The transition to kindergarten is a critical period for children and families, with successful transitions setting the stage for short- and long-term academic and social success. This study explored ...the practices used by kindergarten teachers to help ease children's and families' transition into primary school (termed "transition practices"), and assessed their relationship to children's social and academic adjustment to school in a nationally representative sample of children in the United States (N = 4,900). On average, kindergarten teachers engaged in 3 transition practices, with outreach to parents and child or parent classroom visits most common, and structural changes to the school schedule less frequent. Private schools and more experienced teachers engaged in more transition practices, whereas ethnic and racial minority, immigrant, and urban children had teachers who reported fewer practices. Prospective, lagged regression models found that engagement in more types of transition practices was predictive of heightened prosocial behaviors among children, but was not associated with children's attention or academic outcomes. Examination of specific types of practices found that transition activities geared toward parents were associated with children's heightened academic skills in kindergarten. These results provide limited evidence to support the "more is better" view of transition practices and instead suggest that specific types of transition practices are linked to particular aspects of children's functioning.
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CEKLJ, FFLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PEFLJ, UPUK
Research Findings: The transition to kindergarten can be challenging for children and families. Research shows that some transition activities implemented by elementary schools can have small ...positive associations with children's outcomes. Examining the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2011 dataset (N= 13813), we explored whether children and families had access to different combinations of transition activities and whether those combinations were associated with child and family outcomes. Using latent class analysis, we found four distinct groups based on teacher and parent reports. Two groups had opportunities for engaging in many transition activities, while the other two groups had fewer transition activities offered - particularly face-to-face experiences. Children from low-income households were more likely to experience fewer types of transition activities, and children from higher-income households were more likely to experience a more comprehensive set of transition activities. Group membership predicted children's initial adjustment to kindergarten, parent involvement in school, and parent satisfaction with the elementary school. Practice or Policy: These findings suggest that more work is needed to develop policies and practices that ensure children and families with low incomes have transition supports available to them. This research also highlights the importance of considering how transition supports benefit parents, not just children.
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BFBNIB, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
•Family risks and resources at age 1 were examined using latent profile analysis.•Four profiles were identified among families enrolled in Early Head Start.•The profiles were not predictive of child ...outcomes at age 3.•Families in the depressed profile had higher family conflict and parenting stress.•Associations between the profiles and outcomes varied by Early Head Start dosage.
This study utilized latent class analysis to identify classes of family ecological resources and risks among low-income families with infants, examine differences in child and parent outcomes two years later, and explore Early Head Start (EHS) program quality and dosage from ages to 1 to 3 years as moderators of these associations. Data from a longitudinal study of families enrolled in EHS, the EHS Child and Family Experiences Study 2009–2012 (n = 527), were utilized to identify four classes: (a) Healthy, (b) Financial and Health Risks, (c) Educated and Supported, and (d) Depressed. There were no differences between the classes in children's outcomes, supportive parenting, or home environments two years later. Families in the Depressed class had higher family conflict and parenting stress. EHS quality did not moderate associations, however, some links between the classes and outcomes varied by dosage (numbers of home visits or days in center care).
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Head Start programs engage in multiple practices to support children and families during the transition to kindergarten. Children moving from Head Start to kindergarten often encounter ...discontinuities between the program and services they were receiving and the new elementary school environment. This paper uses multiple datasets and methods to provide a rich descriptive picture of the types of practices Head Start programs engage in to support the transition to kindergarten, including child and family focused transition practices and coordination practices with elementary schools. Data from a nationally representative sample of Head Start center directors (
N
= 129) showed that 95% reported having a formal transition process in place. However, reports on the specific practices that Head Start engaged in varied, with child and family focused practices reported by the majority of directors, but coordination practices showed more variability. Qualitative interview data with Head Start center directors (
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= 16), suggest that child and family focused transition practices varied slightly, but coordination practices varied more depending on the Head Start center’s relationships with the elementary schools and local education agencies to which the children were transitioning. Together, these data sources suggest that Head Start policy and guidance around transition practices is leading to high implementation of transition practices that Head Start has control over, but more supports may be needed for Head Start to build relationships with elementary schools in order to strengthen coordination practices.
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, ODKLJ, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
•This study compared four types of early education and care (EEC) programs (and parent care) used by low-income preschool-age children.•Public preschool and Head Start programs had the highest global ...quality and teacher qualifications.•Private preschool programs had moderate structural and global quality, and home EEC arrangements had low structural and process quality.•More advantaged children attended private centers and less advantaged attended Head Start, even within a low-income sample.•All center-based EEC promoted children’s cognitive skills, with the largest benefits from private centers.
