Janette Pelletier

Parent participation in children’ school readiness: The effects of parental self-efficacy, cultural diversity and teacher strategies

Many early intervention programs have been shaped by the notion that children’s development should be studied in the contexts of family and community. Reciprocal parent-child interaction is a key feature of child development in those contexts. Parent involvement, parental self-efficacy and parenting style are factors that influence parent-child interactions and contribute to early development, the transition to school, and future child outcomes. This study examined parent factors and teacher strategies to foster parent involvement and efficacy in a unique Canadian preschool intervention program in the Greater Toronto area. ESL (n=64) and English-speaking (n=59) parent groups, who participated in schoo-based Parenting and Readiness Center programs with their 4-year olds, were compared on goals for participation, parenting style, feelings of self-efficacy as a result of program participation and on their perceptions of teachers as model. Overall findings suggest that parents who perceive themselves as more effective are more involved in their children’s education at the pre-school level. Teacher strategies are described as a key feature in facilitating parent involvement and parental self-efficacy.

Parent and Community Involvement in Schools: Policy Panacea or Pandemic?

A global tide of policy, programs, and rhetoric puts parent and community involvement in the education mainstream. In the nineties, new policies on parent involvement in education were put in place at the national level in the US and UK, and in many state and local jurisdictions in the English speaking world and beyond (Moles, 2001; OECD, 1997). In the literature, reports and testimonials on parent involvement climbed steadily across the 1980s and 90s. Many promising local school community partnerships were reported (Holtzman, 1995; Corter, Harris, & Pelletier, 1998) but were not easily translated into wide scale policies. The role of the parent is popular fodder for the public mind and is good counterpoint to the roles of teachers and schools in accounting for the failures and successes of children. Report cards on parents are tabloid topics in the US, and parents being jailed for their children’s truancy gets similar press in the UK. Although it is harder to think about the roles of “community” and the complex interactions that surround the efforts of teachers and parents, the word has positive connotations not lost on politicians. Popular media reflect the importance of parents in education and large scale surveys suggest that the public, including parents themselves, see the responsibility for children’s school success as being shared between parents and schools (OECD, 1997; Williams, Williams, & Ullman, 2001, Livingstone, Hart, & Davie, 2000). In many ways, it seems that parent and community involvement have already been the ’’next big thing’’ in education

Differential Effects of Literacy Instruction Time and Homogeneous Ability Grouping in Kindergarten Classrooms Who Will Benefit? Who Will Suffer?

This study challenges the belief that homogeneous ability grouping benefits high-ability students in cognitive and social-emotional development at the expense of their low-ability peers. From a developmental point of view, the authors hypothesize that homogeneous grouping may improve the learning behaviors and may benefit the literacy learning of kindergartners at all ability levels through adaptive instruction under adequate instructional time. The benefits are expected to be more evident for medium- and low-ability children than for high-ability children. However, when instructional time is limited, low-ability children may suffer from high-intensity grouping, defined as grouping taking up a large proportion of instructional time. The authors also examine whether low-ability kindergartners develop lower self-esteem as a result of homogeneous grouping. Analyzing Early Childhood Longitudinal Study kindergarten cohort data, the authors find no overall advantage of homogeneous grouping for high-ability students. For medium-ability students’ literacy growth, homogeneous grouping appears to be optimal when teachers spend more than 1 hour per day on literacy instruction; high-intensity grouping shows additional advantage for improving these students’ general learning behaviors. For low-ability kindergartners, homogeneous grouping with ample instruction time seems to improve their general learning behaviors, whereas low-intensity grouping with ample instruction time seems to reduce internalizing problem behaviors. Yet for low-ability students’ literacy growth, a detrimental effect of high-intensity grouping is found when instructional time is limited. These findings contradict results from past research and have important implications for educational theories and practice.

Parent involvement in early childhood: a comparison of English language learners and English first language families

This study evaluated parents’ communication, involvement and knowledge of their children’s abilities in reading and mathematics among parents who spoke English as a first language (EL1) and those who were English language learners (ELL). Forty‐two kindergarten‐aged children, their parents and their teachers participated in the study. Results indicated that EL1 parents communicated more frequently with the teacher than ELL parents. However, there were no language group differences in parents’ involvement in their children’s education (as rated by the teacher). For both groups of parents (EL1 and ELL), parents’ ratings of their children’s abilities in reading did not predict children’s reading scores. However, parents’ ratings of their children’s abilities in mathematics did predict their children’s mathematics scores. Further analyses indicated that this relationship was not mediated by parents’ communication or involvement. It is concluded that parents’ accurate knowledge of their children’s abilities in mathematics may be the result of their involvement at home and particularly for ELL parents, their greater understanding of and emphasis on mathematics learning.

Narrative abilities in subgroups of English language learners and monolingual peers

Aims and objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the narrative ability of two subgroups of English Language Learners (ELLs) relative to a group of English monolingual (EL1) peers. Specifically, we investigated whether the three groups of children differed on measures of narrative macrostructure and microstructure. Methodology: Two groups of ELLs were identified on the basis of parent report of the language most often heard and spoken at home (ELL English language users, ELL minority language users). A group of monolingual English children served as a comparison group (n = 25 per language group). The children averaged 56 months of age. All children completed a narrative retell task. Data and analysis: The retell task was scored in relation to macrostructure (narrative information) and microstructure (number of utterances, mean length of utterance, number of different words, grammaticality). ANCOVAs, partialling out age and memory, revealed distinct performance profiles for the two ELL groups. Findings: There were no group differences on the number of utterances or story grammar. However, the performance of the ELL minority language group was significantly different from that of the EL1 and the ELL English language group on all microstructure measures (number of different words, sentence length, and grammaticality). Overall, the performance of the ELL English language users was indistinguishable from the EL1 group. Originality: The study highlights the heterogeneity in an ELL kindergarten sample with respect to English narrative ability, based on the extent to which English was heard and spoken at home. Implications: The findings highlight the need to gather detailed linguistic information about the home language environments of ELL children when involving them in language- or literacy-related tasks. An important implication of this information is the potential to lead to more nuanced expectations or teaching methods for subgroups of ELL children.

