Preschool Experience Research Articles

The Relationship Between Mathematical Literacy at Kindergarten Entry and Public Preschool Attendance, Type, and Quality

As children enter kindergarten, some are more academically prepared than others for a variety of reasons. One influence on kindergarten preparation is prior preschool experiences. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between children’s mathematical literacy at kindergarten entry and preschool attendance, preschool type (i.e., public, private, Head Start, and home-based educational technology providers), and preschool quality. Researchers collected statewide preschool enrollment records and kindergarten-entry mathematical literacy assessment scores for 45,895 public school kindergarten children for one school year. To identify relationships between early mathematical literacy performance and children’s preschool attendance, preschool type, and preschool quality, researchers conducted a 2 × 2 Factor ANOVA, independent group means t-tests, and multiple regression analyses. Overall, the results suggested that children from diverse backgrounds experience improved early mathematical literacy when they attended preschool. Therefore, with the limited funding available for preschool, policymakers should consider which children might most benefit from preschool experience and target limited resources to such populations.

Collective Resources as a Precursor for Educating Children Toward a Sustainable Global World

Purpose: Preserving and caring for nature in a sustainable way has long been part of Swedish preschool practice. However, recently has it been explicitly referenced in the Swedish preschool curriculum with the goal of incorporating sustainability holistically and coherently in all areas of children’s daily preschool experiences through play, care, and education. Research has revealed a potential roadblock to achieving this goal; the difficulty connecting the three inextricably linked dimensions of sustainability: ecological, social–cultural, and economic. The purpose is to generate knowledge about preschool teachers’ professional understanding of education for sustainable development (ESD) in early childhood education (ECE) by implementing and enhancing the operationalization of such work in four Swedish preschools. Design/Approach/Methods: The design of the study rests on the involvement of teachers in work where they created sustainability activities supported by the Environmental Rating Scale for Sustainable Development in Early Childhood (ERS-SDEC). The data consist of teachers’ narratives and interviews, and a qualitative content analysis is used from which a number of themes emerged. Findings: The initial interviews foregrounded three themes: the value of collective resources, the wonders of nature, and a global world. At the end of the project, the teachers’ expressions of their practice revealed three qualitatively transformed themes: broadened awareness of sustainability, ecology embracing culture, and expanded perspectives, as factors of ESD. Originality/Value: Teachers did increase their awareness of working with children and expressed a strength in using each other as collective resources. By that, their professional understandings of ESD in preschool developed.

Alignment and misalignment of classroom experiences from Pre-K to kindergarten

Areas of misalignment between children's experiences in preschool and kindergarten are increasingly viewed as contributing to the fade-out of preschool effects. The current study examined alignment and misalignment of classroom experiences across the transition from public pre-k into kindergarten. As part of a longitudinal cohort study, we examined structural features, process features, and teacher beliefs and practices in 295 public kindergarten classrooms and 117 public pre-K classrooms that feed into them. Analyses revealed a number of differences indicative of potential misalignment, including fewer ethnically and linguistically diverse teachers, more time in teacher-structured activities, and less effective teacher–child interactions in kindergarten. Potential alignment was indicated in some areas, such as more time in kindergarten spent on academics; progression toward more advanced literacy and math content from pre-k to kindergarten; and teachers across both grades reported similarly child-centered ideas about children. Exploratory results by pre-K auspice comparing school-based and center-based pre-K raised further questions about what the meaningful components of alignment are. The field lacks a robust empirical base for defining “good” alignment, thus these descriptive results are discussed in terms of implications for future, predictive research.

Trends in preschool attendance in Australia following major policy reform: Updated evidence six years following a commitment to universal access

Major policy reforms were instigated in 2008 in Australia to ensure that all children have access to a preschool program in the year before starting school. The Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) provides a means of monitoring the impact of these reforms at the population level, as teachers of all children in their first year of school retrospectively report on children’s preschool experiences every three years. Early indications from AEDC data spanning the preschool years of 2008–2011 indicated that the proportion of children attending preschool remained relatively stable over this period. In this short communication, we update this with analysis of preschool trends from 2008 to 2014. We find evidence of increasing preschool attendance over this longer time frame (80.43% in 2008, compared to 91.30% in 2014; OR 2.53, 99% CI 2.44–2.62). Consistent with earlier data, children from disadvantaged communities had higher odds of non-attendance, compared to those living in the most advantaged communities (OR 2.94, 99% CI 2.74–3.15). In 2014, children who did not attend preschool were also disproportionately Indigenous and from non-English speaking backgrounds. Findings suggest that participation in preschool appears to have increased, concurrent to government efforts to promote participation through universal access. Engaging the most vulnerable families in preschool programs remains a major challenge that requires continued policy focus.