Recent research has found that center-based early education and care (EEC) programs promote gains in cognitive skills for low-income children, but knowledge is limited concerning diverse types of EEC arrangements. This paper contrasts the primary EEC arrangements (Head Start, public centers, private centers, and home care) attended by economically disadvantaged children in the US with data on 4250 low-income children from the nationally-representative ECLS-B cohort. Results found public centers and Head Start programs provided children with the most educated and highly trained teachers and with the most enriching learning activities and global quality, with private centers showing moderate levels and home EEC very low levels of quality. Nonetheless, after adjusting for differential selection into EEC through propensity score weighting, low-income children who attended private EEC centers showed the highest math, reading, and language skills at age 5, with children attending Head Start and public centers also showing heightened math and reading skills in comparison to children experiencing only parent care. No differences were found in children’s behavioral skills at age five in relation to EEC type. Results support enhanced access to all center preschool programs for low-income children, and suggest the need for greater understanding of the processes through which EEC affects children’s school readiness skills.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Research Findings: This study examines efforts by Head Start programs to coordinate with elementary schools and seeks to better understand how coordination practices may support children's transition ...to and success in kindergarten. Data were drawn from a nationally representative sample of Head Start children (N = 2,019) followed through kindergarten. Findings suggest that Head Start programs are engaging in a variety of activities to coordinate with elementary schools around the transition to kindergarten. Results of lagged OLS regression analyzes found that coordination efforts were significantly related to children's language and mathematics skills in kindergarten for children attending elementary schools engaging in limited school transition practices to support school entry, suggesting that coordination practices initiated by preschools may play a compensatory role for children. In addition, results suggest that direct meetings between Head Start and kindergarten teachers are predictive of higher language skills in kindergarten. Policy or Practice: Efforts by Head Start programs to coordinate with elementary schools may be particularly important for children's academic skills when their elementary schools are less engaged in transition practices. In addition, meeting in person and having a key person responsible for the kindergarten transition may be key ingredients to coordination that yields better outcomes for children.
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BFBNIB, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Doctoral students in education-related fields are required to take graduate level statistics courses and often face anxiety and negative attitudes about taking these courses. Using a mixed methods ...survey research design (
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= 95), this study explored students’ experiences with statistics anxiety and how course instructors can support them to mitigate statistics anxiety and improve attitudes. Analyses of quantitative survey data found that students who had never taken a statistics course before beginning their doctoral program, and students that had completed less doctoral coursework had higher negative attitudes towards learning statistics; and older students had higher statistics anxiety. Plans to use research in the future predicted more positive attitudes and lower statistics anxiety. Analysis of qualitative survey data found that students: (1) expressed that their attitude towards learning statistics was very important and played a big role in how they approached their coursework; (2) considered their plans to use research skills in the future as motivation to learn statistics; and (3) believed that their instructors’ attitudes and instructional practices supported learning and decreased statistics anxiety. This study has implications for how statistics and research methods courses are taught in higher education, and how the experiences of graduate students in education may have lasting implications for research use in Prek-12 education settings.
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Caring relationships among families and providers are at the heart of high-quality early care and education (ECE). This study examines relationships between parents and providers in a nationally ...representative sample of infants and toddlers and their families (
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= 527) enrolled in the two-generation Early Head Start (EHS) program in the U.S. EHS’ primary services include home visiting and center-based early education, taking a whole family approach to provide comprehensive services within caring and trusting relationships. Using weighted lagged regression models, we found that parent and provider reports of their positive relationships with one another at age 2 years were related to some child and family outcomes at the end of their EHS experience at age 3 years. Providers who reported better relationships with parents rated children as having lower behavior problems and enhanced social competence, language comprehension, language production, and home environments. Parents who reported better relationships with providers also reported lower parenting stress and family conflict. Findings suggest that caring relationships between providers and parents are a key part of high-quality ECE within an environment dedicated to an ethic of care not just for children, but for the whole family.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, ODKLJ, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
The importance of parent engagement in children’s schooling is well documented, yet there is limited research on the quality of parent–teacher relationships specifically. In the present study, we ...aimed to help build knowledge in this area by investigating parent and teacher reports of home–school cooperation during children’s first year of school in Norway. Associations between parents’ and teachers’ reports of cooperation were examined as predictors of children’s academic skills and social functioning during their first year of school in Norway (
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= 932). Controlling for children’s achievement and behavior prior to school entry, children whose parents and teachers both reported very good cooperation with one another were rated as having better academic skills and social skills and as having fewer negative behaviors than children whose parents and teachers did not report very good cooperation. In addition, if both parents and teachers reported very good cooperation, children’s academic skills were rated as higher than if parents and teachers disagreed such that one reported very good cooperation, but the other did not.
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