Profiles of classroom activity settings associated with Head Start children's receptive vocabulary

Abstract

Using a series of data from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), nationally representative datasets of Head Start classrooms and children collected in the 2000s, we explored (1) classroom profiles of the proportion of time spent in four types of activity settings in Head Start classrooms, (2) differences in teacher and classroom characteristics among the profiles, and (3) how the profiles were associated with children's end-of-year academic outcomes. Latent Profile Analyses indicated three classroom profiles: High Child Selected (HCS), High Whole Group, and Small Group/Balanced. Teachers in HCS had the least developmentally inappropriate beliefs, and children in HCS classrooms showed the highest receptive vocabulary skills at the end of the school year; no differences among profiles in literacy and math skills were found. Findings suggest that more time spent in child-selected activities, relative to teacher-directed activities, has the potential to benefit vocabulary development without hampering literacy or math development.