Oral English language proficiency and reading mastery: The role of home language and school supports

The analysis of 21,409 participants of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten cohort focused on home and school factors sought to understand the level of reading mastery that children experienced throughout elementary school and Grade 8 by relating home language use, timing of oral English language proficiency, and the provision of school-based English language learner services to reading mastery. Results confirm that non-English language use at home is associated with a decreased reading mastery at higher levels of proficiency in Grades 1 and 3, and is reduced to nonsignificance in Grades 5 and 8 with the inclusion of teacher and school factors. Also, the negative association between timing of oral English language proficiency and reading mastery is partially explained by teacher and school factors, particularly children's receipt of English language learner services. The findings provide support for policies that provide language services for language minority children and families during the transition to school and through the elementary school years.     

Children's school readiness in the ECLS-K: Predictions to academic, health, and social outcomes in first grade

Two studies examine patterns of school readiness in children at school entry and how these patterns predict first-grade outcomes in a nationally representative sample of first-time kindergartners from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Class of 1998–1999 (N = 17,219). In Study 1, cluster analyses revealed four profiles at kindergarten entry: comprehensive positive development (30%), social/emotional and health strengths (34%), social/emotional risk (13%), and health risk (22.5% of the sample). Study 2 results suggested that children with one of the two “risk” profiles were more likely to be from families with multiple socioeconomic disadvantages. In addition, all four profiles differentially predicted academic and social adjustment in early elementary school. Children with a risk profile performed the worst on all outcomes; children with a comprehensive positive development profile performed the best. The authors discuss the need for early identification of children who may be at risk for entering school with few school readiness strengths.     

Comparing Methods for Addressing Missingness in Longitudinal Modeling of Panel Data

Respondent attrition is a common problem in national longitudinal panel surveys. To make full use of the data, weights are provided to account for attrition. Weight adjustments are based on sampling design information and data from the base year; information from subsequent waves is typically not utilized. Alternative methods to address bias from nonresponse are full information maximum likelihood (FIML) or multiple imputation (MI). The effects on bias of growth parameter estimates from using these methods are compared via a simulation study. The results indicate that caution needs to be taken when utilizing panel weights when there is missing data, and to consider methods like FIML and MI, which are not as susceptible to the omission of important auxiliary variables.     

Assessing school supports for ELL students using the ECLS-K

Using a large and nationally representative sample of children, this study examined the association between the school resources available to English Language Learners and their academic trajectories from kindergarten through fifth grade. Particular attention was paid to the differences in services provided by schools with high, low, or no ELL student concentrations. Growth-curve modeling results indicated that ELL children started kindergarten with significantly lower reading and math scores compared to their English-speaking peers. However, ELL children improved their math scores fast enough that they were able to narrow the initial gap in math scores with their English-speaking peers by fifth grade. This was particularly true for ELL children in schools with either a high- or low ELL student concentration. In contrast, ELL children still had lower reading scores by fifth grade compared to their English-speaking peers. The results highlight the importance of school resources and services in improving ELL students’ academic trajectories. Directions for future studies are discussed.     

Inequality from the first day of school: The role of teachers' academic intensity and sense of responsibility in moderating the learning growth gap

The author used the concepts of academic intensity and sense of responsibility to examine whether children with low school readiness may be moderated by the amount of exposure to learning activities and the attitudes that teachers hold toward these children. Analysis of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort revealed that children who experienced high levels of teachers' academic intensity and sense of responsibility displayed greater achievement growth than did their peers who did not receive this support. Furthermore, teachers' sense of responsibility moderated the association between school readiness and mathematics learning growth over the course of elementary school years, which contributed in reducing the learning growth gap engendered given low school readiness. Based on these findings the present study suggests a need for continuous support during the schooling years, as well as before the start of school, to compensate for a lower skill level at school entry.     

Manual Arts Based on Home Repair

Abstract

This study was undertaken to determine if remarks about a teacher’s ability made by an authority figure prior to observation of that teacher would significantly influence the evaluation of that teacher’s effectiveness. Thirty-four graduate students in educational supervision rated a videotaped lesson; seventeen were led to believe the teacher was an excellent teacher and the other seventeen that the teacher was less than effective. Results confirmed that there was a significant difference in the ratings of the videotaped lesson by the two groups, with the group led to expect better performance rating the videotaped lesson higher. It is concluded that those making evaluations of teaching behavior are highly influenced by verbal comments that led them to expect either excellent or less than average performance.     

Maternal psychological functioning and children's school readiness: The mediating role of home environments for African American children

Decades of educational research has documented an achievement gap in kindergarten reading and math achievement between African American children and their European American counterparts. Research has also shown that specific parenting practices (e.g., home literacy involvement) have the potential to narrow school readiness gaps by at least half. The current study examined whether and how maternal depression and parenting stress may influence specific parenting practices, as well as whether maternal warmth, home learning stimulation and cultural socialization mediated the relation between maternal depression, parenting stress, and children's kindergarten reading and math achievement. Path analyses revealed a direct negative effect of maternal depression and parenting stress on maternal warmth, home learning stimulation, and cultural socialization. Home learning stimulation emerged as an important mediator between maternal parenting stress and math achievement. Further, maternal warmth mediated the relation between maternal depression and reading achievement. Implications for early childhood research, practice and policy are discussed.     

Family poverty,school-based parental involvement,and policy-focused protective factors in kindergarten

Multilevel models of data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (N = 19,375) revealed that the negative association between family poverty and school-based parental involvement in education varied according to family and school factors targeted by large-scale policy interventions. Specifically, the association was weaker when parents and teachers had higher levels of educational attainment. In contrast, the association was stronger when schools had greater parent outreach. Also, the moderating role of parent education was stronger for two stably partnered biological parents than for other parents. These findings underscore the need to examine protective factors in research on the family process model and shed light on policy-amenable factors that potentially improve the early educational experiences of poor children.     

Kindergarten standardized testing and reading achievement in the U.S.: Evidence from the early childhood longitudinal study

Drawing from data use theory (i.e., a theory for making data-driven educational decisions), the present study sought to understand how frequency of standardized testing is related to student learning, mediated by reading instruction, after controlling for child-level (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity) and school-level covariates (e.g., private/public, proportion of students eligible for free lunch). Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort of 2010–2011, the sample included 12,241 children attending 1067 kindergartens in the U.S. findings from a multilevel structural equation mediation model suggest that the frequency of state/local standardized testing in kindergarten did not have a direct effect on reading achievement near the end of kindergarten, after controlling for covariates. However, the amount and type of reading instruction mediated the relationship between the frequency of testing and reading achievement, after controlling for covariates. The implications for policy and practice on the use of standardized tests in kindergarten are discussed.