Karen E. Diamond

Evaluating the Quality of Evidence from Correlational Research for Evidence-Based Practice

Only true experiments offer definitive evidence for causal inferences, but not all educational interventions are readily amenable to experiments. Correlational evidence can at least tentatively inform evidence-based practice when sophisticated causal modeling or exclusion methods are employed. Correlational evidence is most informative when exemplary practices are followed as regards (a) measurement, (b) quantifying effects, (c) avoiding common analysis errors, and (d) using confidence intervals to portray the range of possible effects and the precisions of the effect estimates.

Preschool Children's Conceptions of Disabilities The Salience of Disability in Children's Ideas About Others

This research investigates the ways in which preschool children conceptualize different disabilities. Subjects were 46 children, 3 to 6 years of age, enrolled in inclusive preschool programs. Children were interviewed to learn their ideas about physical and sensory disabilities and Down syndrome, and to assess the salience of disability in their responses to photographs of unfamiliar children. Results revealed that most children were aware of physical disability, half of the children were aware of sensory disabilities, and no children expressed an awareness of Down syndrome. Children were sensitive to the effects of a physical disability on a childs motor performance, but were less aware of the consequences of other disabilities. These results have important implications for understanding typically developing childrens reactions to, and ideas about, their classmates with disabilities in inclusive settings.

The Role of Parental Report in the Screening and Assessment of Young Children

This paper reviews research focusing on the role of parental report in screening and assessment of young children. Specific issues discussed include the relationship between parent report and the childs tested performance, variables that may affect parent-professional agreement, the effect of such disagreement on the usefulness of parent report, and how and when parent report should be used. We discuss the role of parent report in screening, assessment, and program planning. We make specific recommendations for the systematic use of parent report in early intervention efforts.

Relationships Between Enrollment in an Inclusive Class and Preschool Children's Ideas about People with Disabilities

This research examines the relationships between participation in an inclusive preschool program, childrens understanding of disabilities, and their acceptance of children with disabilities. Subjects were preschool children enrolled in regular (n = 31) and inclusive (n = 29) programs. Childrens understanding of competencies associated with specific disabilities, and their general acceptance of others, were assessed using interview questions and dolls. Children were interviewed to learn their ideas about the immediate and long-term consequences of physical and sensory disabilities. In addition, children provided ratings of the social acceptance of hypothetical children with and without disabilities. Children in inclusive classes had more knowledge about long-term consequences of disabilities than did children in regular preschool classes. In addition, children in inclusive settings gave significantly higher acceptance ratings to children with and without disabilities than did children in regular preschool classes. Finally, it was found that childrens knowledge of disabilities, their overall acceptance of individuals without disabilities, and their participation in an inclusive class contributed significantly and independently to their acceptance of children with disabilities.

An Iterative Approach to the Development of a Professional Development Intervention for Head Start Teachers

Access to high-quality education is uneven, particularly for preschool children who are at risk for school failure. Professional development (PD) for teachers, including the use of coaching, is an increasingly common approach for promoting evidence-based instruction. Existing research suggests that the frequency of teacher participation in a PD intervention is related to the magnitude of PD effects, but there is little research on how to engage teachers in learning about and implementing evidence-based practices. In this article, the authors describe an iterative approach to the development of a PD intervention that employs coaching aimed at helping Head Start teachers improve their language and literacy instruction. The authors describe sequential, small-scale studies that influenced their approach to PD. Results of a pilot study of the PD intervention suggested that teachers had positive responses to the intervention content and approach. Implications for developing and implementing PD interventions designed to improve classroom instruction are included.

Relationships Among Young Children's Ideas, Emotional Understanding, and Social Contact with Classmates with Disabilities

This study examined relationships among childrens ideas about helping others, their understanding of emotions, their acceptance of individuals with disabilities, and their social contact with classmates with disabilities. Participants were 45 children enrolled in preschool classes that included classmates with disabilities. Childrens ideas about helping, understanding of emotions, and acceptance of individuals with disabilities were elicited in interviews. Classroom observations were used to record the frequency of childrens social contacts with classmates with disabilities. Results revealed that children who had social contact with classmates with disabilities had significantly higher scores on measures of emotion understanding and acceptance of individuals with disabilities than did children who had contact only with typically developing classmates.

INTERGENERATIONAL PROGRAM EFFECTS ON SOCIAL RESPONSES OF ELDERLY ADULT DAY CARE MEMBERS

Through use of an ABAB design and momentary time‐sampling procedure, 10 elderly members of an adult day care center were observed for their social responses during two separate baseline (A) and intervention (B) conditions. Intervention consisted of an intergenerational nursery school. Baseline data were obtained before the program started and when school was not in session. Repeated‐measure ANOVA indicates that the elderly participants showed significantly higher levels of social interaction and significantly lower levels of solitary productive behaviors when the preschool program was in session than when it was not.

Links Among Home Literacy Environment, Literacy Interest, and Emergent Literacy Skills in Preschoolers At Risk for Reading Difficulties:

Researchers have suggested that children who are interested in literacy activities and voluntarily engage in them are likely to become better readers than children with less literacy interest. Literacy interest, along with engaging literacy activities and responsive teaching, are important components in children’s early literacy experiences. This study examines associations among children’s self-reported literacy interest, their parents’ reports of home literacy environment (HLE), and their code-related skills. Overall, literacy interest was related to code-related skills (i.e., letter–word identification and alphabet knowledge). HLE was not related to code-related skills. Further analyses reveal different patterns of relations among interest and code-related skills for children with low receptive language scores compared to their peers with age-level receptive language scores. These results suggest that taking advantage of individual children’s interests as well as planning activities that are likely to be interesting may be effective strategies for promoting children’s learning of important school readiness skills.

Young Children's Decisions to Include Peers With Physical Disabilities in Play

The authors examined factors related to preschool children’s reasoning about including a hypothetical peer with a physical disability in different play activities. They hypothesized that children’s inclusion decisions would be influenced by features of the physical environment, attention to issues of fairness and equity, and individual child characteristics. Participants comprised 72 children enrolled in inclusive preschool classrooms. Children’s ideas about inclusion and their inclusion decisions were gathered in response to vignettes reflecting experiences that children are likely to encounter in preschool. The authors found that children were significantly more likely to say that they would include a child with a physical disability in an activity requiring few motor skills. Children’s inclusion decisions were also significantly associated with their developing theory-of-mind skills and with prompts that encouraged them to consider issues of fairness and equity when making a decision. These results suggest that adaptations of planned activities that promote participation by reducing motor demands for all children, along with attention to issues of fairness and equity of opportunity, may be effective classroomwide interventions to support inclusion of children with disabilities in play activities with peers.

Participation in Inclusive Preschool Programs and Sensitivity to the Needs of Others

This study examined how childrens ideas about a prosocial behavior, helping, are related to their experiences in an inclusive preschool. Thirty three preschool children enrolled in inclusive classes, and 30 children enrolled in early childhood classes for typically developing children only participated in the study. Childrens ideas about helping were elicited in interviews. In addition, preschool teachers rated each childs prosocial behaviors. Results revealed that children in inclusive classes received statistically significantly higher helping strategy scores and were statistically significantly more likely to refer to disability in their responses than children in early childhood classes for typically developing children only. These results are consistent with previous work, and suggest that young children are capable of sensitivity to the needs and competencies of children with disabilities. Implications for classroom practice are offered.