Classroom Age Composition Research Articles

Teachers’ Special Education Referrals for Younger Children Does It Vary by School Type

The prevalence of disability diagnoses among young children has risen significantly over recent decades. This growth has prompted inquiries into the identification processes, notably focusing on teachers who are the primary sources of referrals. While some studies have examined child age as a relevant predictor of disability referral, minimal attention has been paid to relative age—namely, if children are younger than their classmates. In this study, we examine whether teachers refer children differently based on relative classroom age. We do so for traditional public schools versus magnet schools, as each type has been shown to serve different student populations. Results show no significant association between classroom age composition and referral rates in either school type. However, in traditional public schools, a higher proportion of younger children in classrooms correlated with a higher proportion of referrals for younger children, whereas magnet schools showed no such trend. Policy implications are discussed.

Preschool Classroom Age Composition and Physical Literacy Environment: Influence on Children’s Emergent Literacy Outcomes

ABSTRACT Research Findings: The classroom physical literacy environment is a malleable and domain-specific contributor to children’s emergent literacy acquisition. However, what shapes the physical literacy environment remains unclear. In this study, we drew on a sample of 895 4-year-olds across 223 classrooms from the Professional Development Study and tested the role of classroom age composition in shaping the physical literacy environment. Additionally, we examined the extent to which the physical literacy environment explained the associations between classroom age composition and emergent literacy outcomes. We found that classrooms with a higher proportion of younger children (2- or 3-year-olds) provide less book use, writing materials, and writing around the room. Notably, the lack of writing displayed around the room served as one potential reason why 4-year-olds demonstrate smaller gains in expressive language skills in these classrooms. Practice or Policy: Together, these findings highlight the need for investing in the classroom physical literacy environment to ensure that it meets the needs of all children in mixed-age classrooms.

Problem behaviors at the classroom-level and teacher-child interaction quality in Head Start programs: Moderation by age composition

This study explored the link between classroom-level problem behaviors and teacher-child interaction quality in 307 Head Start preschool classrooms. The moderating role of the classroom's age composition (e.g., 3- and 4-year-olds versus 4-year-olds only) also was examined. Using a dataset of 852 3-year-old children and 1114 4-year-old children, classroom-level problem behaviors were operationalized using teacher reports of children's problem behaviors. Results indicated that classroom-level problem behaviors, specifically oppositional/aggressive and internalizing behavior, were associated with lower teacher-child interaction quality (i.e., emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support). In contrast, classroom-level hyperactivity was only negatively related to classroom instructional support. Moderation results indicated that high-levels of classroom-level activity were related to lower-levels of teacher-child interaction quality, but for 4-year-old only classrooms. The results of this study have implications for practice and policy.

Classroom age composition and preschoolers’ language and literacy gains: The role of classroom engagement

Having children of multiple ages in the same preschool classroom is a common practice, and age composition has been shown to shape children's learning. However, there is little understanding of the mechanisms that link age composition to children's development. In this study, we examined the extent to which classroom age composition shaped children's classroom engagement, as well as the mediating role of classroom engagement in the links between classroom age composition and children's language and literacy gains. The data were drawn from the Teacher Professional Development Study, a study of 895 4-year-olds across 223 classrooms. We found that positive engagement with teachers mediated associations between classroom age composition and children's vocabulary gains. Specifically, 4-year-olds in classrooms with a greater number of younger classmates experienced less positive engagement with their teachers, which in turn, contributed to smaller vocabulary gains across the year. In addition, being with a greater number of older classmates was associated with lower negative engagement in the classroom. Results are discussed in relation to exploring the critical role of children's individual-level classroom experiences in mixed-age preschool classrooms.

The Relation Between Classroom Age Composition and Children's Language and Behavioral Outcomes: Examining Peer Effects.

Grouping children of different ages in the same preschool classroom (i.e., mixed age) is widespread, but the evidence supporting this practice is mixed. A factor that may play a role in the relation between classroom age composition and child outcomes is peer skill. This study used a sample of 6,338 preschoolers (ages 3-5) to examine the influence of both classroom age composition and peer skill on children's behavioral and language outcomes. Results supported the growing literature indicating preschoolers' skills are higher when peer skill is higher, but differences related to classroom age composition were not found. These findings further support the view that peer skill plays an important role in preschool children's outcomes.

Classroom age composition and the early learning of preschoolers

Data from 1,407 preschoolers were used to examine the implications of classroom age composition for the early learning and development of 4-year-olds in classrooms with 3- and 5-year-olds also in attendance. Results suggest that a greater number of younger classmates did not detract from 4-year-olds’ language development, literacy performance, or inhibitory control, nor did having older peers consistently facilitate learning in these domains. However, 4-year-olds who entered school with low inhibitory control and print knowledge demonstrated greater gains in both domains when attending classrooms with more same-age or older classmates than when in classrooms with more younger peers. When taken together, these results suggest that classroom age composition, in prekindergarten programs serving mostly 4-year-olds, for the most part has little consequence except for those 4-year-olds entering school with lower skill levels in key domains, in which case having older peers is of benefit.

