Early Childhood Research Quarterly最新文献

Given the recognised importance of self-regulation (SR) and executive functioning (EF) in young children's academic and social-emotional wellbeing, their development should not be left to chance. This mixed methods study investigated whether the children taught by educators trained in the SOWATT program, a purposively designed professional learning program targeting self-regulation and executive functioning, would achieve better outcomes on a range of SR/EF measures than a control group who followed their usual program. Participants were 14 educators and 106 children, between the ages of 4 and 5 years, from four early childhood centres, run by the same not-for-profit organisation in Melbourne, Australia. Following a six-month intervention period, multiple regression analysis of pre and post task-based measures and a behaviour rating questionnaire, indicated that the children in the intervention group had made significantly greater gains than those in the control group. Qualitative data obtained from questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, confirmed the acceptability of the program by educators as easy to implement, and as a catalyst for change in their practice. Findings support previous research that building educator capacity through in-service professional learning is a viable, and potentially sustainable approach to improving young children's self-regulation and executive functioning abilities.

Our study assessed whether the peer environment in kindergarten and first grade affected student learning following an early mathematics intervention. We leveraged longitudinal data from a cluster-RCT to examine whether math achievement in kindergarten (n = 1,218) and first grade (n = 1,126) was affected by either the share of high-achieving classmates or the proportion of classroom peers who received a preschool math curriculum intervention. Analyses indicated that exposure to treated peers in first grade, but not kindergarten, was significantly associated with small gains in end-of-year achievement. Some analyses also suggested that average peer math achievement was positively related to children's kindergarten and first-grade achievement across conditions, though these results were less robust. We did not find consistent evidence to suggest that the proportion of treated peers coincided with better teaching practices. Taken together, these findings suggest that classroom peer effects may play only a limited role in sustaining early intervention effects.

The goal of this study was to compare two generations of Chinese caregivers (N = 129) in terms of their interactions with toddlers during block play. We additionally explored the associations between caregivers’ interaction styles and toddlers’ effortful control. Caregivers were mothers (n = 68, mean age = 33.56 years) and grandmothers (n = 61, mean age = 59.17 years) from 70 families in urban China. Concepts (block construction, body parts and color, literacy, and math) taught by caregivers at basic and advanced levels as well as their interaction styles (dominance, positive and negative feedback, positive and negative affect) were coded from semi-structured home observations. Caregivers also reported on children’s effortful control. Compared to mothers, grandmothers taught at more advanced levels, dominated the interaction more, displayed less positive affect as well as more negative affect and negative feedback toward children. Moreover, mothers’ dominance and negativity during block play were uniquely associated with lower levels of child effortful control. Findings advance knowledge of intergenerational differences in caregivers’ interactions with young children in a rapidly changing society.

Considerable interest is directed to promoting children’s success as they transition to kindergarten. It is generally proposed that children who experience lower levels of transition difficulties at kindergarten entry achieve higher academic and socialemotional gains, although this premise has seldom been explicitly evaluated in tandem with children's kindergarten readiness skills. To improve understanding of the consequences of transition difficulties, this study investigated the role of transition difficulties at the child level to children's achievements at the end of the kindergarten year in a Midwestern state in the US. Results from a series of covariate-adjusted regression models showed that children who experienced less transition difficulties at the beginning of kindergarten demonstrated relatively more gains in math, reading, and social-behavioral skills at the end of kindergarten, even when controlling for kindergarten readiness skills, child and family characteristics, and classroom-level contextual factors. The findings also indicated that the associations between kindergarten transition difficulties and academic and social-behavioral skill development at the end of kindergarten did not vary by children's academic and social-behavioral skills at kindergarten entry. Taken together, these findings suggest that transition difficulties that children encounter within the kindergarten context may have significant and independent implications for children's skill development. Possible practices to ease transition difficulties are discussed.

Background

Harsh Caregiving behavior amongst daycare providers (i.e., non-parental Harsh Caregiving) negatively impacts children's development across a variety of domains. As prevalences of non-parental Harsh Caregiving appear to increase worldwide, identifying its predictors is crucial for screening and intervention.

Objective

The goal of this study was to identify a set of indicators and predictive rules that may accurately predict women's risk for Harsh Caregiving behavior in daycare environments.

Participants and Setting

The study recruited 75 female non-parental caregivers, from the general population, who work with infants aged 0-1. Caregivers filled out self-report questionnaires including a Harsh Caregiving measure as well as a broad variety of potential predictors.

Methods

To elucidate combinations of input variables that are predictive of non-parental Harsh Caregiving, we used machine learning Decision Three Inference and CHAID algorithms.

Results

Study results revealed a predictive model including 27 questions and four different prediction paths. For example, the first path indicated that women who reported low levels of attention deficit and hyperactivity problems and low levels of rigid-negative caregiving philosophies, had 100 % chance to report low levels of Harsh Caregiving behavior. Overall classification accuracy for "High Harsh Caregiving behavior" was 95.2 %.

Conclusions

After replication in larger samples, the model can be used as a screening tool for women expressing their wish to work with infants. Women at risk can either be declined employment or alternatively receive targeted supervision throughout their work with small infants.

