Dominic F. Gullo

A Comparison of Early Childhood and Elementary Education Students' Beliefs about Primary Classroom Teaching Practices.

Abstract Two professional preparation paths lead to teaching positions in the lower primary grades; their different histories and emphasis result in potentially conflicting paradigms. We examined the viewpoints of 119 pre-service teachers who were either at the beginning or near the end of their programs in early childhood (ECED) or elementary education (ELED). They completed a survey of their beliefs about primary classroom practices. ECED students, compared to ELED students, favored practices more consistent with the constructivist nature of National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) guidelines in several areas, including teaching strategies, expectations of the children, assessment strategies, and teacher- and child-directed activities. One significant difference was found between beginning students and student teachers, with student teachers favoring more frequent use of less developmentally appropriate behavior management strategies.

Age of Entry, Preschool Experience, and Sex as Antecedents of Academic Readiness in Kindergarten

Abstract Readiness, or preparing young children for the formal curriculum, is garnering much attention and controversy in the field of early childhood education. Many factors have been examined in efforts to determine what affects academic readiness. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of childrens age of entry, number of years of preschool, and sex on academic readiness at the end of kindergarten. A total of 4, 539 children participated in the study. Of these, 104 children started public school at age 3 (K3), 1, 234 started school at age 4 (K4), and 3, 201 started at age 5 (K5). At-risk status was determined using the Cooperative Preschool Inventory (Caldwell, 1974), and first-grade readiness was determined using the Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT; Nurss & McGauvran, 1974). Controlling for risk status, regression analysis revealed that age of entry and number of years of preschool accounted for a significant amount of the variance, while sex did not. Analyses of covariance indicated that children who entered the public school preschool program at K3 or K4 scored significantly higher on the MRT than children who entered at K5. The findings also indicated that if children were the youngest in their class they did not score as high as their older counterparts in the K4 and K5 cohorts. However, no difference was found on achievement scores between the oldest and the youngest for the K3 cohort.

The Long Term Educational Effects of Half‐Day vs Full‐Day Kindergarten

This study examined the effects of full‐day and half‐day kindergarten on childrens second grade academic outcomes. The subjects for the study were 974 second grade children from a large Midwestern school district. Of these second‐graders, 730 of them had been in full‐day kindergarten and 244 were in half‐day kindergarten. The following measures were compared: (a) childrens second grade reading and math scores from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills; (b) whether or not they had been retained in grade during the first three years of school; (c) whether or not they had been referred for special education services during the first three years of school; and (d) kindergarten attendance records. The results indicated that children who were in a full‐day kindergarten program scored significantly higher on both math and reading on a standardized achievement test. In addition, there were fewer children from the full‐day cohort who had been retained in grade. There were no differences in the number of special education referrals between the two groups. Finally, children who attended full‐day kindergarten were absent less during the school year than the half day kindergarten group. The results are discussed in terms of both social and academic perspectives.

The effects of social class, class size and prekindergarten experience on early school adjustment

Childrens adjustment and achievement during the early school grades can have implications for the childrens long‐term educational progress. In the present study, the effects of childrens socioeconomic status (SES), class size in kindergarten, and prior prekindergarten experience on early school adjustments was examined. Kindergarten achievement and attendance were used as measures of early school adjustment. 1,573 children from a large urban school district participated in the study. Results of the analysis indicated that all main effects were significant as well as a number of interactions. A significant finding was that a number of potentially negative effects associated with SES were ameliorated if the children had a prekindergarten experience and/or were in smaller class sizes in kindergarten (below 20). Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

The Effects of Different Models of All-Day Kindergarten on Children's Developmental Competence.

In this investigation, two approaches to all‐day kindergarten were studied to determine their differential effects on children who participated in them. In one approach, no additional support or training was provided for teachers (ADK‐C), while in the other approach (ADK‐E), both training and material support were provided. 41 children from the ADK‐C program and 73 children from the ADK‐E program were part of the study. The children were selected randomly from each of the two approaches. Teachers rated children on developmental competencies, prosocial classroom behaviors, and academic achievement. Children who participated in the ADK‐E approach were rated as more developmental competent, exhibiting more prosocial classroom behaviors, and higher achieving.

An Investigation of Cognitive Tempo and Its Effects on Evaluating Kindergarten Children's Academic and Social Competencies

Success in kindergarten is primarily determined by ones end of the year achievement and social competence. Although achievement can be measured objectively, social competence is determined by teachers’ perceptions. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether kindergarteners with different cognitive tempos would exhibit differences in end of the year achievement and result in differences in teachers’ perceptions of their social competence. Two‐hundred twenty‐one kindergarten children (115 males; 106 females) participated in the study. The Matching Familiar Figures Test was administered to the children to determine whether they exhibited a reflective, impulsive, fast‐accurate (F/A) or slow‐inaccurate (S/l) cognitive tempo. End of the year achievement and teachers’ perceptions of childrens social competence was assessed using the Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT) and the Hahnemann Elementary Behavior Rating Scale (HEBS), respectively. Controlling for developmental level, a 4(cognitive tempo)...

Negotiating family‐centered early education: A multidimensional assessment of interests and needs

Reform efforts in early childhood education highlight recommendations to adopt more family‐centered practices, including greater family support functions. Yet, there is little research on the processes through which schools develop family‐centered programs that are responsive to the participating children and families. This study examines program development priorities from the perspectives of school staff and families. Fifty‐three (53) school staff members and one hundred and ninety (190) family members responded to quantitative and qualitative surveys to describe their beliefs about the strategies that two urban public schools should undertake in developing family‐centered early childhood programs. Results revealed important differences between the staff and family perspectives. Staff advocated direct methods of assisting families, such as parent education, and expressed comparatively little consideration for informal aspects of family support (e.g., informal staff‐parent relationships; parent‐child rec...

The Influence of young adults’ sex, gender role orientation, ordinal position and time spent with infants on their knowledge of infant development

The major purpose of the present study was to identify some characteristics of non at‐risk prospective parents which may contribute to more accurate knowledge of infant development in four domains: motor, personal‐social, cognitive, and language. It is evident that at‐risk groups of parents have inappropriate expectations for developmental milestones. Results from the present study indicate that non at‐risk adults also share this characteristic. In the present study male subjects’ knowledge of personal‐social and cognitive behaviors was significantly worse than female subjects. In addition, feminine subjects were more accurate in their knowledge of infant development than masculine and undifferentiated subjects. Furthermore, first born children were more accurate about infant development than were middle‐ and laterborns. Finally, subjects who spent more than six hours per week interacting with children were more knowledgeable than less‐experienced subjects. These results are discussed with respect to func...