African American Preschoolers Research Articles

Supporting African American Preschool Teachers' Use of Developmentally and Culturally Appropriate Practices

(2003). Supporting African American Preschool Teachers' Use of Developmentally and Culturally Appropriate Practices. Multicultural Perspectives: Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 39-42.

YOUNG CHILDREN'S NARRATIVES AND IDEOLOGIES OF LANGUAGE IN CLASSROOMS

A research study of African-American preschool and kindergarten children in urban settings was conducted to generate insights about narrative development. This article discusses the use of two different narrative styles, narratives as text and narratives as performance, and the tension that often exists between these two perspectives. The production of a well-formed narrative text may not necessarily be accompanied by an engaging performance and vice versa. More importantly, there is a tension in how narratives are evaluated in school. Data suggest that schools may emphasize an orientation toward narrative as text and diminish the importance narrative performances, especially those that build social relationships and social identities at the expense of "well-structured" text.

"I'm Happy with My Mommy": Low-Income Preschoolers' Causal Attributions for Emotions

This study examined low-income African American and European American preschoolers' socioemotional causal attributions. Forty-seven Young (M = 48 months) and Old (M = 62 months) preschoolers were asked to justify a puppet's current emotion and to talk about their past emotional experiences. Responses were coded for Causal Theme and Clarity. Old preschoolers were twice as likely to attribute interpersonal themes, and Young preschoolers were 4 times more likely to generate causal themes that were uncodeable. In terms of clarity, children provided clearer responses for anger and fear than they did for happiness. Old preschoolers' explanations for emotions were clearer than young preschoolers' and young African Americans', who had the most difficulty explaining emotions. Results indicate that younger preschoolers, particularly young African Americans, may need help articulating emotions. Suggestions for how adults can scaffold preschoolers' emotional reasoning are discussed.

Profiles of social competence among low-income African American preschool children.

Relations between children's personal attributes and peer play competence were investigated in a sample of 141 African American preschool children who participated in Head Start. Variable-oriented analyses confirmed that dispositions of temperament, emotion regulation, autonomy, and language were related to children's peer play competence in the classroom. Person-oriented analyses revealed distinctive profiles of personal attributes linked to adaptive preschool social functioning. A small group of resilient children whose profile was characterized by highly adaptable temperament, ability to approach new situations, and above average vocabulary development evidenced the greatest social competence with peers. Children who were disruptive with peers were equally divided between two profiles characterized by inattention and activity, but with differential performance on vocabulary tasks. A profile containing calm, reticent children was the group least likely to engage in disruptive peer play. Inspection of the six profiles revealed the within-group variability for this economically disadvantaged sample and illustrated the differential importance of temperament, regulation, and language constructs. Findings from the profile analyses and relations with peer competence inform the study of resilience in social development for urban African American children who participate in early intervention preschool programs.

Perspectives on Speech Fluency Issues in African Americans

No AccessPerspectives on Communication Disorders and Sciences in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) PopulationsArticle1 Jul 2002Perspectives on Speech Fluency Issues in African Americans Tommie L. Robinson Tommie L. Robinson Scottish Rite Center for Childhood Language Disorders Children's Hearing and Speech Center Children's Hospital Google Scholar More articles by this author https://doi.org/10.1044/cds8.2.15 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationTrack Citations ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In "Perspectives on Speech Fluency Issues in African Americans." Perspectives on Communication Disorders and Sciences in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) Populations, 8(2), pp. 15–16 References Anderson, B. (1981). An analysis of the relationship of age and sex to type and frequency of disfluencies in lower socioeconomic preschool Black children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. Google Scholar Brutten, G. & Miller, R. (1988). The disfluencies of normally fluent Black first graders.Journal of Fluency Disorders, 13, 291–299. Google Scholar Conrad, C. (1985). A conversational act analysis of Black mother-child dyads including stuttering and nonstuttering children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. Google Scholar Conrad, C. (1987). Fluency in multicultural populations.In L. C. & V. Deal (Eds.), Communication disorders in multicultural populations. Unpublished manuscript. Rockville, MD: ASHA. Google Scholar Ford, S. (1986). Pragmatic abilities in Black disfluent preschoolers. Unpublished master’s thesis, Howard University, Washington, DC. Google Scholar Goldman, R. (1967). Cultural influences on the sex ratio in the incidence of stuttering.American Anthropology, 69, 78–81. Google Scholar Leith, W. R., & Mims, H. A. (1975). Cultural influences in the development and treatment of stuttering: A preliminary report on the Black stutterer.Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 40, 459–466. Google Scholar Nathanson, S. (1969). A study of the influence of race, socioeconomic status and sex on the speech fluency of 200 nonstuttering fifth graders, Unpublished dissertation, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. Google Scholar Robinson, T. L.Jr. & Crowe, T. A. (1987). A comparative study of speech disfluencies in nonstuttering Black and White college male athletes.Journal of Fluency Disorders, 12, 147–156. Google Scholar Robinson, T. L.Jr. & Crowe, T. A. (1998). Culture-based considerations in programming for stuttering intervention with African American clients and their families.Language, Speech and Hearing Services in the Schools, 29, 172–179. AbstractGoogle Scholar Robinson, T. L.Jr., Davis, J. G., & Crowe, T. A. (2000). Disfluency in nonstuttering African American preschoolers during conversation and narrative discourse.Contemporary Issues in Communication Science and Disorders, 27, 164–171. Google Scholar Additional Resources FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 8Issue 2July 2002Pages: 15-16 Get Permissions Add to your Mendeley library History Published in issue: Jul 1, 2002 Metrics Downloaded 22 times Topicsasha-topicsleader-topicsasha-article-typesasha-sigsCopyright & Permissions© 2002 American Speech-Language-Hearing AssociationLoading ...