Abstract # 3202 G(alpha)s-to-G(alpha)i switch of G protein-coupled receptor signaling in rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts

In this paper, we evaluate the effectiveness of the first year of a federally-funded, evidence-based preschool through third grade intervention in Chicago. We use inverse probability weighting with regression adjustment to estimate the impacts of the Child-Parent Center (CPC) program on teacher assessments of school readiness for 1289 low-income preschool and 591 comparison-group participants. Results indicated significant positive impacts of the program for all domains, including literacy, math, socio-emotional development, science and total score. The percentage of CPC children who met national norms in school readiness exceeded the comparison group by 12 to 18.5 percentage points. Full-day participants experienced greater school readiness gains while program impacts were similar by family income and home language. Compared to the original CPC evaluation of children born in 1980 in which few comparison group children attended preschool, we find evidence that the contemporary implementation performs at least as well even though the current comparison group participants had alternative preschool experience.

Who are out-of-school children? Children with disabilities in Mongolia

ABSTRACT Children with disabilities are considered to be the group most excluded from basic education. While disability remains the strongest barrier to accessing education, studies have shown that appropriate policies can help to reduce barriers to education. This paper examines the determinants of school status for children with disabilities in four provinces and Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. The results indicate that severe types of disabilities, preschool experience and parents’ stated obstacles, as well as classmates’ understanding, are strongly related to school enrolment. Furthermore, this study found that school status depends on the amount of human resource available within the family, such as grandparents’ or siblings’ abilities to accompany children with disabilities to school.

Inside the Learning Assemblage: Japanese Parents’ Views of Children’s Learning and Future Possibilities

In Japan, as in many other countries, young children’s learning is subject to two major experiences: experience at home and experience in preschool. These experiences constitute the basis on which to formulate understandings about children’s future possibilities. The aim of this study is twofold: to navigate Japanese preschool children’s learning experiences and future possibilities in their families and preschools, as perceived by Japanese parents; and to discuss how learning is imbued in various distinct and interrelated elements of the home and preschool contexts. The study analyses children’s learning through questionnaires of preschool parents in Tokyo and the observations of parent-child and parent-teacher interactions in the preschools. Following from Deleuze and Guattari’s assemblage theory, children’s learning is positioned within a dynamic assemblage of stable, fluid and transformative forces that leads to particular experiences and becomings. Placing parents’ views at the centre of analysis of their children’s learning, the study shows how they conceptualized children’s experiences and their becomings as-and-in children’s learning assemblages.

Delivery of Group-Early Start Denver Model in an Australian early childhood setting–a Narrative Review

This article provides an overview of the Group-based Early Start Denver Model (G-ESDM), an early intervention approach for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The G-ESDM is based on the delivery of the evidence-supported Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) techniques in group-based settings such as early learning and care settings, with one adult delivering instruction to small groups of three to four children. The program is informed by research documenting the positive impact of early interaction with peers and preschool experiences for social-cognitive development, and is designed to maximize cost-effectiveness by providing evidence-based treatment during daycare hours. Additionally, it capitalizes on the culturally universal tradition of educating young children in group settings, and on the social learning opportunities provided by peers. We review principles, strategies and empirical support for the G-ESDM, as well as challenges and future directions.

Observing mathematical learning experiences in preschool

ABSTRACT It is widely understood that preschool should provide children the mathematical foundational skills necessary for later success. This study examines seven preschool teachers and their use of a variety of pedagogical strategies to develop foundational mathematics concepts. Using a qualitative research design, this study uses the CLassroom Assessment. Scoring System (CLASS) observation tool to examine how preschool teachers use instructional learning formats, concept development, language modeling, and quality of feedback to support mathematical learning. Following analysis using the CLASS, data were reexamined for use of messing about strategies. Results indicate that preschool teachers use a variety of formats for teaching mathematics, but develop concepts using feedback and language less frequently. While teachers do allow children to mess about with mathematical items, they do not use this time to extend thinking.

WASH from the START: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Education in Preschool

Framed by a social practice perspective, this article presents a theoretical, political, and practical rationale for implementing and expanding water, sanitation and hygiene education (WASH) in preschools throughout the world. Every day thousands of young children die, while others suffer serious illness or stunting from water-, sanitation-, and hygiene-related causes. Many of these consequences could be prevented with low-cost interventions. Although there is little peer-reviewed research on preschool WASH, justifications and ideas for action can be found in the results of WASH studies in primary schools. Pre-primary education and WASH are priorities within the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for 2015–2030. Numerous materials and methods from school-based WASH can be used or adapted for preschool. However, early childhood and WASH professionals and advocates must launch preschool initiatives and also advocate for incorporation of WASH curricula into pre-service and in-service teacher education. More research needs to be conducted on outcomes of WASH-focused experiences in preschool. Advocacy actions with governments, UNICEF, NGOs, and other organizations can ensure that aspirations and good intentions for WASH initiatives are realized, but such progress will require adequate funding.

