Early School Research Articles

Early school leaving in Spain: a longitudinal analysis by gender.

Spain is one of the eight EU-27 countries that failed to reduce early school leaving (ESL) below 10% in 2020, and now faces the challenge of achieving a rate below 9% by 2030. The determinants of this phenomenon are usually studied using cross-sectional data at the micro level and without differentiation by gender. In this study, we analyse it for the first time for Spain using panel data (between 2002 and 2020), taking into account the high regional inequalities at the macroeconomic level and the masculinisation of the phenomenon. The results show a positive relationship between ESL and socio-economic variables such as the adolescent fertility rate, immigration, unemployment or the weight of the industrial and construction sectors in the regional economy, with significant gender differences that invite us to discuss educational policies. Surprisingly, youth unemployment has only small but significant impact on female ESL.

The Effectiveness of Imitation Tasks in Assessing Motor Skills in Early and Middle Elementary School Children

The Effectiveness of Imitation Tasks in Assessing Motor Skills in Early and Middle Elementary School Children

The Pros and Cons of Preschool and Early School Teachers’ Collaboration With Parents in the Light of Their Experiences

The Pros and Cons of Preschool and Early School Teachers’ Collaboration With Parents in the Light of Their Experiences

Examining the Post-School Decision-Making and Self-Determination of Disabled Young Adults in Ireland

Reflecting the neglect of childhood disability in transitions research, there is a notable dearth of research on the factors shaping self-determination in post-school decision-making for disabled young adults. To address this gap, we explore how early educational experiences, parental expectations, economic vulnerability, school context, and educational supports shape perceived school support in developing self-determination skills among disabled and non-disabled secondary school students in Ireland. Utilising data from the nationally representative Growing Up in Ireland study, descriptive analyses map post-school decision-making and self-determination skills development among disabled and non-disabled young adults at age 20. Multivariate analyses explore the experiences of students with different disabilities, investigating how family, school, and peer influences shape such skill development. Disparities are found between disabled and non-disabled students, as well as among disabled students in school support for this skills development, with gender, socioeconomic background, cultural capital, and early educational experiences also important in perceived support. Positive school engagement and student-teacher relationships, as well as high self-expectations, emerge as protective factors, indicating that fostering supportive environments and self-concept may enhance students’ self-determination skills. The findings underscore the importance of promoting causal agency, providing support for proxy agency, and taking action to create enriching opportunities and choices for all students.

Formation of language competence of a child in many preschool and early school years

Artykuł określa podstawowe koncepcje rozwoju mowy dziecka. Analiza poszczególnych jego etapów połączona jest z przedstawieniem sposobów stymulowania poprzez działania rodziców, opiekunów, a następnie nauczycieli edukacji przedszkolnej i wczesnoszkolnej. Opanowanie przez dziecko elementów języka stanowi o jego kompetencjach komunikacyjnych, a tym samym o skuteczności porozumiewania się w sposób adekwatny do zastałych warunków czy określonej sytuacji. Nieodłącznym elementem nabywania kompetencji językowych przez dziecko jest więc nie tylko bierne słuchanie i powtarzanie zasłyszanych słów czy zwrotów, ale także umiejętne włączanie dziecka w tworzenie własnego języka, budowanie słownika poprzez poprawianie i wzmacnianie wypowiedzi. W artykule zwrócono również uwagę na konieczność stymulowania potrzeby mówienia dziecka, zwłaszcza w początkowej fazie kształcenia. Sposób i jakość przekazu informacji, kontaktu werbalnego z dzieckiem już od okresu prenatalnego ma dla jego rozwoju istotne znaczenie i może dać wymierne efekty w późniejszym czasie. Istotą artykułu jest przekazanie najważniejszych informacji związanych z kształtowaniem mowy u dzieci. Publikacja stanowi formę pomocy naukowej dla studentów pedagogiki oraz nauczycieli z zakresu edukacji przedszkolnej i wczesnoszkolnej. Zawarte w niej treści służą także edukowaniu przyszłych rodziców, których wiedza dotycząca tak zaawansowanego i złożonego procesu, jakim jest rozwój mowy, powinna odgrywać znaczącą rolę w procesie wychowania i kształcenia nowego pokolenia.

