Carollee Howes

The relation of preschool child-care quality to children's cognitive and social developmental trajectories through second grade

The cognitive and socioemotional development of 733 children was examined longitudinally from ages 4 to 8 years as a function of the quality of their preschool experiences in community child-care centers, after adjusting for family selection factors related to child-care quality and development. These results provide evidence that child-care quality has a modest long-term effect on childrens patterns of cognitive and socioemotional development at least through kindergarten, and in some cases, through second grade. Differential effects on childrens development were found for two aspects of child-care quality. Observed classroom practices were related to childrens language and academic skills, whereas the closeness of the teacher-child relationship was related to both cognitive and social skills, with the strongest effects for the latter. Moderating influences of family characteristics were observed for some outcomes, indicating stronger positive effects of child-care quality for children from more at-risk backgrounds. These findings contribute further evidence of the long-term influences of the quality of child-care environments on childrens cognitive and social skills through the elementary school years and are consistent with a bioecological model of development that considers the multiple environmental contexts that the child experiences.

Development of Academic Skills from Preschool through Second Grade: Family and Classroom Predictors of Developmental Trajectories.

Abstract Childrens experiences with their parents and teachers were related to the acquisition of academic skills from preschool through second grade. Individual and group growth curves were estimated, and individual patterns of change were predicted from selected demographic, family, and classroom characteristics to identify multiple pathways to early academic competence. Standardized assessments of language and academic skills and parent and teacher surveys were collected on 511 children beginning in the second-to-last year of child care through the third year of elementary school. As expected, children tended to show better academic skills across time if their parents had more education and reported more progressive parenting beliefs and practices. Statistical interactions between family background and teacher–child relationships indicated that a closer relationship with the teacher was positively related to language skills for African-American children and to reading competence for children whose parents reported more authoritarian attitudes. These results provide further evidence that social processes in classrooms are important for academic competence for children considered at risk for academic problems.

Social-emotional Classroom Climate in Child Care, Child-Teacher Relationships and Children’s Second Grade Peer Relations

We used a five-year longitudinal study of children’s teacher-child relationships and social-emotional competence to examine the relative contributions of preschool social-emotional climate and early individual child-teacher relationships and behavior problems in predicting second grade social competence with peers. Three hundred and seven children (152 girls) had complete second grade data on peer social competence. We used the Peer Play Scale to measure the climate of peer social competence in preschool classrooms. We used the Classroom Behavior Inventory to measure behavior problems and the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale to measure child-teacher relationship quality at both the classroom and individual level. Children’s second grade social competence with peers could be predicted by preschool classroom social-emotional climate, four-year-old behavior problems and child-teacher relationship quality, and contemporary child-teacher relationship quality. The particular pattern of these predictors differed by aspect of social competence with peers.

The prediction of process quality from structural features of child care

Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify structural characteristics of center child care that are associated with observed child care quality from a large multi-state project. Hierarchical regressions examined the relations between quality of care and selected characteristics of the lead caregiver, classroom, center, and director. Nonprofit and for-profit centers (228 infant/toddler and 521 preschool classrooms) were randomly sampled in four states. Interviews, questionnaires, and observations were used assess structural and process quality. Overall, process quality was higher in states with more stringent child care regulations, nonprofit centers, and preschool classrooms. In infant/toddler classrooms, process quality was higher in classrooms with moderately experienced and better paid teachers, and more experienced directors. In preschool classrooms, process quality was higher in classrooms with teachers with more education, a moderate amount of experience, and higher wages. The findings suggest the need to increase the stringency of state child care regulations and to rearrange the budgets of child care programs.

Sequences in the Development of Competent Play with Peers: Social and Social Pretend Play.

In Study 1,48 children participated in a longitudinal study of peer play development, from infancy through preschool. Children developed play forms in the expected sequence and at the expected ages. Children showed stability in both proportion and emergence of complex play. Childrens pattern of play form emergence and proportion of time in more complex play forms related to subsequent indexes of social competence. In Study 2, we assessed the peer play of children ages 10 to 59 months. One sample (n = 259) attended minimally adequate child-care centers. The other sample (n = 48) attended a model child-care center. Children in the model center showed complex play form emergence at earlier ages and engaged in greater proportions of complex play than children in the minimally adequate centers. Beginning with the early work of Partens(l 932), developmental theorists have attempted to order their observations of chil

Child's Play with Adults, Toys, and Peers: An Examination of Family and Child-Care Influences.

Etude du role de la qualite du climat affectif de la famille ou de la creche sur la competence observee en situation ludique chez 55 enfants âges de 11 a 30 mois

Predicting Child Outcomes at the End of Kindergarten from the Quality of Pre-Kindergarten Teacher–Child Interactions and Instruction

Publicly funded prekindergartens are programs that most states use to promote school readiness, especially of 4-year-old children at risk for academic problems due to poverty. Despite large public expenditures, these programs have not been widely evaluated. We examined 240 randomly selected pre-kindergarten programs in six states with mature programs that serve large numbers of children, and evaluated specific aspects of classroom quality and childrens academic achievement in both the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten year for over 700 children. Results showed that, on average, pre-kindergarten teachers were moderately responsive and sensitive, but were less successful in engaging children in learning specific skills. Both sensitive and stimulating interactions with the teacher and the instructional quality aspects of the pre-kindergarten classroom predicted the acquisition of language, pre-academic, and social skills through the end of the kindergarten year.

Relations Among Child Care Quality, Teacher Behavior, Children's Play Activities, Emotional Security, and Cognitive Activity in Child Care

Eight hundred forty children (435 girls) enrolled in full-time, center-based child care participated in the study. Children ranged in age from 10 to 70 months. Sixty-six percent of the children were European American, the remainder African American. Childrens play activities and cognitive activities as well as their relationships with caregivers were observed within the child care setting. The study tested the prediction that variation in childrens cognitive activities could be directly and indirectly explained by child care quality, positive social interaction with teachers, and childrens play activities and attachment security with their child care teachers. The prediction was examined and at least partially supported in eight subsamples of infant-toddler and preschool age European American and African American children in subsidized and nonsubsidized child care. Specifically, in seven of the eight subsamples, 15 to 30% of the variability in childrens cognitive activities could be predicted from positive social interaction with teachers, attachment security, and participation in creative play activities.

The changing experience of child care: Changes in teachers and in teacher-child relationships and children's social competence with peers

We examined the influence of changes in child-care teachers and changes in teacher-child relationships on childrens social competence with peers. Seventy-two children were observed with teachers and peers at 6-month intervals beginning after their 1st birthday and continuing until their 4th birthday. Both changes in primary teacher and changes in teacher-child relationships were associated with changes in childrens social competence with peers.

The Consistency of Perceived Teacher-Child Relationships between Preschool and Kindergarten.

Abstract Childrens relationships with their teachers were examined in a three-year longitudinal study beginning in their next-to-last year of preschool and continuing through kindergarten. Three hundred and fifty-seven children had complete data, and 793 children had at least one year of data. Teachers reported greater closeness and more dependency in their relationships with girls than with boys. There were no age changes in teacher perceptions of relationship quality. Path analysis suggested that perceptions of teacher–child relationship quality, particularly conflictual relationship quality, were consistent from preschool to kindergarten. Further path analysis suggested that teacher perception of childrens social adjustment in school was consistent in from preschool to kindergarten. Kindergarten teacher–child relationship perceptions were predicted by preschool teacher perceptions of social adjustment in preschool and by preschool teacher–child relationship perceptions after controlling for gender, maternal education, and preschool child-care quality.