Parenting Styles and Child Behavior in African American Families of Preschool Children

Examined the relations between parenting styles and child behavior problems in African American preschool children. Participants were 108 African American female caregivers of 3- to 6-year-old children. Correlational analysis showed that parent-reported child behavior problems were associated with maternal education, family income, and parents' endorsement of authoritative parenting, authoritarian parenting, and permissive parenting. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that the authoritative parenting style was most predictive of fewer child behavior problems. These results are consistent with previous findings with European American families and provide strong support for the cross-cultural validity of the authoritative parenting style.

Parenting Styles and Child Behavior in African American Families of Preschool Children

Examined the relations between parenting styles and child behavior problems in African American preschool children. Participants were 108 African American female caregivers of 3- to 6-year-old children. Correlational analysis showed that parent-reported child behavior problems were associated with maternal education, family income, and parents' endorsement of authoritative parenting, authoritarian parenting, and permissive parenting. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that the authoritative parenting style was most predictive of fewer child behavior problems. These results are consistent with previous findings with European American families and provide strong support for the cross-cultural validity of the authoritative parenting style.

Oral Language Expectations for African American Preschoolers and Kindergartners

Fundamental to improving our clinical and empirical understanding of African American students is the development of appropriate, culture-fair assessment methods. This investigation provides descriptive information in the form of means and standard deviations for the performances of 100 typically developing African American preschool and kindergarten students on selected measures of oral language production and comprehension. The measures included four derived from free-play spontaneous language samples: a dialect density measure, mean length of C-units, frequencies of complex syntax, and number of different words. Two measures were derived from responses to nonstandardized elicitations in the form of question prompts and probes of active/passive voice construction. Performances were stable for socioeconomic status on all measures. Dialect density and number of different words varied significantly by gender. Responding to requests for information in the form of question prompts showed a statistically significant increase from preschool to kindergarten. The protocol is recommended for culturefair assessment purposes with African American students as they begin formal education.

The Africentric Home Environment Inventory: An Observational Measure of the Racial Socialization Features of the Home Environment for African American Preschool Children

The sociocultural context of the home is one of the most important socializing environments for young children. In this study, the authors describe an observational measure for racial socialization features of the home environment. Data were collected during home visits to 200 socioeconomically diverse urban African American families with preschool children, and a principal axis factor analysis revealed a single factor with an internal reliability of .88. The scale varied significantly by socioeconomic status and was significantly correlated with parent involvement and enrichment behaviors and child achievement and problem-solving ability. This inventory is an important complement to parent-report measures for the study of racial socialization and the development of preschool African American children and will contribute to the understanding of the importance of culturally anchored socialization practices for the optimal development of children of color.

The influence of racial socialization practices on the cognitive and behavioral competence of African American preschoolers.

The association between parent racial socialization and child competence was examined in a socioeconomically diverse sample of African American preschoolers living in an urban setting. Interviews were conducted in the homes of 200 families. Racial socialization was assessed by parent report as well as by observation of the sociocultural context of the home, and child outcomes were assessed using the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children and the Child Behavior Checklist. Results indicated that African American parents who provided homes that were rich in African American culture had preschool children who had greater amounts of factual knowledge and better developed problem-solving skills. African American parents who socialized their preschool children to be proud of their heritage reported fewer problem behaviors.

A validation study of the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale with urban Hispanic and African American preschool children.

