Multi-Method Assessment of ADHD Characteristics in Preschool Children: Relations between Measures

Several forms of assessment tools, including behavioral rating scales and objective tests such as the Continuous Performance Test (CPT), can be used to measure inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive behaviors associated with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, research with school-age children has shown that the correlations between parent ratings, teacher ratings, and scores on objective measures of ADHD-characteristic behaviors are modest at best. In this study, we examined the relations between parent and teacher ratings of ADHD and CPT scores in a sample of 65 preschoolers ranging from 50 to 72 months of age. No significant associations between teacher and parent ratings of ADHD were found. Parent-ratings of both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity accounted for variance in CPT omission errors but not CPT commission errors. Teacher ratings showed evidence of convergent and discriminant validity when entered simultaneously in a hierarchical regression. These tools may be measuring different aspects of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity.     

Another Look at the Logical Uncertainty Principle

The Logical Uncertainty Principle is re-examined from the point of classical logic. Two interpretations are given, an objective one in terms of an axiomatic theory of information, and a subjective one based on Ramsey's theory of probability.     

Examining the Relations of the Home Literacy Environments of Families of Low SES with Children’s Early Literacy Skills

This study examined variability of the home literacy environment (HLE) using multiple measures among families of low SES. The relations of the measures to each other and to children’s early oral language skills and print knowledge were reported. Considerable variability of the self-reported HLE items and the Children’s Title Checklist (CTC) but low correlations were found among items. Children’s expressive language skills were predicted by the CTC. The number of storybooks in the home predicted variance within children’s receptive vocabulary. Concepts about Print (CAP) scores were predicted by the primary caregivers’ frequency of shared reading and the age when parents began reading to children. Children’s letter name scores were not associated with any of the HLE measures in this study. The research provides additional information about the HLE within the homes of low SES using multiple measures and how they relate differentially to children’s early language and literacy skills.     

Relations between early reading and writing skills among Spanish-speaking language minority children

Although there is a growing body of literature on the development of reading skills of Spanish-speaking language minority children, little research has focused on the development of writing skills in this population. This study evaluated whether children’s Spanish early reading skills (i.e., print knowledge, phonological awareness, oral language) were related to their Spanish and English early writing skills using a sample of 554 children whose home language was Spanish. Multivariate regression analyses with simultaneous outcomes (Spanish and English invented spelling skills) were conducted to evaluate whether children’s early reading and writing skills were related across languages. Results indicated that children’s print knowledge and phonological awareness skills, but not oral language skills, were significantly related to their Spanish and English invented spelling skills. Spanish early literacy skills were not differentially related to Spanish and English reading and writing skills. The magnitude of the relations between print knowledge and oral language skills and children’s invented spelling skills varied as a function of child age; however, the magnitude of the relation between phonological awareness and invented spelling skills did not differ as a function of child age. Furthermore, results suggested that language minority children’s early reading and writing skills are related but distinct constructs and that children may be able to apply information gained from learning to read and write in their first language when learning to write in their second language.     

An evaluation of two emergent literacy screening tools for preschool children

Children’s reading success in early elementary school can be predicted from their emergent literacy skills. Consequently, there has been an increased focus on early childhood education as a means of identifying children at risk for later reading difficulty. Because diagnostic measures are impractical for this use, emergent literacy screening tools have been developed. In this study, 176 preschool children ranging in age from 42 to 55 months were administered the Revised Get Ready to Read! (GRTR-R), the Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs), and a diagnostic measure at two time points. Results indicated that GRTR-R either matched or outperformed IGDIs in terms of test–retest reliability and concurrent validity.     

Development, Assessment, and Promotion of Preliteracy Skills

A large body of research evidence highlights the required conditions for children to become skilled readers. Within the past decade, research also has uncovered the fact that the origins of skilled reading begin to develop even before children start school. The intent of this article is to provide a brief summary of what is known about the development of skilled reading in early elementary grades, to highlight the key findings concerning the developmental precursors to the successful acquisition of skilled reading, and to review recent advances in tools that can be used by early childhood professionals to identify children who may be at risk for reading difficulties before these children experience the negative consequences of reading failure. Use of these tools can provide the means for teachers and other early childhood professionals to provide the focused experiences and activities that will help children succeed in becoming skilled readers.     

Dimensionality of Reading Skills With Elementary-School-Age Children

Confirmatory factor analyses of data from 1,501 kindergarten to 5th-grade children who completed 3 measures of decoding, 3 measures of reading comprehension, and 3 measures of listening comprehension as part of a larger study were used to identify the dimensionality of reading skills across elementary school. A 1-factor (reading) model was the best fitting model for the reading measures for kindergarten through 2nd grade, and a 2-factor (decoding, reading comprehension) model was the best fitting model for 3rd through 5th grade. Structural analyses revealed little evidence that any of the reading-comprehension measures were more or less associated with either listening comprehension or decoding than the other reading-comprehension measures, indicating that each measure assessed the same underlying construct. These results support a developmental pattern for the emergence of decoding and reading comprehension as distinctly measurable constructs, with a distinct reading comprehension construct not emerging until the 3rd grade.     

Teaching under Lockdown: the experiences of London English teachers

ABSTRACT

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, on 18 March 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the immediate closure of schools in England. (The closure was not absolute: schools would remain open for vulnerable children and the children of key workers. In practice, though, very few children have continued to attend.) In what follows, nine English teachers reflect on their experience of teaching under lockdown.     

Assessment of Preschool Early Literacy Skills: Linking Children's Educational Needs with Empirically Supported Instructional Activities

The importance of the preschool period for becoming a skilled reader is highlighted by a significant body of evidence that preschool children's development in the areas of oral language, phonological awareness, and print knowledge is predictive of how well they will learn to read once they are exposed to formal reading instruction in elementary school. Although there are now a number of empirically supported instructional activities for helping children who are at -risk of later reading difficulties acquire these early literacy skills, limitations in instructional time and opportunities in most preschool settings requires the use of valid assessment procedures to ensure that instructional resources are utilized efficiently. In this paper, we discuss the degree to which informal, diagnostic, screening, and progress-monitoring assessments of preschool early literacy skills can inform instructional decisions by considering the strengths and weaknesses of each approach to assessment.     

Promoting the development of preschool children’s emergent literacy skills: a randomized evaluation of a literacy-focused curriculum and two professional development models

To date, there have been few causally interpretable evaluations of the impacts of preschool curricula on the skills of children at-risk for academic difficulties, and even fewer studies have demonstrated statistically significant or educationally meaningful effects. In this cluster-randomized study, we evaluated the impacts of a literacy-focused preschool curriculum and two types of professional development on the emergent literacy skills of preschool children at-risk for educational difficulties. Forty-eight preschools were randomly assigned to a business-as-usual control, a literacy-focused curriculum with workshop-only professional development, or a literacy-focused curriculum with workshop plus in-class mentoring professional development conditions. An ethnically diverse group of 739 preschool children was assessed on language and literacy outcomes. Results revealed significant and moderate effects for the curriculum and small, mostly nonsignificant, effects of professional development across child outcomes and classroom measures.