     

Contributions of Children's Temperament to Teachers' Judgments of Social Competence From Kindergarten Through Second Grade

Research Findings: Children's social competence has been linked to successful transition to formal school. The purpose of this study was to examine the contributions of children's temperament to teachers' ratings of their social competence from kindergarten through 2nd grade. Children (N = 1,364) from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network participated in this study. Mothers rated children's shyness, attentional focusing, and inhibitory control with the Children's Behavior Questionnaire at 4½ years, and teachers rated children's social competence with three subscales (cooperation, assertion, and self-control) of the Social Skills Rating System at kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade. Latent growth curve analysis indicated that both shyness and effortful control contributed to children's social competence. Bolder children were likely to have higher assertion ratings, and shyer children with greater attentional focusing were likely to have higher assertion ratings. Shyer children and children with greater inhibitory control and attentional focusing were likely to have higher teacher ratings of self-control and cooperation. Practice or Policy: Findings highlight the importance of considering child temperament characteristics when understanding children's social competence and successful adjustment to kindergarten. Information may help parents, preschool teachers, and early elementary teachers prepare children who may be at particular risk for lower social competence.     

A Tiered Intervention Model for Early Vocabulary Instruction: The Effects of Tiered Instruction for Young Students At Risk for Reading Disability

Vocabulary knowledge at school entry is a robust predictor of later reading achievement. Many children begin formal reading instruction at a significant disadvantage due to low levels of vocabulary. Until recently, relatively few research studies examined the efficacy of vocabulary interventions for children in the early primary grades (e.g., before fourth grade), and even fewer addressed vocabulary intervention for students at increased risk for reading failure. In more recent work, researchers have begun to explore ways in which to diminish the “meaningful differences” in language achievement noted among children as they enter formal schooling. This article provides a review of a particularly effective model of vocabulary intervention based on shared storybook reading and situates this model in a context of tiered intervention, an emerging model of instructional design in the field of special education. In addition, we describe a quasi‐experimental posttest‐only study that examines the feasibility and effectiveness of the model for first‐grade students. Participants were 224 first‐grade students of whom 98 were identified as at risk for reading disability based on low levels of vocabulary. Results of a multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant differences on measures of target vocabulary knowledge at the receptive and context level, suggesting that students at risk for reading failure benefit significantly from a second tier of vocabulary instruction. Implications for classroom practice as well as future research are provided.     

The episodic/semantic memory distinction as an heuristic in the study of instructional effects on cognitive structure

Previous attempts to measure the effects of instruction on students' cognitive structure have produced inconsistent and ambiguous findings. One reason may be that researchers have not distinguished between well-learned, abstracted information and memorized facts or formulas. Using the distinction between episodic and semantic memory as an heuristic, a procedure was designed to increase the likelihood that student performance on structure tasks was indicative of semantic rather than episodic memory. Significant correlations between measures of cognitive structure and performance on achievement test items were observed. In addition, partial correlations revealed that the measures of cognitive structure are correlated with the achievement items tapping higher-order cognitive processes and not with items tapping lower-order processes. These results are interpreted as supporting the argument that related research needs to be guided by theory-based definitions of cognitive structure.     

A Two-Step Latent Profile Method for Identifying Invalid Respondents in Self-Reported Survey Data

Insincere respondents can have an adverse impact on the validity of substantive inferences arising from self-administered questionnaires (SAQs). The current study introduces a new method for identifying potentially invalid respondents from their atypical response patterns. The two-step procedure involves generating a response inconsistency (RI) score for each participant and scale on the SAQ and subjecting the resulting scores to latent profile analysis to identify classes of atypical RI respondent profiles. The procedure can be implemented post–data collection and is illustrated through a survey of school climate that was administered to N = 52,102 high school students. Results of this screening procedure revealed high levels of specificity and expected levels of concordance when contrasted with the results of traditionally used methods of screening items and response time. Contrasts between valid and invalid respondents revealed similar patterns across the three screening procedures when compared across external measures of academics and risk behaviors.     

INFORMANT EFFECTS ON BEHAVIORAL AND ACADEMIC ASSOCIATIONS: A LATENT VARIABLE LONGITUDINAL EXAMINATION

Discrepancies among informants’ ratings of a given child's behavior complicate the study of linkages between child behavior and academic achievement. In the current study, we examined the potential moderating effect of informant type on associations between behavior and two types of achievement in a longitudinal growth model that captured children's development from 54 months of age through fifth grade. Latent internalizing and externalizing behavioral constructs, as separately measured by mothers and teachers, were modeled as time‐varying predictors of achievements to capture changes that occur as children progress through different developmental stages. Behavioral ratings obtained by both informants explained largely equivalent levels of reading achievement variance, and teachers’ ratings of child behavior explained more variance in analytic type achievements than did those of mothers.     

Estimating School Climate Traits Across Multiple Informants: An Illustration of a Multitrait–Multimethod Validation Through Latent Variable Modeling

The use of multiple informants is common in assessments that rely on the judgments of others. However, ratings obtained from different informants often vary as a function of their perspectives and roles in relation to the target of measurement, and causes unrelated to the trait being measured. We illustrate the usefulness of a latent variable multilevel multitrait–multimethod measurement model for extracting trait factors from reports of school climate obtained by students (N = 45,641) and teachers (N = 12,808) residing within 302 high schools. We then extend this framework to include assessments of linkages between the resulting trait factors and potential outcomes that might be used for addressing questions of substantive interest or providing evidence of concurrent validity. The approach is illustrated with data obtained from student and teacher reports of two dimensions of school climate, student engagement, and the prevalence of teasing and bullying in their schools.