Kindergarten Literacy Research Articles

Pengembangan Media KIncir Pintar dengan Metode Demonstrasi dan Bermain untuk meningkatkan kemampuan Bahasa Ekspresif dan keaksaraan Anak Usia 5-6 Tahun di TK Negeri Pembina Batang

The background of this research is the conditions in the Batang Pembina Batang State Kindergarten, Kalisalak Village, Batang. Researchers also found problems learning expressive language skills and expressive language literacy and low literacy reaching 75%. The approach used in this research is the type of research carried out is the ADDIE development research method including: Analysis, Design, Development or Production, Implementationor Delivery and Evaluations. The ADDIE model was developed by Dick and Carry in 1996 to design learning systems (Mulyaningsih, 2016). This model can be used for various forms of product development in learning activities such as models, learning strategies, learning methods, media and teaching materials. The results of this study are 1. Results of the Smart Wheel (Kintar) media validation using demonstration and play methods to improve expressive language skills and literacy of children aged 5-6 years with very valid criteria. 2. Practicality The validation of the Smart Wheel (Kintar) media with the demonstration and playing method developed can improve expressive language skills and early childhood literacy in kindergarten based on the results of teacher and student response questionnaires. 3. Being able to improve the expressive language skills and literacy of children aged 5-6 years in Kindergarten. The effectiveness of learning using the Smart Wheel (Kintar) media with demonstration and play methods can be seen through the effectiveness test with the result that the Smart Wheel (Kintar) media with Demonstration and play methods can improve expressive language skills and motor literacy in early childhood in kindergarten, this is shown by the average score of students' learning ability assessment of 4.00. it can be concluded that the effectiveness of the Smart Wheel (Kintar) media with demonstration and play methods to improve expressive language skills and early childhood literacy falls within the very good criteria.

Development of Wetland-Based Pop-Up Book to Improve English Vocabulary and Numeracy Literacy Skill in Kindergarten

This development research was motivated by children's low numeracy literacy and not being taught English vocabulary from an early age. This research aims to develop a wetland-based pop-up book to improve English vocabulary skills and numeracy literacy in kindergarten that is valid, practical, and effective. The type of research used is development research. The model used is the ADDIE model. The data analysis techniques used are quantitative descriptive and qualitative descriptive analysis techniques. Quantitative descriptive analysis is used to analyze the results of questionnaire data obtained from the results of validation questionnaires, teacher and student response questionnaires, as well as student learning outcomes tests in the form of scores. Qualitative descriptive analysis is used to analyze comments or suggestions from expert validators, teachers and students in the form of descriptive data. The research results show (1) the pop-up book is valid based on the assessment of Indonesian language experts with an average score of 3.8, English with an average score of 4, mathematics with an average score of 4 and design with an average score of 4, (2) practical pop-ups based on teacher assessment with an average score of 3.8, and (3) pop-up books are effective for children to use. Thus, wetland-based pop-up books to improve English vocabulary skills and numeracy literacy in kindergarten can effectively improve English vocabulary and numeracy literacy skills in kindergarten.

The Role of Working Memory in Early Literacy and Numeracy Skills in Kindergarten and First Grade.

The working memory system supports learning processes such as acquiring new information and the development of new skills. Working memory has been found to be related to both early literacy and early numeracy in kindergarten and to linguistic and mathematical academic skills at older ages, but the contribution of each of the memory components at these ages is not yet clear. The purpose of this study is to examine the unique connections among the various systems of WM, early literacy, and early numeracy using various assessment tests of simple WM and complex WM, as well as a variety of tasks in math and language skills administered to the same 250 children in kindergarten and 150 children in first grade. Consistent with the predictions, significant relations among all components of memory and mathematics and language knowledge at both ages were found, although these connections were differential for the different types of tasks and memory systems. The connection of complex WM was stronger in its contribution and more significant in first grade in both mathematics and language domains. Complex WM resources were more important in early literacy at kindergarten age, while simple WM seems to be important in early numeracy. The theoretical and educational implications of these results are discussed accordingly.