Features of the formation of interiors of educational space of primary schools based on energy efficiency, technology and safety

The article explores the scientific and technical sources and principles of the design of premises of primary schools and identifies the main aspects of the formation of educational space in primary schools taking into account the needs of modern conditions, ergonomic, emotional, psychophysiological, anthropometric, aesthetic requirements and standards to create an effective, technological and safe learning environment for children of primary school age. The specificity and problems of the impact of space on the psycho-emotional state of the student, the process of learning, perception, and assimilation of the material by the students as a whole are formed and highlighted. Recommendations for the design of functional interiors of the educational environment of primary schools are given. Within the framework of the study, various parameters of interior design were analyzed, such as the selection of furniture and finishing materials, the placement of furniture and equipment in the space, the principle of flexible classroom zoning, the selection of a color solution for the future educational environment, etc. The article emphasizes the importance of maintaining and taking into account these features of the design of modern school spaces, to create such conditions that would meet the most important needs of children of early school age, were efficient, technological, and at the same time safe.

Teachers of Preschool and Early School Education Facing the Challenge of Working With Talented Young Learners – a Study Based on Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Teachers of Preschool and Early School Education Facing the Challenge of Working With Talented Young Learners – a Study Based on Qualitative and Quantitative Research

WHO strategies to improve child and adolescents health in Europe

Across Europe, the health and wellbeing of children and adolescents requires attention. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence of mental health conditions has doubled, affecting 1 in 4 adolescents under the age of 18. Overweight and obesity are increasing: 1 in 3 primary school children are overweight or obese. Inequalities in weight and mental health are increasing in many countries, driven by socioeconomic circumstances. Reduction in child mortality, particularly of neonates, is stagnating in several countries, especially in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and reversing in some.To rally member states to action, WHO is developing a new regional Child and Adolescent Health Strategy. The development commenced in 2019 with the identification of problem statements of issues affecting children and adolescents. These were then converted into actionable standards. They were updated considering the COVID-19 experience and the effects of regional crises on children. Children and adolescents were engaged in the development of the strategy, to identify and take their priorities into account, and stakeholders inside and outside WHO were consulted, including pediatricians and their societies. During a Member States consultation, European countries will have the opportunity to review and revise the draft strategy before it will be presented to the WHO Regional Committee for Europe for adoption.The main components of the strategy are: Early childhood development, school and adolescent health, strengthening health systems and improving quality of care, recognizing and acting on the needs of the most vulnerable and galvanizing societal action on the commercial, social, environmental and digital determinants of health affecting children and adolescents.The strategy forms the basis for monitoring regional progress. It will enable the development of national child and adolescent health and wellbeing strategies and monitoring frameworks. The implementation of the strategy will enable children and adolescents to realize their right to physical, social and mental health and well-being in healthy and enabling environments, so that they can fully participate in shaping prosperous and sustainable societies.

Edukacja ekologiczna w edukacji wczesnoszkolnej i przedszkolnej – terminologia

The article discusses environmental education and terminology in pre-school and early school education, based on a short historical outline of environmental education for this age group of children in Poland. It refers to the signing of the Biological Education Convention at the Earth Summit, which determined the stimulation of ecological awareness, protection of natural resources, and natural space around man. The article is an analysis of the goals of environmental education. Natural and ecological education has a biological, emotional, motoric, creative, and spiritual aspect. It has a significant meaning in the development of a small child in preschool and early school age in cognitive, physical, health, social and emotional development.

Exploring Early Career Teacher Attrition and Career Switching in Higher Education: A Narrative Study

Teacher attrition and career switching from teaching to non-teaching professions are global phenomena in the field of education. Empirical evidence shows that almost 50% of early career school teachers voluntarily leave teaching within five years. This qualitative study examines the narratives of two former Bangladeshi private university lecturers who reluctantly left teaching after five (lecturer A) and four years (lecturer B) respectively of full-time university teaching. Using Smith and Ulvik’s conceptual framework, which thematizes the case of leaving teaching in a four-stage process (i.e., pre-teaching career thought, entry, primary experience, and exit), this study employs a pathogenic perspective of teacher attrition and collects teaching leavers’ narratives. The data analysis utilizes Connelly and Clandinin’s three tools of narrative analysis: broadening, burrowing, and re-storing. The findings and implications are discussed.

The system of educating teachers of preschool and early school education and the possibilities of teacher training in the future (or in current conditions) in Poland

This article considers how insights from psychology and educational research can contribute to enhancing teacher training. Developments in early childhood pedagogy encourage changes in the way future educators are trained. This article discusses concepts of education in pedagogical studies and the competences that are required of the future teacher. Individualization of the teaching process requires curriculum modifications, innovative ideas, creating proprietary curriculum. The article is a search/or review based on the teacher training literature for answers on how to train future teachers to be flexible, reflective, decisive and innovative. How can teachers be supported in a way so that teachers can help themselves to be teachers?