To better understand the language environments of early childhood education (ECE) classrooms with dual language learners (DLLs), we examined the frequency with which adults use various language facilitation strategies, potential classroom characteristics that may predict teacher strategy use and the impact that teacher strategy use may have on DLL children's lexical and morphosyntactic skills. The study included 21 preschool classrooms and 69 children from a Latine background who spoke Spanish at home. Classroom observations were recorded at three different timepoints in one school year. A total of 14 strategies were of interest: English-General (n = 5), Spanish-General (n = 5), and DLL-Specific (n = 4) language facilitation strategies.

A between-subjects one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that the frequency in which teachers were using the strategies did not differ by strategy type. Hierarchical linear models (HLM) were used to test the association between classroom characteristics and strategy use and DLL language outcomes. Results indicated that the proportion of DLLs had significant positive associations with teachers’ use of general strategies in Spanish and DLL specific language strategies. The analyses also revealed a significant negative association between teachers’ use of Spanish general language strategies and children's English lexical outcomes and positive associations between English general language strategy use and children's morphosyntactic outcomes. This study informs our understanding of adult-DLL interactions in ECE programs, the frequency in which different language facilitation strategies are used in these classrooms, and the impact that implementation of such strategies may have on DLL children's language growth.

All children deserve quality early care and education (ECE) experiences that value them and lay a foundation for positive life trajectories. Unfortunately, many minoritized children in ECE experience inequities including a greater likelihood of exclusion and far fewer opportunities to see their identities affirmed or centered. These early experiences impact children's development, and the dispositions, knowledge, and skills (DKSs) of ECE teachers are key drivers of these experiences. Accordingly, our study sought to understand ECE teachers’ current DKSs related to diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice (DIEJ) through a critical culturally relevant pedagogy framework. To do so, we analyzed data from four focus groups with 15 center-based infant, toddler, and preschool teachers using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022). Key DKSs, including teachers’ attitudes about children and teaching, their perspectives about DIEJ, and their understanding of positionality and context as well as their perception of DIEJ as an age-appropriate topic, occurred across groups. Minoritized teachers and teachers working with diverse groups of children tended to demonstrate a deeper and more critical engagement with DIEJ than White teachers working primarily with White children. Furthermore, we also found evidence that this engagement may be influenced by teachers’ DKSs. Policy and practice implications are discussed with respect to ensuring that all children have the experiences they deserve to thrive.

This study uses implementation fidelity data from PreK to 1^st grade in the Boston Public Schools (BPS) to identify profiles of instructional alignment and examine whether stronger alignment for PreK attenders is associated with sustained benefits of BPS PreK on children's language, literacy, and math skills through first grade. The study includes N = 498 students (mean age = 5.47, SD = 0.30 in K fall). Children who experienced strong instructional alignment across grades had faster gains in literacy (SD = .47) and math (SD = .28) skills through the spring of first grade compared with non-BPS PreK attenders. Mis-alignment predicted faster convergence in literacy skills. Results highlight that both strong fidelity in PreK and better instructional alignment through elementary school may help to sustain the initial benefits of PreK programs through first grade in a subset of outcome domains. Implications for research measuring alignment in a broader range of settings and implications for practice are discussed.

The current study examined the prevalence and usage of three theoretically informed school-level policies, namely the use of readiness assessments, retention policies, and Title I funds in kindergarten classrooms across the United States. Using the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2011, we examined whether these school-level policies in kindergarten were related to children's academic learning both generally, and specifically for those who had attended pre-K. Results revealed that the use of kindergarten readiness assessments, kindergarten retention policies, and Title I funds in kindergarten were widespread across the nation. However, application and usage of these school-level policies were varied. Moreover, these school-level policies were generally not associated with children's academic learning broadly or differentially for those who had attended pre-K in the year before kindergarten. This study establishes a national snapshot of the kindergarten landscape in the United States and opens a door for future research to continue to explore how kindergarten specific school-level policies shape children's learning.

In this study, we examined whether a digital home literacy environment could be distinguished from a traditional literacy environment in Chinese context and the relationship between parental literacy expectations, traditional and digital home literacy environment, and children's language and early literacy skills. In addition, we explored whether the relationship between HLE and children's language and early literacy would be affected by parental perceived abilities with home literacy activities. One hundred and seventy kindergarten-2 children (82 boys and 88 girls; mean age = 55.15 months) and their parents participated in the study. Parents filled out a questionnaire on the home environment (i.e., parental expectations, home literacy activities, and parental perceived abilities in home literacy activities), and the children were assessed on language skills (vocabulary and grammatical skills) and early literacy (i.e., syllable and tone awareness). Results showed that a digital home literacy environment (DHLE) could be distinguished from a traditional home literacy environment (THLE). Chinese traditional home literacy environment consisted of three distinct aspects (Chinese speaking, Chinese writing, and informal literacy activities). Furthermore, there were no direct or indirect effects of (aspects of) the home literacy environment in predicting language skills, whereas an indirect effect of parental literacy expectations on early literacy was found, via the DHLE only. Finally, there was a positive relationship between DHLE and children's early literacy for parents who experience difficulties in providing the conditions for DHLE. Overall, these findings suggest that the DHLE has already become an important part of the Chinese home literacy environment. In addition, when it comes to children's early literacy skills, the use of digital learning tools may partly compensate for parent's difficulties in digital home literacy education.