The predictive role of early childhood dysregulation profile on the parallel growth trajectories of reading and math performance across elementary and middle school

This study examined the heterogeneity in the co-developmental trajectories of reading and math performance (i.e., parallel changes in the initial scores and growth patterns) and identified the number, size and shape of the co-developmental trajectory across elementary and middle schools. In addition, this investigation focused on how an early childhood dysregulation profile (DP; indexed by a high co-occurrence of emotional, behavior, and attention problems) was associated with distinct co-developmental trajectories of reading and math performance. Specifically, we examined whether early childhood DP level can predict (a) membership assignment into each distinct co-development group and (b) variability in initial scores and changes in growth with each distinct co-development group. Participants were 784 academically at-risk students (47 % girls) predominantly from low socioeconomic status families who were recruited in first grade (Mean age = 6.57 years) and followed annually through the final year of middle school (ninth grade). Results revealed two distinct co-developmental trajectories of reading and math performance, including (a) a lower initial reading (higher increasing) and higher initial math (lower increasing) class (85.3 %) and (b) a lower initial math (higher increasing) and higher initial reading (lower increasing) class (14.7 %). Our results provided evidence for the compensatory pattern of co-developmental trajectories, indicating initial lower skills grow at a faster rate than the initial high. Further, early childhood DP was not associated with the membership assignment for these two distinct classes, which means that regardless of children’s early DP level, they have equal chances to be assigned to each of the classes. However, children with higher parent and teacher-reported DP in first grade demonstrated lower initial scores and a slower improvement rate in both classes after controlling for kindergarten literacy skills, gender, ethnicity, intelligence, socioeconomic status, and grade retention. Our study findings demonstrated (a) substantial heterogeneity in the co-developmental trajectories of reading and math performance across elementary and middle school ages; and (b) the importance of promoting self-regulation beginning in early childhood, especially for academically at-risk children in families facing economic challenges.

Play–Based Approach and Kindergarten Literacy Level

Play–Based Approach and Kindergarten Literacy Level

A deeper dive, a wider pool: Preschool benefits sustain to first grade on a broader set of outcomes.

The current study provides new evidence on the sustained benefits of preschool attendance on a broader range of skills-both academic and executive functioning (EF)-than many prior studies have examined. Using propensity score methods, we predicted children's (N = 920, M age at 1st = 6.5 years) literacy, language, math, and EF skills in kindergarten and again at first-grade (2020-2021) based on whether they had attended public preschool (school-based pre-k; Head Start) versus no preschool. In our race-ethnically diverse sample of children (48% Hispanic/Latinx; 21% Black; 14% White; 9% Native American; 9% multiracial) from low-income families, preschool attenders showed advantages on English literacy, English language, and math in kindergarten, which mostly persisted into first-grade. Preschool did not boost EF in kindergarten or first-grade.

The effects of a high quality state-run preschool program as rated by a Quality Rating and Improvement System on children's school readiness

The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of attending a state-run preschool program that is rated as “higher quality” on a state's Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) for children's outcomes in prekindergarten and kindergarten. It was expected that children who attended higher QRIS-rated programs would demonstrate greater gains in school readiness skills relative to children who received similar subsidies but attended lower-rated programs in the prekindergarten year. However, because there is little to base a hypothesis on with regard to longitudinal associations, we had no a priori hypotheses regarding potential effects into the fall and spring of kindergarten. Participants included 2 cohorts (N = 516; 50% female, Mage = 4.80 years). Data were collected on school readiness outcomes in the fall and spring of prekindergarten and kindergarten. Results suggested that participating in the higher-rated program was related to gains in language during the prekindergarten year that persisted into kindergarten. Findings indicated that children who participated in the program experienced greater gains in their math, literacy, and school readiness in kindergarten. However, the majority of the effects were generally small, albeit positive.

When does 1 + 1 not equal 2? The relative advantage of public school-based pre-k versus head start for low-income children's kindergarten cognitive and self-regulatory skills.

