Oscar A. Barbarin

Socioeconomic Differences in Reading Trajectories : The Contribution of Family, Neighborhood, and School Contexts

In the present study, the authors use the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Cohort of 1998-1999, to examine the extent to which family, school, and neighborhood factors account for the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on childrens early reading. Through the use of hierarchical linear modeling techniques, growth curve models were estimated to depict childrens reading trajectories from kindergarten to 3rd grade. Family characteristics made the largest contribution to the prediction of initial kindergarten reading disparities. This included home literacy environment, parental involvement in school, and parental role strain. However, school and neighborhood conditions contributed more than family characteristics to SES differences in learning rates in reading. The association between school characteristics and reading outcomes suggests that makeup of the student population, as indexed by poverty concentration and number of children with reading deficits in the school, is related to reading outcomes. The findings imply that multiple contexts combine and are associated with young childrens reading achievement and growth and help account for the robust relation of SES to reading outcomes.

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.

Adult Outcomes as a Function of an Early Childhood Educational Program: An Abecedarian Project Follow-Up

Adult (age 30) educational, economic, and social-emotional adjustment outcomes were investigated for participants in the Abecedarian Project, a randomized controlled trial of early childhood education for children from low-income families. Of the original 111 infants enrolled (98% African American), 101 took part in the age 30 follow-up. Primary indicators of educational level, economic status, and social adjustment were examined as a function of early childhood treatment. Treated individuals attained significantly more years of education, but income-to-needs ratios and criminal involvement did not vary significantly as a function of early treatment. A number of other indicators were described for each domain. Overall, the findings provide strong evidence for educational benefits, mixed evidence for economic benefits, and little evidence for treatment-related social adjustment outcomes. Implications for public policy are discussed.

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.

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.

Exposure to Violence, Coping Resources, and Psychological Adjustment of South African Children

The effects of exposure to direct and vicarious political, family, and community violence on the adjustment of 625 six-year-old black South African children was examined. Ambient community violence was most consistently related to childrens psychosocial outcomes. Resources in the form of individual child resilience, maternal coping, and positive family relationships were found to mitigate the adverse impact in all the assessed domains of childrens functioning.

Stress, Coping, and Marital Functioning among Parents of Children with Cancer.

In individual interviews and questionnaires, 32 married couples provide information regarding their experiences and strategies for coping with their childrens cancer. This report examines the association between medical stress, personal coping strategies, coping strategies of spouses, congruence of the couples coping patterns, and their assessments of marital functioning. Most informants report that family cohesion is strengthened by their experiences wtrn cntianooa cancer and that their spouses are the most important source of social support. However, as the number of the childs hospitalizations increases, perceptions of support from spouse and assessments of marital quality decreases. The wifes perceptions of support from her spouse are related to the husbands involvement in the care of the child; and the husbands perception of support from his spouse is related to the wifes availability in the home as opposed to the hospital. Although personal coping strategies are unrelated to evaluations of marital functioning, some matches between personal and spouse coping are related to perceptions of marital quality and support from spouses.

Coping and Resilience: Exploring the Inner Lives of African American Children

In contrast to the conclusions commonly drawnfrom media portrayals ofAfrican American children, the majority are not poorly adjusted. Many do weU even by traditional standards, such as mental health, high school graduation, and employment. Although the simultaneous pursuit of diverse research strategies is possible, the focus on problems such as delinquency and aggression has so dominated the national agenda that it has diverted resources awayfrom research on normal development and resilience. A model is proposed to delineate several sociocultural, family, neighborhood4 and personal coping factors thought to moderate the effects of stress and risk factors that ordinarily contribute to adverse developmental outcomes in children and adolescents. The need for research on emotional development particularly the developing capacity for emotion regulation, is unquestionable. The article concludes by proposing research on issues related to resilience and coping that can advance our understanding of the emotional development of African American children.

Sibling adaptation to childhood cancer collaborative study: prevalence of sibling distress and definition of adaptation levels

A multisite collaborative study assessed the frequency and intensity of emotional/behavioral distress in siblings of children with cancer. A sample of 254 siblings, aged 4 to 18 years, and their parents completed interviews and self-report measures 6 to 42 (average 22.5) months after diagnosis of cancer in a brother or sister. Matched controls were obtained from respondents to the Child Health Supplement of the National Health Interview Survey administered in 1988 (CHS88). Before diagnosis, the prevalence of parent-reported emotional/behavioral problems among siblings was similar to that in the general population (7.7% vs 6.3%; p = not significant). After diagnosis, prevalence rose to 18% among siblings. When siblings were grouped according to the presence or absence of problems exacerbated by and/or arising after diagnosis, four levels of adaptation, consistent with scores on the Behavior Problem Scales from the CHS88, emerged. This differentiation may help explain inconsistencies in sibling response reported previously and provides a framework for investigating factors that enhance adaptation. J Dev Behav Pediatr 15:353–366, 1994. Index terms: chronic illness, childhood cancer, siblings, adaptation, coping, psychosocial stress.