Diane M. Early

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.

Preparing the workforce: early childhood teacher preparation at 2- and 4-year institutions of higher education

While the importance of quality education for individuals working with young children (ages 0–4) is widely accepted in the field of Early Childhood Education, little is known about the context, content, and needs of the programs that are providing this education. This paper presents data from a nationally representative survey (n = 438) of chairs/directors of early childhood teacher preparation programs at 2- and 4-year Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs). Findings presented include faculty characteristics, course and practica requirements, comparisons between early childhood programs and the institutions as wholes, and challenges facing programs. Where appropriate, comparisons are made between 2- and 4-year schools. Results are discussed in terms of policy implications.

Children's Classroom Engagement and School Readiness Gains in Prekindergarten.

Child engagement in prekindergarten classrooms was examined using 2,751 children (mean age=4.62) enrolled in public prekindergarten programs that were part of the Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten and the State-Wide Early Education Programs Study. Latent class analysis was used to classify children into 4 profiles of classroom engagement: free play, individual instruction, group instruction, and scaffolded learning. Free play children exhibited smaller gains across the prekindergarten year on indicators of language/literacy and mathematics compared to other children. Individual instruction children made greater gains than other children on the Woodcock Johnson Applied Problems. Poor children in the individual instruction profile fared better than nonpoor children in that profile; in all other snapshot profiles, poor children fared worse than nonpoor children.

Early Childhood Care: Relations with Family Characteristics and Preferred Care Characteristics.

Using data from the National Household Education Survey of 1995, this paper links family income, ethnicity, and child’s age to child care characteristics such as type of setting, hours spent in nonparental care, and number of care arrangements. Findings indicate that children from families with incomes that are at least twice the poverty threshold are more likely than other children to be in nonparental care and generally spend more hours in nonparental care. Ethnicity, not poverty, is related to use of relative-care; Black infants and toddlers are more likely to be in relative-care than White or Hispanic infants and toddlers, regardless of poverty status. Few income, ethnicity, or age differences emerged in analyses of characteristics parents prefer in the selection of type of care. The type of care a family uses is related to the extent to which the family values a setting that will care for sick children and values having a care provider with training.

What is Pre-Kindergarten? Characteristics of Public Pre-Kindergarten Programs

States have accumulated considerable experience in operating publicly sponsored pre-kindergarten programs. In spite of this extensive experience, only fragmentary accounts exist of how these pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs handle issues such as program intensity, location, staffing, and population served. These issues are addressed by the National Center for Early Development and Learnings Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten, which collected data from 240 programs. Data were weighted to represent the 4 states (Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio) and each of the 2 regions in California and New York from which they were drawn. Using these weighted data, we estimate that slightly more than half of these school-related programs were part-day and slightly more than half were located outside of school buildings. Although these programs varied in process quality, on average, they met National Association for the Education of Young Children recommended standards for class size, adult:child ratios, and teacher certification. The programs served an ethnically, linguistically, and economically diverse population of children, although about half of pre-k children were from low-income backgrounds. African American, Asian, and Latino children were more likely than White children to attend a pre-k class with a high proportion of children from low-income backgrounds. Issues of process quality were highlighted in the study.

Transition Practices: Findings from a National Survey of Kindergarten Teachers

designed to overcome the discontinuities that may disThe “ready school” movement is attempting to shift rupt children’s learning and development” (p. 9). Alnational attention away from children’s readiness for though high-quality experiences prior to the beginning school and onto schools’ readiness for incoming kinderof school and a high-quality kindergarten program are gartners (National Education Goals Panel, 1998). One critical to child success, some attention must also be feature of “ready schools” is that they engage in pracgiven to the discontinuities between the settings. Rimmtices that are effective in helping children and families Kaufman and Pianta (2000) conclude that the system of as they make the transition into kindergarten. “Ready relationships among social contexts (including teachers, schools,” according to Pianta, Cox, Taylor, and Early parents, and preschool care providers) is a critical pre(1999), have three characteristics: (a) they reach out, dictor of successful transitions. Effective communicalinking families, preschool settings, and communities tion and regular contact among the various social conwith schools; (b) they reach backward in time, making texts engender connectedness and flexibility, thereby connections before the first day of school, and (c) they promoting an optimal transition. reach with appropriate intensity. The practices that Pianta et al. (1999) used the National Center for teachers employ as they help children and families make Early Development and Learning’s (NCEDL) Transition the transition to school are one important aspect of the Practices Survey, a nationally representative survey of school’s readiness for the incoming children. Thus, unkindergarten teachers, to describe the specific practices derstanding the school, teacher, and classroom characteachers use in facilitating the transition to kindergarten teristics that are linked to optimal transition practices is and the barriers they perceive to additional transition important as educators work to improve transitions for practices. They found that while almost all teachers reyoung children. This paper aims to elucidate these imported some practices aimed at facilitating children’s portant links. transitions into kindergarten, practices that would be Information is currently lacking to inform us as to most effective—those that reach out, backward in time, which practices are most beneficial in aiding children as and with appropriate intensity—are relatively rare. they make this transition; however, there are some Group-oriented practices occurring after the beginning strong, theoretically based indications. Love, Logue, of the school year (e.g., open houses) are the most comTrudeau, and Thayer (1992) argue that key ingredients mon, while practices that involve one-to-one contact to a successful transition are “activities and events (over with children and families and those occurring prior to