Young Children’s Theory of Mind: Home Literacy Environment, Technology Usage, and Preschool Education

Theory of mind (ToM) skills involve young children’s mentalizing ability to be aware of their own selves and other individuals’ thoughts, beliefs, desires, and intentions (mental states). The social cognition skills are essential for processing complex social relations and overcoming interpersonal difficulties in communication. Previous studies shed light on the relationship of parenting and demographics to children’s ToM skills, but do not examine the associations with both home environment and preschool education experiences. The goal of the present study is to investigate children’s preschool education experience, home literacy environment (HLE), and technology usage in relation to their ToM skills. Participants were 203 preschoolers and their parents. The study data were collected using a home literacy environment questionnaire (HLEQ), theory of mind scale, and a demographic information form. The findings revealed that (a) children’s ToM scores are not differentiated regarding gender, excluding the diverse belief tasks, b) children’s ToM performances were differentiated in favor of children who have internet access at home, c) HLE, child age, daily TV watching, household income, maternal education, preschool experience, and shared book reading explained 46% of the total variance of preschoolers’ ToM scores.

Developing a Pedagogy of Listening: Experiences in an Indigenous Preschool (Dispatch)

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The Effectiveness of Preschool Education on Social Adjustment of Elementary Students

Considering the physical, psychological and social preparation of the child in pre-primary school for advancement in various aspects of development and the certificate of various researches, the positive effect of this course's education on the social adjustment of primary school children requires more attention to pre-school education. The elementary school is useful and necessary in terms of quantitative and qualitative and conducting appropriate studies to evaluate the effects and improve the content and conduct of the training. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of preschool education on social adjustment of primary school students.The method of this research is post-event (causal-comparative), in which a 320-person elementary school students (160 of whom had pre-primary education and 160 without pre-school education) had adaptive behavior questionnaires. Randomized sampling was performed and the results were analyzed. . Findings of this study showed that there is no significant effect on pre-school education on social adjustment of elementary students. The results of this study confirm the view that children can not be sent to preschool centers in the hope that they will only have the effect of preschool experience on the development of their social adjustment, but also the quality of the programs of these centers, the personality and the way of communication. The teacher is the center of space and the amount of pre-school experience that matters in this area.Keywords: preschool education, social adjustment.

First Grade Students' Perceptions of Their Preschool and Elementary School Experience

The purpose of this study was to reveal first grade students’ perceptions of their preschool and elementary school experience. Phenomenological research design was used in this qualitative study. Participants were twenty first grade students who had attended preschool. The data were obtained by using semi-structured interviews and pictures drawn by children, and analyzed by qualitative data analysis. The results showed that preschool, which offers an environment of play based activities, was perceived as a more enjoyable and desired place by children. The children also expressed that their elementary school experiences were based on rules, academic knowledge and skills in contrast to their preschool experience, and that elementary school entailed more duties and responsibilities.

The Enduring Effects of Early-Learned Ideas and Local Folklore on Children\u2019s Astronomy Knowledge

The research described here examined the sources of knowledge of astronomy of children (age 3–18) in China and New Zealand, together with the development of their awareness of competing sources, ranging from everyday language, childhood literature and folklore to the scientific accounts prevalent in schools. The authors cite examples of the bootstrapping encountered during these years, where children’s expanding knowledge and how they process questions intended to probe their understandings—their metacognitive strategies—are mutually beneficial. The semi-structured interviews utilising three modalities (verbal language, drawing and play-dough modelling) carried out with pupils (n = 358), and questionnaires administered to their parents (n = 80), teachers (n = 65) and local librarians (n = 5), focused on young people’s understanding of daytime and night-time and the roles played by the Sun and Moon in creating familiar events. The findings underscore the arguments put forward by the authors in a recent article in this journal concerning the co-existence of everyday and scientific concepts. The influence of early-learned ideas deriving from pre-school experiences, recalled by children and largely corroborated by family members, was found to be extensive. Evidence of the migration of folklore in one of the two settings investigated (on the North East China Plain) and therefore its continuing influence on children’s comprehension is provided. With respect to teaching, the authors argue the benefits to be had in making more explicit with young students the differences between early-learned (everyday-cultural) ideas—particularly local community knowledge and folklore—and the scientific content found in the school curriculum.

