Investigation of the Development of Pre-Academic Skills for Preschoolers in Head Start

Abstract

This study modeled the time-dependent nature of pre-academic skills development for a multi-lingual sample of 382 preschoolers attending Head Start. A two-slope latent variable model accurately described the trajectories, which included five assessment points obtained throughout the school year for both pre-literacy and pre-numeracy variables. Classroom quality and child demographic variables including age, gender, native language (Spanish or English), and disability status served as predictors of growth. Results revealed a reversal effect such that steeper growth from October to March was offset, although not completely, by less growth from March to May. Similar interaction effects were observed for predictor variables and their interaction terms across the two slopes. IEP status predicted less growth, while Spanish-language status predicted increased growth, despite the fact that both were associated with low initial achievement. The complexity of the relationship between classroom quality, native language, disability status, and pre-academic growth is discussed.     

Introductory Cultural Anthropology: A Multimedia Presentation

Abstract

The study investigated the interactive effects of professors' instruction strategies and students' conceptual levels on the motivation to learn of 83 postsecondary students randomly assigned to either direct or nondirect instruction groups. Statistically significant interactions revealed that highly structured teaching methods maximized the motivation of students with low conceptual levels, whereas teaching methods that were low in structure enhanced the motivation of high-conceptual-level students. The findings expand previous research and offer insights into how professors can influence students' motivation to learn academic course content.     

Disciplinary Differences: LCSH and Keyword Assignment for ETDs from Different Disciplines

This research concerns the frequency of the assignment of author-supplied keyword strings and cataloger supplied subject heading strings within a library catalog. The results reveal that, on average, more author-assigned keywords and more cataloger-assigned Library of Congress Subject Headings were assigned to works emerging from the arts & humanities than to works emerging from the social sciences and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. STEM disciplines in particular received a lower amount of topical metadata, in part because of the under-assignment of name/title, geographical, and corporate subject headings. These findings reveal how librarians could increase their understanding of how topical access is functioning within academic disciplines.     

Using the Quality of Literacy Implementation Checklist to Improve Preschool Literacy Instruction

Despite much progress in improving the quality of preschool programs, there is still an uneven quality of instruction in early childhood settings. Providing support and professional development (PD) for teachers that is practical, systematic and sustainable is one potential avenue to increase classroom quality in preschool, including quality of literacy instruction. Preschool educators who want to focus on increasing the quality of literacy instruction need simple-to-use tools that can be implemented quickly and provide a means to assess progress towards the goal of improving literacy instruction. The Quality of Literacy Implementation checklist measures how well the teaching staff include intentional, instruction in literacy/oral language. Rather than focusing on a specific curriculum or intervention, quality of implementation focuses on the teacher’s delivery of key procedural features of evidence-based instruction. As is the case with fidelity of implementation, a quality of implementation checklist not only measures implementation but also provides a roadmap about how instruction might be modified to ensure that critical and essential skills are emphasized across the preschool day.