Donna Bryant

Relating quality of center-based child care to early cognitive and language development longitudinally.

How quality of center-based child care relates to early cognitive and language development was examined longitudinally from 6 to 36 months of age in a sample of 89 African American children. Both structural and process measures of quality of child care were collected through observation of the infant classroom. Results indicated that higher quality child care was related to higher measures of cognitive development (Bayley Scales of Infant Development), language development (Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development), and communication skills (Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales) across time, even after adjusting for selected child and family characteristics. In addition, classrooms that met professional recommendations regarding child:adult ratios tended to have children with better language skills. Classrooms that met recommendations regarding teacher education tended to have girls with better cognitive and receptive language skills. These findings, in conjunction with the growing child-care literature, provide further evidence that researchers and policymakers should strive to improve the quality of child care to enhance early development of such vulnerable children.

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.

Early Intervention and Mediating Processes in Cognitive Performance of Children of Low-Income African American Families

This longitudinal study of 161 African American children from low-income families examined multiple influences, including early childhood interventions and characteristics of the child and family, on longitudinal patterns of childrens cognitive performance measured between 6 months and 8 years of age. Results indicate that more optimal patterns of cognitive development were associated with intensive early educational child care, responsive stimulating care at home, and higher maternal IQ. In accordance with a general systems model, analyses also suggested that child care experiences were related to better cognitive performance in part through enhancing the infants responsiveness to his or her environment. Maternal IQ had both a direct effect on cognitive performance during early childhood and, also, an indirect effect through its influence on the family environment.

Children's Social and Cognitive Development and Child-Care Quality: Testing for Differential Associations Related to Poverty, Gender, or Ethnicity

Secondary data analysis of data from 3 large child-care studies was conducted to address questions about whether factors such as poverty, minority ethnic background, gender, or parental authoritarian beliefs moderate the association between child-care quality and child cognitive and social outcomes. Data (N = 1,307) were combined to accrue a sufficient number of children who attended high-quality child-care centers who were from impoverished families or minority ethnic backgrounds to reliably compare their developmental outcomes with those of children in poorer quality care. Childrens behavior, language skills, and preacademic skills were analyzed as a function of child-care quality (low-, medium-, and high-quality groups based on the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale total scores), background risk factors, and parental attitudes to test hypotheses about risk and protective factors. Results provide further support for the hypothesis that quality of child care is related to childrens development for all children and quite limited support that child-care quality may matter more for children experiencing social risk factors. Language development was the only outcome in which child-care quality interacted with a risk variable, ethnicity, suggesting that quality of care is differentially more important for language development for children of color than for White-non-Hispanic children.

Family and classroom correlates of head start children's developmental outcomes

Program quality is an important theme for Head Start. Even staunch supporters of Head Start are concerned that too few Head Start classes are of the quality that is needed to best promote childrens growth and development. This study examined relationships between classroom quality and child outcomes among 145 Head Start children from poor quality to more stimulating home environments. Results indicated that children in higher quality Head Start classrooms performed better on measures of achievement and preacademic skills, regardless of the quality of their home environment. Children from better home environments seemed to benefit more from classroom quality in the area of problem solving and reasoning than did children from less stimulating homes. Teacher characteristics such as education, experience, and attitudes were not associated with classroom quality in this group of 32 Head Start classrooms. On the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, no classroom received a rating of inadequate, but only 9% met or exceeded the score that would be considered developmentally appropriate.

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.

Best Practices for Beginners: Developmental Appropriateness in Kindergarten:

National concerns about kindergarten focus on the developmental appropriateness of what is being taught and how it is being taught as well as on the increasing use of transition kindergarten classes and retention. One hundred and three randomly selected kindergarten classrooms across one state were observed to document the extent of developmental appropriate practices, and the teachers and principals of those classes were surveyed to determine predictors of classroom quality. Two observational measures and two questionnaires were used. Only 20% of the classes met or exceeded the criterion of developmental appropriateness. Quality of the classes was predicted by teachers’ and principals’ scores on a measure of knowledge and belief in developmental appropriate practices. Quality was not related to geographic location, school size, per pupil expenditure, or teacher or principal education or experience.

Quality in kindergarten classrooms: Observational evidence for the need to increase children's learning opportunities in early education classrooms.

Research Findings: Using observational data gathered in 730 kindergarten classrooms in 6 states, the present study focuses on the quality of childrens learning opportunities in kindergarten classrooms. Findings show that overall, children experience moderate to low levels of quality in the areas of classroom organization and instructional support in kindergarten. Results are also presented in comparison to childrens experiences in the pre-kindergarten year. These comparisons indicate that kindergarten children spend a greater proportion of the school day in language arts, math, and whole-group instruction and less time in centers than they do in pre-kindergarten. An examination of predictors of kindergarten classroom quality indicated that program characteristics (i.e., adult–child ratio, length of school day) and teacher psychological variables (i.e., beliefs and depressive symptoms) were stronger predictors of classroom quality than were teacher experience and educational background. Practice or Policy: Findings are discussed in terms of implications for childrens academic and social development in kindergarten as well as for kindergarten teacher preparation and development.

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.

Contributions of Hot and Cool Self-Regulation to Preschool Disruptive Behavior and Academic Achievement

The construct of self-regulation can be meaningfully distinguished into hot and cool components. The current study investigated self-regulation in a sample of 926 children aged 3–5 years old. Childrens performance on self-regulatory tasks was best described by two latent factors representing hot and cool regulation. When considered alone, hot and cool regulation were both significantly correlated with disruptive behavior and academic achievement. When considered together, cool regulation was uniquely associated with academic achievement, while hot regulation was uniquely associated with inattentive-overactive behaviors. Results are discussed with respect to treatment studies that directly target improvement in childrens self-regulation.