The Outcomes of Competency-Based Program About Language for Communication for Early Primary School Students

This study aims to achieve three primary objectives: firstly, to develop a competency-based program tailored for communication purposes; secondly, to examine developmental strides in language proficiency for effective communication; and thirdly, to compare the language proficiency among early primary school students, both pre-and post-implementation of the program. The sample consisted of third-grade students from Anuban Chantarat School, Sahatsakhan District, Kalasin Province, Thailand, who were enrolled in the second semester of the academic year 2022. The total number of participants was 20 by cluster random sampling. The data collection instruments used in this study were: 1) a program usage manual, 2) a lesson plan, and 3) a language communication competence assessment test. Data analysis involved basic statistical measures, including frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and hypothesis testing using the t-test (Dependent Samples). The study findings revealed that: 1. Competency-based program for early primary school students’ language communication, comprising six components: 1) Principles, 2) Objectives, 3) Content, 4) Development Processes, 5) Teaching and Learning Materials, and 6) Assessment, underwent quality assessment by seven experts. The results indicated a high level of conformity and appropriateness. 2. Students who participated in the language competency-based program demonstrated enhanced language communication competence across all learning units. 3. The language communication competence of students after using the program was statistically significantly higher than before using the program at a significance level of .05. The language competence was found to be at a developing level of A2 proficiency.

Innovation Approaches to Inclusive Education in Europe – The Impact of Second Chance Schools

This article presents research and findings related to the Second Chance Schools - an innovative approach which is gaining strength and popularity in recent years but is almost unknown in Bulgaria. The documentary research, the analysis of interviews of the various actors and the online surveys during the project revealed a set of characteristics of Second Chance Schools common to most countries in Europe. The study reveals that in the countries where the SCS approach has been applied, early school leavers’ rates are going down.

Language and sensory characteristics are reflected in voice-evoked responses in low birth weight children.

Children born with very low birth weight (VLBW) are at higher risk for cognitive impairment, including language deficits and sensorimotor difficulties. Voice-evoked response (P1m), which has been suggested as a language development biomarker in young children, remains unexplored for its efficacy in VLBW children. Furthermore, the relation between P1m and sensory difficulties in VLBW children remains unclear. 40 children with VLBW were recruited at 5-to-6 years old (26 male, 14 female, mean age of months ± SD, 80.0 ± 4.9). We measured their voice-evoked brain response using child-customized magnetoencephalography (MEG) and examined the relation between P1m and language conceptual inference ability and sensory characteristics. The final sample comprised 36 children (23 boys, 13 girls; ages 61-86 months; gestational ages 24-36 weeks). As a result of multiple regression analysis, voice-evoked P1m in the left hemisphere was correlated significantly with language ability (β = 0.414 P = 0.015) and sensory hypersensitivity (β = 0.471 P = 0.005). Our findings indicate that the relation between P1m and language conceptual inference ability observed in term children in earlier studies is replicated in VLBW children, and suggests P1m intensity as a biomarker of sensory sensitivity characteristics. We investigated brain functions related to language development and sensory problems in very low birth-weight children. In very low birth weight children at early school age, brain responses to human voices are associated with language conceptual inference ability and sensory hypersensitivity. These findings promote a physiological understanding of both language development and sensory characteristics in very low birth weight children.

Dextrose gel prophylaxis for neonatal hypoglycaemia and neurocognitive function at early school age: a randomised dosage trial

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of different doses of prophylactic dextrose gel on neurocognitive function and health at 6–7 years.DesignEarly school-age follow-up of the pre-hPOD (hypoglycaemia Prevention with Oral Dextrose) study.SettingSchools...

A Manual Training Method as Literate Practice: Rhetorics of the Sloyd Training School for Teachers, 1904-1914

The Sloyd Training School, an early twentieth-century private school for teachers in Boston, attempted to legitimize the Sloyd method of handiwork. Specifically, its Alumni Association’s publication Sloyd Record brought together educators across the country to make a case for Sloyd’s relevancy and impact on the academic and professional development of students, particularly students who were working poor or receiving educations in non-traditional settings. Its contributors painted Sloyd as a form of knowledge and a resource, as a literacy, and their rhetorical effectiveness was predicated upon Sloyd’s ability to be painted as such in its far-reaching effects and comprehensiveness.