Promoting young children’s readiness to learn is a national priority. With the arrival of the new millennium, it is appropriate to reassess our National Education Goal that all American children will start school ready to learn by the year 2000 (U.S. Department of Education, 1992). While the 1990s have yielded improvements in the status of young children’s well-being, too many young children still face ?socially-toxic? environments that threaten the development of competencies necessary for early school success (Garbarino, 1995). Approximately one in five American children currently lives in poverty (Children’s Defense Fund, 1998), and is exposed to multiple risk factors—including poor health care, lack of appropriate housing, family stress, and community violence—that severely threaten their development (Huston, McLoyd, & Garcia Coll, 1994). In addition, risk associated with membership in low-income families disproportionately affects children from ethnic minority communities (McLoyd, 1990, 1998; Swanson & Spencer, 1991).

Identifying and promoting social competence with African American preschool children: Developmental and contextual considerations

AbstractSchool psychologists and teachers are frequently asked to assess the level of social competence of preschool children as one indicator of their academic readiness. However, many assessment instruments available to psychologists working in early childhood settings fail to consider important contexts where children acquire social competencies. This study presents a comprehensive picture of multiple constructs that play a role in understanding African American preschool children's social competence. Domains of temperament, language, self‐regulation, and peer play were assessed within a classroom context for a sample of 139 low‐income African American children attending Head Start. Findings support the importance of considering both children's developmental stage and their gender when evaluating aspects of social competence, particularly temperament and interactive peer play abilities. As a group, younger boys experienced the greatest difficulties with initiating and sustaining play activities with classmates. Language abilities and self‐regulation were significantly greater among older preschool children. Implications for school psychologists conducting preschool assessment, intervention, and outreach to parents and teachers within early childhood settings are discussed. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Complex syntax production of African American preschoolers.

This study examined changes in the complex syntax production of 85 3- and 4-year-old African American children and the role of child (i.e., gender, age, African American English) and family (i.e., home environment) factors. The mean percentage of utterances containing one or more complex syntax forms was 6.2% at 3 years and 11.7% at 4 years. Girls produced more complex syntax forms than did boys. Complex syntax production increased significantly between age 3 and age 4 and correlated positively with mean length of utterance in words. Children from more responsive and stimulating home environments produced more complex syntax at 4 years. African American English was not related to the amount of complex syntax used.

Undervaccinated African-American preschoolers: A case of missed opportunities

Objective: To identify factors associated with undervaccination of African-American preschoolers, to describe the number of vaccination visits made by undervaccinated children and the number of visits needed to be series complete, and to describe the children who did not receive the single dose of measles-containing vaccine recommended for preschoolers. Methods: We used the 1999 National Immunization Survey (NIS) to describe vaccination coverage for the 4:3:1:3 vaccine series (four doses of diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis vaccine, three doses of poliovirus vaccine, one dose of any measles-containing vaccine, and three doses of Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine) among non-Hispanic, African-American preschoolers due to concerns that they may be at risk of undervaccination. Children who did not complete this basic vaccine series were classified for further analysis according to the number of doses they lacked (i.e., one dose missed, two or three doses missed, or four or more doses missed). Significant associations between demographic characteristics and vaccination status or degree of undervaccination were determined. Results: Of the 26.2% of African-American preschoolers who did not complete the 4:3:1:3 vaccine series, 40.3% lacked one, 35.3% lacked two or three, and 25.0% lacked four or more doses of vaccine. Children who did not complete the 4:3:1:3 vaccine series were less likely to have married mothers, were less likely to have mothers aged ≥35 years, or were less likely to be up to date at age 3 months than the children who completed the 4:3:1:3 vaccine series. Among the undervaccinated, 63.7% had a sufficient number of vaccination visits to have completed the basic series. However, most (78.7%) of the severely undervaccinated (children who lacked more than three doses of vaccine) had three or fewer vaccination visits. For 72.6% of the undervaccinated preschoolers, only one additional vaccination visit was needed to complete the 4:3:1:3 vaccine series; among these, 78.3% had an adequate number of vaccination visits to have completed the series. Overall, 9.9% of the African-American children aged 19 to 35 months (i.e., approximately 85,000 African-American children aged 19 to 35 months) were at risk for measles. Among the children who lacked more than three doses of vaccine, 68.1% were at risk. Conclusions: Our study suggests that the estimated coverage of 73.8% for the 4:3:1:3 vaccine series among African-American children aged 19 to 35 months was not a result of limited access to care. On the contrary, 90.5% of African-American children had enough vaccination visits to complete the series. To raise coverage and prevent potential outbreaks, providers should assess each child’s vaccination status at every visit, and administer all needed vaccinations at that time. For the most severely undervaccinated children, this strategy may not be adequate, because they did not have the minimum number of vaccination visits required for series completion. For these children, other strategies are needed for increasing vaccination coverage.