Continuity and changes in classroom age composition and achievement in Head Start

Using data from the Family and Child Experiences Survey 2009 Cohort (n = 1073), this study considered the implications of mixed-age education for young children's academic achievement when they experienced continuity and/or changes in classroom age composition across two years in Head Start (at age 3 and age 4). Results from these analyses revealed that children in classrooms with a greater number of younger children during their second year in Head Start exhibited fewer gains in mathematics and language and literacy. Additionally, children who transitioned from being in classrooms with largely older classmates during year one to classrooms with largely same-age peers during year two exhibited greater gains in academics than children who experienced two years of mixed-age classrooms. Stability in children's teachers, one of the hallmarks of mixed-age programming, was not associated with children's academic achievement nor did it attenuate the negative consequences of mixed-age classrooms.

Classroom Age Composition and Preschoolers’ School Readiness: The Implications of Classroom Quality and Teacher Qualifications

Recent research has shown that the age composition of preschool classrooms influences children’s early learning. Building on prior research, this study examines whether the association between classroom age composition and children’s learning and development vary based on classroom quality and teacher characteristics using a subset of the Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), a nationally representative sample of 3- and 4-year-old children attending Head Start (n = 2,829). Results revealed that the association between age composition and children’s academic skills was dependent on classroom quality and that classroom quality was less predictive of children’s skills in mixed-age classrooms. Teacher education but not experience also moderated the influence of age composition such that mixed-age classrooms taught by a teacher with higher education were not associated with decreased literacy gains among older children.

Effects of an early childhood educator coaching intervention on preschoolers: The role of classroom age composition

Heterogeneity in treatment effects of MyTeachingPartner (MTP), a professional development coaching intervention focused on improving teacher–student interactions, was examined for 1407 4-year-old preschoolers who were enrolled in classrooms that served children between the ages of 3 and 5. On average, there were no consistent impacts of MTP coaching on children’s school performance, but there was evidence of moderation in treatment effects as a function of classroom age diversity, defined as the proportion of children who were not 4 years of age. MTP coaching improved children’s expressive vocabulary, literacy skills, and inhibitory control in classrooms that served primarily 4-year-olds and were less age diverse. These effects were in large part due to MTP causing improvements in teachers’ instructional support that in turn was more predictive of children’s skills in less age-diverse classrooms. Results also indicated that the nature of age diversity did not matter; a greater number of 3- or 5-year-old classmates equally reduced the benefits of the MTP intervention for 4-year-olds. The sole exception occurred for receptive vocabulary, in which case, MTP was most effective in classrooms with a larger number of older (but not younger) children. Taken together, these results suggest that under the right circumstances, the benefits of professional development that improve early childhood educators’ teaching practices can also translate into benefits for students.

Classroom Age Composition and the School Readiness of 3- and 4-Year-Olds in the Head Start Program

The federal Head Start program, designed to improve the school readiness of children from low-income families, often serves 3- and 4-year-olds in the same classrooms. Given the developmental differences between 3- and 4-year-olds, it is unknown whether educating them together in the same classrooms benefits one group, both, or neither. Using data from the Family and Child Experiences Survey 2009 cohort, this study used a peer-effects framework to examine the associations between mixed-age classrooms and the school readiness of a nationally representative sample of newly enrolled 3-year-olds (n = 1,644) and 4-year-olds (n = 1,185) in the Head Start program. Results revealed that 4-year-olds displayed fewer gains in academic skills during the preschool year when they were enrolled in classrooms with more 3-year-olds; effect sizes corresponded to 4 to 5 months of academic development. In contrast, classroom age composition was not consistently associated with 3-year-olds’ school readiness.

Classroom Age Composition and Vocabulary Development Among At-Risk Preschoolers

Research Findings: The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the relationship between classroom age composition and preschoolers’ vocabulary gains over an academic year and also to examine whether these relations were moderated by classroom quality. In this study (N = 130 children in 16 classrooms representing a subset of all children enrolled in these classrooms), results showed a significant cross-level interaction between classroom age composition and children's age, suggesting positive effects of greater variance in classroom age composition for younger but not older children. The interaction between behavior management (1 dimension of classroom quality) and classroom age composition was also significant, indicating that a wider distribution of classroom age composition was positively related to children's vocabulary gains within classrooms characterized by better behavior management. Practice or Policy: Findings underscore the importance of children's social interactions with more knowledgeable conversational partners in promoting their vocabulary development and signify the need to help teachers learn how to manage children's behaviors so as to provide a classroom that is optimal for child learning.