Decades of research suggest that both Head Start and public pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs boost low-income preschoolers' kindergarten skills. What is not yet well understood is whether there are relative advantages of transitioning from Head Start after 1 year into a school-based public pre-k program for the year immediately before kindergarten for children's developing cognitive and self-regulation skills. This is an important question, because in many communities Head Start and school-based pre-k programs provide competing early education options for low-income 4-year-olds, leaving policymakers, educators, and parents wondering which pathway best promotes the mix of skills predictive of success in elementary school. Only one study-conducted prior to significant recent demographic and policy changes affecting early education and focused exclusively on cognitive outcomes-has addressed this question. We extend that work with contemporary data on 362 low-income children to assess the relative advantages for both kindergarten cognitive and self-regulatory skills of 2 years of Head Start before kindergarten versus transitioning from Head Start to school-based pre-k at age 4. The child sample was evenly split by gender and diverse in race/ethnicity (50% Hispanic/Latinx; 36% Black; 7% White). Results showed that children who transitioned after 1 year of Head Start to school-based pre-k at age 4 showed marginally higher kindergarten literacy (d = .13) and significantly greater math (d = .18) skills than children who remained in Head Start for a second year, but there were no significant differences in kindergarten self-regulatory skills. Implications for contemporary, pressing policy issues are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in the Relationship Between Children’s Early Literacy Skills and Third-Grade Outcomes: Lessons From a Kindergarten Readiness Assessment

Federal accountability policy mandates that states administer standardized tests beginning in third grade. In turn, third-grade test scores are often viewed as a key indicator in policy and practice. Yet literacy struggles begin well before third grade, as do racial and socioeconomic disparities in children’s literacy skills. Kindergarten readiness assessments provide a unique opportunity to better understand the emergence of literacy disparities. We use unique kindergarten literacy data from nearly every school division in Virginia to document the relationship between children’s early literacy skills and their later reading proficiency. When comparing children with similar literacy skills at kindergarten entry, we find significant racial and socioeconomic differences in the likelihood that a child will be proficient on their third-grade reading assessment.

The relationship of handwriting ability and literacy in kindergarten: a systematic review

The relationship of handwriting ability and literacy in kindergarten: a systematic review

Integrating Literacy and Science Instruction in Kindergarten: Results From the Efficacy Study of Zoology One

This study examines the efficacy, cost, and implementation of an integrated science and literacy curriculum for kindergarten. The study was conducted in a large urban district and included 1,589 students in 71 classrooms in 21 schools. The research includes a multi-site cluster-randomized controlled trial and mixed-methods cost and implementation studies. Analysis revealed significant impacts on comprehension, letter-naming fluency, and motivation to read. No main impacts were observed on decoding, word identification, or writing; however, exploratory analysis revealed that students whose teachers implemented the treatment with fidelity performed statistically significantly better in writing and decoding. The cost to produce the observed effects was estimated at $480 per student, two-thirds of which was borne by the school. Despite this cost, treatment classrooms achieved savings by using an average of three fewer instructional programs than control classrooms. Teachers reported positive effects from the integrated curriculum on student engagement, learning, and behavior.

The development of early scientific literacy gaps in kindergarten children

ABSTRACT In times of climate change, worldwide diseases, and the question of sustainable energy, scientific literacy has never been more important. The acquisition of scientific literacy starts in early childhood and depends on children’s experiences in learning environments such as the parental home and kindergarten. The Starting Cohort 2 of the German National Educational Panel Study offers longitudinal data on the scientific literacy of 2,937 children from kindergarten to the third grade of primary school. We used linear latent growth curve models to analyse the data. The results show that the scientific literacy of kindergarten children grew over time and that kindergarten children already differed in their scientific literacy. Especially children from non-German-speaking homes or whose parents had lower levels of education or who came from homes with low cultural capital had a significantly lower level of scientific literacy in kindergarten. A scientific focus in kindergarten, on the other hand, had a positive effect on the scientific literacy of kindergarten children. Moreover, our study did not reveal any interindividual differences in the growth of scientific literacy over time. Thus, our study did not find any evidence to indicate that school had closed the initial gap in children’s scientific literacy.