The relationship between parental attitudes and the assessment of the benefits and risks of screen devices use among children in early primary school years

Nowadays, children increasingly choose screen devices as a form of communication and spending free time, which raises concerns about the potential harmfulness of excessive use of them. Therefore, it seems important to look at the issue of using screen devices from the perspective of parents and their attitudes towards children themselves, as well as in relation to the use of screen devices in everyday life. The aim of the presented study was to demonstrate the relationship between parental attitudes, parent’s gender and the assessment of the benefits and risks associated with children’s screen devices use. The research tools used in the study included The Parental Attitudes Scale (SPR) by Mieczyslaw Plopa (2008), covering six parental attitudes, and original The Screen Usage Questionnaire (KKE) to measure the attitude towards screen use by children. The article discusses theoretical aspects of parental attitudes towards children and screen use, as well as the benefits and risks of children’s screen devices use in the early primary school years. The operationalization of variables in research tools was presented. The study involved 173 participants aged 29-44 years (M = 36.56; SD = 3.16; Me = 37), including 127 mothers and 47 fathers of children aged 7-10 from the Podkarpackie. No correlation was found between parental attitudes and their assessment of the benefits and risks associated with screen devices use. However, the differences were observed between mothers and fathers in the assessment of benefits and risks. The research results indicate the need for education on digital parenting. Mothers assessed the use of screens neutrally or negatively, while fathers assessed it neutrally or positively, hence the conclusion regarding preventive activities is to direct various educational interventions towards fathers and mothers. These findings indicate the need to support parents introducing children to the digital world in effective education regarding the use of screen devices.

School Readiness Predictors of Early Academic Achievement in Children Born Very Preterm.

This study examined associations of school readiness measures obtained before school entry with academic achievement at early school age in children born very preterm (VPT, gestational age ≤ 30 weeks) and children born full term (FT, GA ≥ 37 weeks). The sample included 38 children born VPT and 30 born FT recruited at age 4 years and followed to early school age. Measures of readiness included tests of global cognition, executive function, motor abilities, and preacademic skills, as well as caregiver behavior ratings. Tests of math, reading, and spelling were administered to assess school-age achievement. Analyses that controlled for socioeconomic status and accounted for inclusion of siblings compared the groups on the achievement tests and identified measures of readiness related to school-age achievement. Achievement difficulties were more pronounced in the VPT group and associated with problems in multiple readiness domains. Effect sizes for these associations were largest for measures of spatial ability, executive function, and preacademic skills. Some associations remained significant when controlling for global cognitive ability at age 4 years, and others were significant only for the VPT group. Findings suggest that deficits on tests in multiple readiness domains assessed before school entry in children born VPT or FT are associated with early school-age achievement. The most pronounced readiness deficits in the VPT group at age 4 years were also among those most closely associated with later difficulties in achievement. Further research is needed to refine assessment of school readiness in children born VPT.

Reading and emotional-behavioural development in Finnish children: a longitudinal study of associations

AbstractPoor reading has been linked to negative outcomes on a wide range of emotional-behavioural dimensions in children. However, little is known about the time course of these associations. In this study we analyse data from a sample of Finnish children (N = 199; 106 boys) which included measures of reading fluency in grade 1 (age 7 or 8), and emotional (anxiety, depression, and somatization) and behavioural (adaptability, aggression, attention, atypicality, hyperactivity, social skills, and withdrawal) development at ages 4, 5, 6 (pre-school) and 9 (school-aged). In a series of stepwise regression models that controlled for non-verbal IQ and family risk for dyslexia, we tested if pre-school emotional-behavioural measures were associated with school-aged reading fluency, and whether school-aged reading fluency was associated with later emotional-behavioural development. We also tested if these associations were moderated by reported gender. Consistent with previous longitudinal studies, we found that poorer attention before school was associated with poorer reading in the early school years which in turn was associated with higher levels of anxiety and inattention in children in middle school. None of these associations were moderated by gender.

The phenomenon of early school leaving in Romania and strategies for reducing it

From a sociological point of view, by the term ‘school drop-out’ we refer to the calculation of irregular exits from the education system, i.e. summing up the various indicators of a bumpy ride: withdrawals, drop-outs, failures, repeats, delays, educational debts. Sociologically, therefore, school dropout is a phenomenon that encompasses everything that is lost during the evaluation of the learning process. However, not all pupils but only a part run the risk of dispersal because schools operate a social selection function, distinguishing pupils on the basis of evaluation criteria for school success, which in turn is influenced by factors that are not biological but social, both ascribed such as socio-economic status and the cultural background of the family of origin, and acquired such as motivation, interests, degree of independence.