Room for Improvement: Girls’ and Boys’ Home Environments are Still Gendered

Decades ago, Rheingold and Cook (1975) observed marked gender-typing of preschool children’s playthings and room furnishings. Our purpose was to determine whether this form of implicit gender socialization has been altered by cultural shifts toward more egalitarian attitudes. We also examined potential predictors of children’s room contents, including parents’ self-perceived gender-stereotypical personality traits (i.e., expressivity and instrumentality), sibling composition, and preschool experience as a proxy for exposure to peer pressure to conform to gender norms. In-depth cataloging of 75 U.S. preschoolers’ room contents (n = 39 girls) found significant gender differences that were consistent with the gender-typing documented decades ago. Multilevel modeling showed parents’ expressivity and instrumentality largely to be unrelated to their child’s gender-typed playthings. Also, children in families with same-gender siblings, and girls who had spent more time in preschool, had more gender-typed playthings. Thus, the gender-typing of children’s playthings is attributable to multiple pathways, although familial contributors were minimal in our study. We discuss implications for toy advertising and how parents can be astute consumers, as well as strategies to create gender-neutral preschool classrooms and home environments.

Pre-School Experiences and Formal School Readiness of Six-Year-Olds: The Stakeholders’ Views

Pre-School Experiences and Formal School Readiness of Six-Year-Olds: The Stakeholders’ Views

Expressive Morphological Skills of Dual Language Learning and Monolingual German Children: Exploring Links to Duration of Preschool Attendance, Classroom Quality, and Classroom Composition.

A growing body of research has been documenting environmental factors that support preschoolers’ vocabulary skills. However, less is known about how environmental factors are related to morphological skills of dual language learners (DLLs) and single language learners (SLLs). We examined connections with preschool experiences by investigating the effects of duration of preschool attendance, classroom quality, and classroom composition variables (percentage of DLLs and percentage of children from families with a low socio-economic status) on preschoolers’ expressive morphological skills. Several multilevel regression models were estimated using cross-sectional data from 835 children (n = 255 DLLs) aged 30–47 months. These children were nested in 169 preschool classrooms in Germany. As a control task, we also investigated children’s phonological processing abilities, for which we found, as expected, no differences between DLLs and SLLs. Our main finding was that DLL children scored lower in expressive morphological skills than their German monolingual peers, but this difference was considerably smaller in classrooms that scored high in instructive teacher–child interactions (measured by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System for pre-kindergarten children; CLASS Pre-K). Taken together, these results support the notion that supportive teacher–child instructive interactions have a positive impact on the development of DLLs’ morphological skills.

Latino children’s academic and behavioral trajectories in early elementary school: Examining home language differences within preschool types

The present study examined early academic, social, and behavioral trajectories from kindergarten to third grade for Latino children from English- or Spanish-speaking homes who experienced public pre-k, Head Start, private center care, or no preschool experience. Using a nationally representative sample of Latino children (N = 3650) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten 2010–2011 cohort (ECLS-K:2011), associations of home language and preschool experience were examined for trajectories of reading and math achievement, social skills, and externalizing behavior problems. At kindergarten entry, Latino children from English-speaking households attained higher scores in reading and math than children from Spanish-speaking families across public pre-k, Head Start, and no preschool groups. However, these early home language differences greatly diminished by third grade. In contrast, for Latino children who attended private center-based care, home language comparisons were nonsignificant for early reading skills in the fall of kindergarten. By third grade, home language differences were evident among the Latino children who attended private centers, such that children from English-speaking homes scored significantly higher in reading than children from Spanish-speaking homes. Few home language differences were detected in social or behavioral skill ratings at fall of kindergarten or in trajectories within preschool types. Nonetheless, home language differences in externalizing problems grew by third grade among Latino children who had attended Head Start, such that children from English-speaking homes received higher behavior problem ratings from teachers than peers from Spanish-speaking homes.

The Benefits of Center-Based Care and Full-Day Kindergarten for School Attendance in the Early Grades

School absenteeism has been recognized as a growing issue in the United States, especially during the early elementary school years when it is most pervasive. Accordingly, there has been growing interest in understanding why children are absent and whether certain early educational experiences can reduce children’s rates of school absences. The objective of this investigation was to estimate the additive and multiplicative benefits of children’s early school experiences in preschool (center-based care) and kindergarten (center-based care and full day kindergarten enrollment) for patterns of school absenteeism in kindergarten and first grade. To address these objectives, data were drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011 and included 12,835 children and families. Children who attended center-based care in preschool and kindergarten had fewer missed school days and were less likely to be chronically absent in kindergarten and first grade. Children in full-day kindergarten programs had more absences by the end of kindergarten, but fewer absences by the end of the following year. No specific combination of early school arrangements was most beneficial. Instead, children who experienced more early educational arrangements were generally absent less frequently and these benefits were larger in first grade than in kindergarten. When taken together, findings underscore the importance of formal early educational programs and opportunities on longer-term school attendance.