Rebecca M. Stowe

Promoting academic success and preventing disruptive behavior disorders through community partnership

Research suggests that childrens educational achievement can be improved by addressing issues of aggression and disruptive behavior, because academic difficulties and problem behaviors create a cycle in which each problem exacerbates the other. The relationship between academic development and behavior problems begins early, suggesting that programs to address these issues should start with young children. Furthermore, efforts to improve achievement are most likely to succeed when they focus both on childrens academic skills and on their interest in academic activities. As part of the research, programs at home and at school are being coordinated and community partnerships are being developed to test these approaches and facilitate childrens healthy development.

Parental influence on child interest in shared picture book reading

Abstract Children’s early interest in shared reading is thought to be important to later reading achievement. However, influences on such interest have not been adequately studied. The present study evaluated whether parents can affect their children’s interest in shared reading, using a multimethod assessment. Twenty-five parents and their preschool-aged children were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or an attention-control group. Parents in the interest intervention group learned strategies thought to be important to fostering interest in shared reading. After one week, children in the intervention group were more interested in shared reading compared to children in the attention-control group. After four weeks, intervention parents still reported increased child interest, though direct observations suggested somewhat diminished effects. These results provide a rare experimental evaluation of parental influence on interest, and suggest potential value in further developing interest interventions.

Gender differences in the relationship of language development to disruptive behavior and peer relationships in preschoolers

The present study examined whether there are gender differences among preschoolers in how language development is related to disruptive behavior and peer relationships. Participants were 185 largely minority, preschool children from low income families and their 16 teachers. Videotaped observations were coded to assess disruptive and off-task behavior in group learning situations. Teachers rated disruptive behavior and the quality of peer relationships and they provided information about service referrals. Language skills were assessed with standardized tests. Lower levels of language skills were more strongly associated with disruptive behavior and poor peer relationships for boys than for girls. Disruptive behavior was related to the probability that a child would be referred for services. Language development difficulties tended to be seen by teachers only when paired with behavior problems.

Direct observation of peer rejection acts and their temporal relation with aggressive acts.

The peer rejection literature has focused only on sociometric rejection and has not included direct observation of specific acts of rejection. This study provides observations of rejection acts and examines the temporal relation between acts of rejection and aggressive acts. Videotape samples of 86 preschool children were collected from 6 classrooms. Acts of rejection were reliably coded. Aggressive acts and acts of rejection by peers tended to occur closely together in time, suggesting that these are related. A clear temporal pattern was found in which children were likely to be recipients of rejection acts shortly after exhibiting aggressive acts.