Thriving, catching up or falling behind: Immigrant and refugee children’s kindergarten competencies and later academic achievement

Background with rationale Immigrant and refugee children and adolescents form a growing socially, culturally, and economically diverse group with varying adaptation outcomes.
 Main Aim In this Canadian, population-based study, we wanted to identify the varying academic achievement trajectories that immigrant and refugee children followed from childhood to adolescence (e.g., thriving, catching up, or falling behind) and whether these differences could be predicted at school entry, based upon select social/migration factors and teacher-assessed literacy, numeracy, and social-emotional competencies in kindergarten.
 Methods The study used a retrospective, longitudinal, population-based design and leveraged linked, individual-level administrative data from four sources (Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Human Early Learning Partnership) to identify a cohort of immigrant and refugee children in British Columbia, Canada (N = 9,216). We utilized a novel analytical approach (Group-based Trajectory Modeling) that allowed us to capture heterogeneity in the Grade 4 to Grade 10 academic (literacy and numeracy) trajectories.
 Results We found that immigrant and refugee children followed a range of academic achievement trajectories from Grade 4 to Grade 10 – some children thriving, some catching up, and others falling behind over time. A number of social/migration factors (e.g., sex and refugee status) as well as literacy, numeracy, and social-emotional competencies in kindergarten predicted these later academic trajectories in unique and sometimes powerful ways.
 Conclusion In all, we found that not all immigrant and refugee children start school on equal footing and this was associated with long-term outcomes. The implications for the importance of early, tailored interventions to set immigrant and refugee children onto paths of positive adaptation will be discussed.

Domain-specific effects of attentional and behavioral control in early literacy and numeracy development

In a longitudinal study, we investigated the direct and indirect contributions of two aspects of executive functioning - attentional and behavioral control - to the development of early literacy and numeracy in kindergarten and first grade. Ninety children (mean age = 6.0 years at Time 1) were assessed on multiple direct measures of executive functioning, as well as phonological awareness and number sense in kindergarten, and word reading and mathematics in first grade. Structural equation models showed that both attentional and behavioral control predicted phonological awareness and number sense. Attentional control had an indirect (via phonological awareness) effect on word reading only, while behavioral control had a direct effect on mathematics and an indirect effect (via phonological awareness) on word reading. Since attentional and behavioral control differentially relate to the emergence of literacy and numeracy, it is concluded that executive functioning has domain-specific effects on children's development.

Economic Disparities: SPARK Ohio and Narrowing the Kindergarten Readiness Gap

The present study investigated the extent to which children of various economic backgrounds were prepared for kindergarten literacy activities, as measured by the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment-Literacy (KRA-L). The study also assessed the extent to which children’s economic disadvantagement status moderates the relationship between KRA-L scores and the level of participation in SPARK Ohio, an early education intervention focused on increasing parental engagement and advocacy. KRA-L scores for children entering kindergarten in fall 2012 were analyzed for 548 SPARK Ohio participants and 1594 comparison children. Both SPARK Ohio and comparison children identified as economically disadvantaged scored significantly lower on the KRA-L, compared to children not classified as economically disadvantaged. Economic disadvantage status may moderate the influence of participating in SPARK Ohio; children identified as economically disadvantaged scored significantly higher on the KRA-L when they participated in SPARK Ohio, compared to those that did not participate in SPARK Ohio.

