Comparative social adjustments of elementary school pupils with and without preschool training.

Abstract

Educators, psychologists, and sociologists have generally agreed upon the importance of early childhood in the formation of personality and character. No doubt this emphasis is well placed. However, there is still much to be found out about the conditions or kinds of experiences which make for significant differences in subsequent development. It is the major purpose of this paper to present a report of some efforts to evaluate the extent to which nursery school and kindergarten experiences can be shown to make a difference in classroom social adjustments in subsequent elementary school grades. The primary question to be answered is: Can those children, as a group, who have had these preschool socializing experiences be shown to have measurable advantages in subsequent years in classroom social adjustments as compared with children in the same classes who have had no nursery school or kindergarten training? This report consists of a review of three studies bearing on this question, together with a discussion of the findings.