Classroom age composition and rates of change in school readiness for children enrolled in Head Start

Despite policy and theoretical support for mixed-age classrooms in early childhood, research examining associations between age-mixing and children's outcomes is inconclusive and warrants further investigation, particularly in preschools serving children who are at risk for poor adjustment to formal schooling. One recent study conducted in preschool classrooms serving low-income children found negative associations between age-mixing and children's social and cognitive development. The current study extended this research by examining associations between classroom age composition (variability in ages of children in the classroom) and low-income preschool children's rates of change in school readiness. The sample consisted of 4417 preschool children enrolled in 207 classrooms in a large, diverse urban Head Start program. Multilevel modeling was employed to examine the main effect of classroom age composition, as well as the interaction between classroom age composition and children's age, as predictors of children's rates of change in emergent literacy, emergent numeracy, social and emotional skills, and approaches to learning. In contrast to previous research, classroom age composition was not associated with school readiness outcomes. This study contributes to the conflicting literature examining the associations between age mixing and children's school readiness and calls for a future research agenda to examine age mixing in context that is focused on sorting out these conflicting results. In the meantime, policymakers should consider other relevant factors when making decisions regarding mixed-age classrooms, such as family preference or the capability for teachers to individualize instruction to children based on their individual needs.

Classroom age composition and developmental change in 70 urban preschool classrooms.

Abstract A multilevel modeling approach was used to investigate the influence of age composition in 70 urban preschool classrooms. A series of hierarchical linear models demonstrated that greater variance in classroom age composition was negatively related to development on the Child Observation Record (COR) Cognitive, Motor, and Social subscales. This was true when controlling for class size, general classroom quality, and socioeconomic status at the classroom level and for age, gender, and baseline ability at the child level. Additionally, to address possible concerns related to nonrandom assignment to classrooms, a series of models were run including variance in developmental age (i.e., baseline ability) at the classroom level and at the child level. The results were consistent for chronological age composition and developmental age composition at the classroom level; greater variance in classroom developmental age composition was negatively related to Time 2 scores on the COR Cognitive, Motor, and Social subscales. Furthermore, a cross-level interaction indicated that negative influence of greater variance in classroom developmental age composition was stronger for children older in developmental age. Implications for early childhood education policy are discussed.

Classroom Age Composition and Academic Achievement in College

The continuing influx of adult students in colleges and universities raises many questions for research, including how their presence affects classroom learning. We postulated that, controlling for student age, the greater the proportion of adults in a classroom the higher the aggregate average performance of the class as measured by class grades. The hypothesis was tested in two very different settings: a suburban community college and a nearby large, public research university. Data for 2,794 subjects were obtained from official records. The findings from the community college sample strongly supported the predicted relationship. At the university, a modified hypothesis that excluded performance in math classes was also supported.

Private Speech in the Classroom: The Effects of Activity Type, Presence of Others, Classroom Context, and Mixed-age Grouping

This study addressed the question of how young children's spontaneous use of private speech in the kindergarten classroom varies as a function of contextual variables, such as type of activity, immediate presence of others, degree of teacher-given structure, and classroom age composition. Twenty children from two classrooms (one mixed-age, one same-age) were systematically observed in their regular kindergarten classroom during a period of four weeks, using a time-sampling procedure. Results from ANOVA, chi-square, and logistic regression analyses indicated that young children's use of private speech does vary systematically according to the immediate physical and social context. More specifically, children were found to use more self-regulatory language when they were: (1) engaged in goal-directed task activity, as compared to free play or other activities; (2) in a classroom context which provided an intermediate degree of teacher regulation, compared to contexts in which either very little or a great deal of external structure was present; and (3) with their younger classmates, compared to either their same-age or older peers. No differences in overall private speech usage were found between the mixed-age and same-age classes. Frequency of private speech did not vary significantly depending on whether children were alone, with other children, or with adults. Classroom contexts vary in the degree to which they promote self-direction. This study suggests that if one is interested in fostering young children's development of self-regulation or in observing children's use of private speech, the optimum context is one which provides an intermediate amount of structure and allows children to spontaneously engage in challenging goal-directed activity.

Effects of classroom age composition on the play and social behaviors of preschool children

Preschool children enrolled in same- and mixed-age day care classrooms were observed during free play to examine patterns of social and play behavior. In mixed-age rooms, there was more interactive-functional play, for both older and younger children, more dramatic play and negative interactions for younger children, and a tendency for older children to be onlookers. In the same-age rooms, there was more conversation and more parallel-functional interaction for both older and younger children. While previous research has emphasized the benefits of mixed-age rooms, the current research indicates that some costs may also be involved.