Peirce’s Concept of Signs and Kindergarten Literacy

This article focuses on Peirce’s writings about his concept of triadic sign relationships and applies his theory to analyses of multimodal literacy events in a kindergarten classroom where the author was a participant observer. Examples are provided to explain Peirce’s descriptions of the elements of sign relationships – object, representamen, and interpretant. Peirce’s theories are used to understand how the kindergarten children and their teacher make meaning from the children’s multimodal writing productions. Possible objects and interpretants of the children’s multimodal writings are explored. Figures of the children’s drawings/writings and diagrams of relationships among sign elements in the kindergarten classroom are included in the paper.  https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.17.5.7

Start with a Seedling: Uncovering the Kindergarten Language and Literacy Curriculum One Leaf at a Time

While recent research has documented a myriad of benefits to school gardening and food programs, many educators and administrators voice concerns that such programs detract from the provincially mandated curriculum and few researchers have investigated how school gardening and food programs may support language and literacy curriculum expectations. Using a content analysis of transcripts of audio data from a school gardening and food program that matched 24 kindergarten children with 17 adult and young adult volunteers, this study illustrates how such a program may help support mandated language and literacy curriculum. Analysis suggests the children involved in the program practiced important oral language skills, such as asking questions and expressing experiences with their garden buddies at a high frequency.

Neural basis of phonological awareness in beginning readers with familial risk of dyslexia—Results from shallow orthography

Phonological processing ability is a key factor in reading acquisition, predicting its later success or causing reading problems when it is weakened. Our aim here was to establish the neural correlates of auditory word rhyming (a standard phonological measure) in 102 young children with (FHD+) and without familial history of dyslexia (FHD−) in a shallow orthography (i.e. Polish). Secondly, in order to gain a deeper understanding on how schooling shapes brain activity to phonological awareness, a comparison was made of children who had had formal literacy instruction for several months (in first grade) and those who had not yet had any formal instruction in literacy (in kindergarten). FHD+ children compared to FHD− children in the first grade scored lower in an early print task and showed longer reaction times in the in-scanner rhyme task. No behavioral differences between FHD+ and FHD− were found in the kindergarten group. On the neuronal level, overall familial risk was associated with reduced activation in the bilateral temporal, tempo-parietal and inferior temporal–occipital regions, as well as the bilateral inferior and middle frontal gyri. Subcortically, hypoactivation was found in the bilateral thalami, caudate, and right putamen in FHD+. A main effect of the children's grade was present only in the left inferior frontal gyrus, where reduced activation for rhyming was shown in first-graders. Several regions in the ventral occipital cortex, including the fusiform gyrus, and in the right middle frontal and postcentral gyri, displayed an interaction between familial risk and grade. The present results show strong influence of familial risk that may actually increase with formal literacy instruction.

The unique role of lexical accessibility in predicting kindergarten emergent literacy.

The goal of this longitudinal study was to examine how lexical quality predicts the emergence of literacy abilities in 169 Dutch kindergarten children before formal reading instruction has started. At the beginning of the school year, a battery of precursor measures associated with lexical quality was related to the emergence of letter knowledge and word decoding. Confirmatory factor analysis evidenced five domains related to lexical quality, i.e., vocabulary, phonological coding, phonological awareness, lexical retrieval and phonological working memory. Structural equation modeling showed that the development of letter knowledge during the year could be predicted from children’s phonological awareness and lexical retrieval, and the emergence of word decoding from their phonological awareness and letter knowledge. It is concluded that it is primarily the accessibility of phonological representations in the mental lexicon that predicts the emergence of literacy in kindergarten.

Sociodemographic Inequality in Early Literacy Development: The Role of Teacher Perceptual Accuracy

Previous research has established that student learning is influenced by how accurately teachers perceive student academic ability. But studies rarely investigate the degree to which inaccuracies in teacher perceptions exacerbate demographic inequality in academic ability. Using a sample of almost 14,000 children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Cohort, we found that children whose literacy skills are overestimated by their teachers typically gain more literacy skills during kindergarten. Conversely, children whose skills are underestimated learn less. It is important to note that the skills of socioeconomically disadvantaged children are on average underestimated. As a result, inequalities in kindergarten literacy development stem in part from the links between teacher misperceptions and student background. We also explored the extent to which these relationships operate through practices associated with ability grouping. We found instructional grouping to be a weak facilitator of the link between teacher perceptions and student learning, suggesting the need for further research that identifies the social and structural classroom characteristics that link teacher perceptual accuracy to student learning.