Social and Emotional Competencies: Contributions to Young African-American Children's Peer Acceptance

This study explored the relation between measures of emotional competence, behavioral regulation, and general social competence and African-American preschoolers' peer acceptance and popularity. These children came from both lower and middle income families. Data were collected in a short-term longitudinal study following children over the course of a school year. Gender, emotion knowledge, emotion regulation, and themes of violence in response to hypothetical situations of interpersonal conflict were strongly related to peer acceptance. The results are consistent with findings from middle-class Caucasian samples. The results also highlight the importance of potential influences of context and setting on children's peer status as well as the need for greater understanding of within- group variability with regard to these constructs. Given the growing evidence that peer relationships are related in important ways to children's school adjustment, understanding the development of positive peer relationships may help shed light on ways to help children achieve at more optimal levels in the school context.

The Role of Family Literacy Environments in Promoting Young Children's Emerging Literacy Skills

EDITORS' NOTES (Pia Rebello Britto, Jeanne Brooks--Gunn). 1. Emergent Literacy Is Emerging Knowledge of Written, Not Oral, Language (Victoria Purcell--Gates). Children's knowledge of the development of written, as opposed to oral, language is central to the concept of emergent literacy. 2. Parent--Child Interaction in Three Conversational Contexts: Variations in Style and Strategy (Catherine Crain--Thoreson, Michael P. Dahlin, Terris A. Powell). The associations between parent language complexity and conversational style and child language use are examined across three contexts--storybook reading, free play with toys, and joint remembering of an event. 3. Storybook Reading and Parent Teaching: Links to Language and Literacy Development (Monique Senechal, Jo--Anne LeFevre). In this chapter the strong links between shared book reading and children's vocabulary are demonstrated, and parent's storybook reading is contrasted with their teaching of literacy to determine the respective influence of each activity on children's emerging literacy skills. 4. The Role of Family and Home in the Literacy Development of Children from Low--Income Backgrounds (Stacey A. Storch, Grover J. Whitehurst). The longitudinal effect of home influences on a range of children's emerging literacy skills is examined in a sample of low--income preschool-- and elementary school--age children. 5. Beyond Shared Book Reading: Dimensions of Home Literacy and Low--Income African American Preschoolers' Skills (Pia Rebello Britto, Jeanne Brooks--Gunn). In this chapter family literacy environments and their association with young children's emerging literacy skills are examined from a multi--dimensional perspective. 6. Concluding Comments (Pia Rebello Britto, Jeanne Brooks--Gunn). New directions in the understanding of family literacy environments and children's emerging literacy are discussed. Also presented are implications of these new directions for research and practice. INDEX.

Beyond Shared Book Reading: Dimensions of Home Literacy and Low-Income African American Preschoolers' Skills

This chapter examines the associations between individual dimensions of the home literacy environment and specific emergent literacy skills in low-income preschoolers.

Disfluency in Nonstuttering African American Preschoolers During Conversation and Narrative Discourse

Disfluency in Nonstuttering African American Preschoolers During Conversation and Narrative Discourse

Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Preschoolers Verbal and Nonverbal Requests

The purpose of this study was to identify the verbal and nonverbal strategies that preschoolers used to obtain objects from peers. Two Head Start classrooms of 41 Puerto Rican and African American preschoolers were observed and videotaped over 1 school year using qualitative methods. The preschoolers used three different strategies to obtain objects from peers during play, including movements toward objects, verbal intentions with movements toward objects, and verbal intentions. The students were able to obtain objects from classmates in 40% of their attempts and were most successful when they combined physical movements toward an object with a request, statement, or claim. The strategies used by the preschoolers and their rates of success varied between the sand, kitchen, and block areas in the two classrooms studied, with children obtaining the greatest success in the block area. The implications of this study's findings for intervention in the classroom by teachers or speech-language pathologists are discussed.

Factor structure and subtest differences on the Preschool Behavior Questionnaire in a Latino, African-American, Euro-American, and Asian preschool population.

This study examined the factor structure of the Preschool Behavior Questionnaire in a sample of African-American, Euro-American, Asian, and Hispanic children. The sample consisted of 304 children (141 boys, 163 girls) 3- and 4-yr.-old and enrolled in Head Start. A principal component analysis with a varimax rotation was conducted and two- and three-factor solutions were extracted. A two-factor solution produced a clear interpretive structure representing Fowler and Park's 1979 Aggressive-Hyperactive-Distractible and Anxious-Fearful factors. Even though a three-factor solution was statistically appropriate, extracting more than two factors yielded dimensions difficult to interpret. Examination of subscale differences among ethnic groups indicated significant group effect for ethnicity. Further examination showed that Euro-American children are rated significantly higher on the Anxious subtest than Latino, African-American, and Asian children, but there were no other subscale differences. Clinical and research implications are discussed.