Terrence Tivnan

Relations between teacher and classroom activity variables and the classroom behaviors of prekindergarten children in chapter 1 funded programs

This study of 586 children in 54 Chapter 1 funded classrooms in five geographical areas was part of a national observational study of early childhood programs. The study examined relations between eight teacher and classroom activity variables and 14 child variables. Correlational analyses indicated significant relations between program and teacher variables and childrens experiences in the classroom. More program and teacher variables were associated with childrens mastery than social experiences. Results indicated some benefits and trade offs when more teacher and classroom time was spent on teaching and on cognitively focused activities.

The Importance of Early Vocabulary for Literacy Achievement in High-Poverty Schools

Although research documents a key contribution of print skills to early literacy, vocabulary and other language skills also provide an important foundation. Focusing on a sample of several hundred low-income children in 16 urban schools that were implementing literacy interventions, 1st-grade predictors of literacy development were traced over time. Beginning-of-1st-grade letter–word identification and word attack skills were the strongest predictors of reading comprehension at the end of 1st grade. However, vocabulary was the best predictor of reading comprehension at the end of 2nd and 3rd grades. The predictive power of early print-related and phonemic-awareness skills diminished over time, yet vocabulary scores remained an important predictor. Results support an early emphasis on developing meaning skills to prepare low-income children for success in literacy.

Comparing Four Literacy Reform Models in High‐Poverty Schools: Patterns of First‐Grade Achievement

Low‐performing districts have sought to raise student achievement through adoption of schoolwide models for the reform of literacy instruction, a trend that has intensified under the Reading First Act. This study examined literacy achievement for first graders in a large urban district that offered its schools a choice of literacy reform models. Sixteen high‐poverty schools that had made at least “good” efforts in implementing their chosen reform model were the focus of the investigation. Literacy achievement for 590 children was assessed in fall and spring of first grade, including assessments of word reading, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing. The models adopted in the district, Building Essential Literacy, Developing Literacy First, Literacy Collaborative, and Success for All, produced similarly strong outcomes in first‐grade word reading despite philosophical and practical differences in the models’ implementation. Skills related to meaning construction, however, were low for children receiving instruction in all four models, with vocabulary and reading comprehension failing to reach grade‐level expectations for most children.

The Effects of Early Education On Children's Competence in Elementary School

Programs of early education have focused primarily on low-income populations and on outcomes available from traditional assessments of childrens intelligence or achievement. This evaluation used observations of childrens behavior in elementary school classrooms several years after the program services had been delivered. Childrenfrom a wide range of family backgrounds were included. The results indicated that program participants benefited particularly in the area of mastery skills or academic learning behaviors. Children with highly educated mothers showed advantages regardless ofprogram service level, but children whose mothers were less highly educated showed advantages only with relatively intensive service level.

Predicting school performance with the early screening inventory

Criteria are proposed for defining and selecting preschool developmental screening instruments. These criteria include the purpose, breadth, and psychometric properties of screening tests. The Early Screening Inventory (ESI) is a developmental screening instrument designed to satisfy these criteria. The test samples developmental, rather than school achievement, abilities and focuses on performance in a wide range of developmental areas. The results of several reliability and validity studies performed on the ESI are presented, demonstrating that the ESI predicts school performance with moderate to excellent accuracy through the end of second grade. The usefulness and limitations of the ESI in predicting school performance from kindergarten to grade four are discussed.

The Impact of Early Education Measured by Classroom Observations and Teacher Ratings of Children in Kindergarten

A comprehensive birth-to-kindergarten program was evaluated by classroom observa tions and teacher ratings of 132 participant children and 366 comparison children during fall and spring of the kindergarten year. The observations revealed significant advantages for the participants in both fall and spring on a majority of indices, particularly for behaviors categorized as social and use of time. The teacher ratings indicated few overall differences, with advantages for participants only in the fall on a prereading scale. A logistic regression model was used to adjust for possible effects of childrens background characteristics; advantages for participants over comparison children were consistent across background characteristics. On the teacher ratings, the adjustments revealed significant interactions: advantages of participants over comparison children were found for subgroups traditionally associated with having difficulties in kindergarten.

Multiplicity of Emotions in Moral Judgment and Motivation

Multiple moral emotions were examined from a dynamic motivational framework through two hypothetical dilemmas that originate from the cognitive-developmental research program in morality. A questionnaire based on recognition task measurement of moral motivation and emotions was administered to 546 college students. As part of the dynamic complexity of moral motivation, intrapersonal operation of multiple emotions were expected and found toward each emotion target in each judgment context. Compassion and distress were among the most important moral emotions. Relatively strong degrees of anger and hate were reported toward the victimizers in ways that distinguished judgment choices. Participants distinguished a variety of positive emotions from anger and hate through differential associations with judgment choices. The study revealed orderly patterns of variability in the multiplicity of moral emotional experience based on relations with specific emotion targets, judgment choices, and developmental quality of moral motivation. The overall developmental quality of moral motivation was negatively associated with hate and positively associated with anger toward the victimizers. Emotional awareness was also found to be positively related to the developmental quality of moral motivation. Exploring the intrapersonal multiplicity of moral emotional experience has important implications for understanding the complexity of moral decision making and motivation.

Moral Motivation Based on Multiple Developmental Structures: An Exploration of Cognitive and Emotional Dynamics

ABSTRACT Intrapersonal variability and multiplicity in the complexity of moral motivation were examined from Dynamic Systems and Self-Determination Theory perspectives. L. Kohlbergs (1969) stages of moral development are reconceptualized as soft-assembled and dynamically transformable process structures of motivation that may operate simultaneously within person in different degrees. Moral motivation is conceptualized as the real-time process of self-organization of cognitive and emotional dynamics out of which moral judgment and action emerge. A detailed inquiry into intrapersonal variation in moral motivation is carried out based on the differential operation of multiple motivational structures. A total of 74 high school students and 97 college students participated in the study by completing a new questionnaire, involving 3 different hypothetical moral judgments. As hypothesized, findings revealed significant multiplicity in the within-person operation of developmental stage structures, and intrapersonal variability in the degrees to which stages were used. Developmental patterns were found in terms of different distributions of multiple stages between high school and college samples, as well as the association between age and overall motivation scores. Differential relations of specific emotions to moral motivation revealed and confirmed the value of differentiating multiple emotions. Implications of the present theoretical perspective and the findings for understanding the complexity of moral judgment and motivation are discussed.

The Importance of Small but Consistent Group Differences on Standardized Tests: The Case of Sex Differences on the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities.

Investigated sex differences on the McCarthy Scales of Childrens Abilities. While few of the sex differences on the separate scales were statistically significant, binomial tests indicated that the overall pattern of differences consistently favored females. Several reasons why these smali but consistent between-group differences may have important consequences in evaluation settings are discussed. The procedures presented here should prove generally useful in situations in which a series of tests or subtests is used.