Unique Effects of a Family Literacy Program on the Early Reading Development of English Language Learners

Research Findings: The present study evaluated the effects of a Family Literacy program on the early English reading development of speakers of English as a first language (EL1s) and English language learners (ELLs). The study included a linguistically and culturally diverse sample of 132 kindergarten children and their parents. Families in the experimental group participated in a 9-week intervention program that was designed to promote early literacy in the home, whereas those in the control group did not receive the intervention. Both the experimental and control groups included EL1 and ELL children. Dependent variables included childrens gains in alphabet knowledge, conventions of print, and meaning. Results indicated that ELL children in the experimental group made greater gains in their knowledge of the alphabet and their ability to infer meaning from print than EL1 children in the experimental group and both ELL and EL1 controls. There were no language group differences in childrens gains in conventions of print. Practice or Policy: The results suggest that Family Literacy programs are associated with differential effects on the English reading development of EL1 and ELL children. Educational implications related to the development and implementation of effective Family Literacy programs for diverse communities are discussed.

Gender and Language Issues in Assessing Early Literacy: Group Differences in Children’s Performance on the Test of Early Reading Ability

The study investigated gender and language group differences in childrens performance on two versions of the Test of Early Reading Ability (TERA-2 and TERA-3). Two groups of children consisting of girls and boys and English first language (L1) and English language learners (ELL) participated in the study. Children in Group 1 completed the TERA-2, in which standard procedures involve obtaining a total score of childrens early reading ability. Alternatively, children in Group 2 were administered the TERA-3, which yields measures of childrens ability on three individual subtests (alphabet, conventions, and meaning). Results showed that gender and language group differences on the TERA-2 were not evident. However, L1 children outperformed ELL children on the meaning subtest of the TERA-3, while showing no differences on either alphabet or conventions. The findings speak to the importance of measuring individual components of early reading to assess childrens emergent literacy.

Relationships between Preschoolers' Oral Language and Phonological Awareness.

This study examines the relationship between complex oral language and phonological awareness in the preschool years. Specifically, the authors investigate the relationship between concurrent measures of oral narrative structure (based on measures of both story retell and generation), and measures of blending and elision in a sample of 89 children between 4 and 6 years of age. A hierarchical linear regression was conducted to determine whether oral narrative structure explained unique variance in skill in blending and elision over and above that explained by vocabulary and after controlling for a number of factors known to contribute to phonological awareness outcomes (age, nonverbal reasoning ability, phonological memory, letter knowledge, word reading). The results of the study support the authors’ hypothesis of an association between narrative structure and phonological awareness, and between vocabulary and phonological awareness. The findings are interpreted within a theoretical framework that posits that common structural and processing demands underlie oral narrative discourse and phonological awareness.

The Early Development Instrument as an evaluation and improvement tool for school-based, integrated services for young children and parents: The Toronto First Duty Project

Research Findings: Integrated services for young children and families are part of the new policy landscape in early childhood, but there is limited evidence of the effectiveness of these programs and how they develop on the ground. This study examined the use of the Early Development Instrument (EDI) as both a summative program evaluation tool and as a formative program improvement tool supporting practitioners in Toronto First Duty, an integrated services demonstration project that combined kindergarten, child care, and parenting supports in public schools. Pre-post comparisons at community demonstration sites and comparisons with matched community sites using the EDI suggested that the demonstration program was associated with modest improvements in emotional and social domains of childrens development. Mixed methods and multiple measures were used to contextualize summative findings in case studies across demonstration sites. The case studies explored how integration was implemented at different sites and how dimensions of enacted integration might contribute to positive outcomes for children and families. A case study of one site showed how an integrated staff team used EDI school-level profiles, along with formative feedback on program quality, to target and improve programming. Over the course of implementation, the integrated program environment quality ratings and EDI scores improved in relevant areas assessing quality of interaction and social–emotional development. Practice or Policy: Findings are discussed in terms of the role of the EDI in program evaluation and in improvement of practice. The potential value of integrated early childhood services and the challenges of evaluating complex community initiatives are also discussed.

Understanding Children's Self-Regulation within Different Classroom Contexts.

In this study, childrens self-regulation was observed, along with other social and academic activities in kindergarten classrooms during whole group, small group, transition and play contexts. We examined how childrens self-regulation and engagement differed among classroom grouping, play and transition contexts. Results showed that students respond to opportunities for self-regulation significantly more often in small group and play contexts. Similarly, children demonstrate the highest engagement in play and small group contexts. Given that adults and other children comprise an important part of the environment for childrens self-regulation, we also examined whether there were differences in the number of interactions children have with other children and educators across academic, social and play activities, and how these interactions broke down by classroom context. Findings have practical implications for educators working in early years settings; classroom grouping, play and transition contexts set the scene for childrens engagement and opportunities to self-regulate.