Children enrolled in public pre-k : The relation of family life, neighborhood quality, and socioeconomic resources to early competence

This article presents data on the family and social environments of 501 children enrolled in public sponsored pre-K in 5 states and tests the relation of these resources to child competence. Structured interviews and questionnaires provide information from parents about the familys social and economic status. Direct assessments and teacher reports provide data on childrens literacy, numeracy, and behavioral problems. A majority of the children served in public pre-K lived in poverty and showed decrements in language but not in other domains. A socioeconomic resource factor consisting of parental education, household income, and material need predicted all domains of childrens functioning. Children from households high in socioeconomic resources entered pre-K with more well developed language and math skill but fewer behavioral problems than their disadvantaged peers. Neighborhood quality status was related to language competence and mothers marital status to math competence. Neighborhood quality and income level may have their impact on child competence through their relation to dyadic quality and the health and the psychological well-being of the parents.

Spanish-Speaking Children's Social and Language Development in Pre-Kindergarten Classrooms

The current study examined the social and language development of 345 Spanish-speaking pre-kindergartners who attended pre-kindergarten programs that varied widely in how much Spanish was spoken in the classroom by the teacher. Previous studies on English language learners have focused on how the language of instruction impacts childrens language proficiency, ignoring the context in which children are learning. The current study found better social skills and closer teacher—child relationships in classrooms where teachers spoke some Spanish. Teacher ratings of childrens peer social skills and assertiveness were positively associated with increased amounts of Spanish being spoken. More Spanish language use in the classroom was also related to a decrease in childrens likelihood of being victims of aggression as rated by independent observers. The findings have implications for better understanding how policy decisions regarding language of instruction impact children in the social domain. As early education programs are faced with the challenging task of developing best practices for English language learners, it is essential that programs are attentive to the social implications of language. The Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten was supported by Educational Research and Development Center Program PR/Award R307A60004, administered by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. The State-Wide Early Education Programs Study was supported by the National Institute for Early Education Research, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Foundation for Child Development. However, the contents of this article do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the funders, and endorsement by the federal government or other funding agencies should not be assumed. The National Center for Early Development and Learning is grateful for the help of the many children, parents, teachers, administrators, and field staff who participated in this study.

Maternal Sensitivity and Child Wariness in the Transition to Kindergarten

Objective. This study tested maternal sensitivity as a moderator of the stability of wary behavior between 15 months and the transition to school. Design. Observational data from 15-month-old children and their mothers, kindergarten teacher reports, and maternal reports during the transition to kindergarten from 215 children from 3 sites (North Carolina, Virginia, and Arkansas) of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD; 1994), Study of Early Child Care are used. Results. Findings indicate significant stability of inhibition from 15 months to the transition to kindergarten and a significant interaction between maternal sensitivity and 15-month wariness in predicting inhibition in the transition to kindergarten. Among children who displayed wariness at 15 months, greater maternal sensitivity was associated with less inhibition during the transition to kindergarten. For children who did not display wariness at 15 months, there was no relation between maternal sensitivity and inhibition in the transition to kindergarten. Conclusions. These findings suggest moderate stability of this early temperamental characteristic and point to the importance of responsive parenting in its modification.

Early Childhood Teacher Preparation in Special Education at 2- and 4-Year Institutions of Higher Education

The movement toward inclusion has made educating and caring for children with disabilities an increasingly critical part of the early education teachers role. The goal of this paper is to describe the extent to which early childhood teacher preparation programs are including early childhood special educationlearly intervention content and experiences as part of their core course and practicum requirements. A nationally representative survey of 438 chairs and directors of early childhood teacher preparation programs revealed that while a large proportion of programs consider early childhood special educationlearly intervention to be a part of the mission of their program, the amount of coursework and practicum experience vary considerably by content area and level of degree offered by the program. Implications are offered for policy and future research.