School Readiness Research Articles

Using Integrated Administrative Data for Promoting Access to Early Childhood Education Programs

Early childhood education (ECE) can significantly mitigate the detrimental effects of poverty. Head Start (HS) is a federally funded program in U.S. designed to promote school readiness for children from low-income families. Nationwide estimates suggest that HS only reaches 41% of eligible children and programs are facing under-enrollment, which highlights the importance of addressing the evolving needs. This is a secondary analysis study that utilizes real-world data to explore (a) child, family, neighborhood, and program characteristics that predict HS non/enrollment and (b) HS eligible children’s use of other public ECE programs. It employs an individual child-level integrated dataset from Iowa’s Integrated Data System for Decision-making (I2D2), including data from the State Departments of Public Health and Human Services, Education, and HS recipients. Our data is unique as one of the first systems in the U.S. that includes child-level data from HS recipients statewide. We also integrated aggregated county- and program-level datasets to include multidimensional neighborhood conditions (i.e., poverty, employment) and comprehensive information about HS programs (i.e., staffing, transportation, partnerships). Our analytic sample is 30,048 potential HS eligible children who were born in Iowa and attended kindergarten in 2016-17 or 17-18. Preliminary results showed that only 12% of eligible children were enrolled in HS the year before kindergarten. We are testing logistic and multinomial logistic regression models, and the results will be ready by the presentation. Findings will inform HS programs on improving equitable access and recruiting strategies to meet the needs of children who are most in need.

Unlocking the forest: An ethnographic evaluation of Forest Schools on developmental outcomes for 3-year-olds unaccustomed to woodland spaces.

Early years experiences shape a child's physical, cognitive and emotional development. Spending time in greenspaces offers benefits for children's development, but access and use can be limited in urban settings. There is increasing interest in the health and developmental benefits of Forest Schools for primary-aged children, but little is known about the benefits for pre-school children. This study aims to identify these and explore the processes and activities associated with a Forest School intervention for early years children that may influence outcomes. This paper reports on an ethnographic approach involving 65 hours of observations with two cohorts of 10 3-year-olds attending 11 weekly Forest School sessions in an urban setting. The children attending had little or no previous experience of natural spaces. 14 in-depth interviews were conducted with parents, and nursery and Forest School staff. The data were analysed using thematic analysis, and outcomes were identified using the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework. Despite logistical challenges, the intervention benefitted age-specific health and development outcomes, particularly personal, socio- and emotional development, verbal communication, and mathematics. Unexpected benefits were observed among nursery staff and parents attending Forest School. Forest Schools are a promising and feasible method to improve nature connectedness and development in children aged 3 years and support school readiness. The maintenance and protection of urban woodland spaces are paramount to facilitate this.

Navigating the Digital Shift: The State of Junior High Schools' Technological Readiness in Indonesia

The digital shift in education requires readiness among school members to manage the challenges of organizational change. This study investigates the technological readiness of junior high schools in Indonesia from teachers' perspective, using Weiner's (2009) theory of organizational readiness for change, and examines students' readiness for digital learning. Participants included teachers and students from four junior high schools in Boyolali, Central Java, selected through convenience sampling with a 95% confidence level (0.05). Descriptive statistical analysis indicated a positive readiness for digital transformation (mean = 3.74). The study found that only the Valence of Change factor had a statistically significant correlation with schools' readiness for digital shift. Furthermore, respondents showed a positive attitude toward digital learning, with no significant gender differences in students' perceptions and use of digital tools. These findings offer valuable insights for educators, researchers, and school administrators in driving digital transformation in education. The study recommends integrating digital learning into the curriculum to boost student engagement and interest.

School performance readiness of elementary students with disabilities before starting the occupational therapy program in special education schools

Background: School-based occupational therapists (SBOTs) work as health professionals in educational settings. School performance readiness is within the scope of SBOTs in providing a service for students who might have experienced decreasing performance during their school life. Objective: This study aimed to explore the school performance readiness of elementary students with disabilities before starting the occupational therapy program in special education schools. Materials and methods: The school performance readiness checklist for students with disabilities in special education schools was the research instrument. It comprised four areas: physical, social and emotional, pre-academic, and self-care readiness. Seventy-five elementary students with disabilities participated in this study. They consisted of 41 students with intellectual disability, 21 students with physical disability, and 13 students with sensory disability. Results: Results from the initial semester in special education schools showed that most of the students with disabilities (85.33%) needed support in promoting their school performance readiness, particularly in pre-academic readiness. This included most of those with intellectual disability (33.33%) and all of those with sensory disabilities, while all of the students with physical disabilities needed support in promoting physical readiness. Conclusion: Most students with disabilities needed support in promoting their school performance readiness according to their type of disability. Although the special education schools had enrolment criteria, SBOTs and school professionals should be concerned with providing related intervention programs to promote school readiness, particularly pre-academic readiness.

Language and communication development and school readiness of children raised by grandparents or in multi-generational homes.

One in ten U.S. children lives with a grandparent, and more foster children are being placed in kinship care. Our objective was to compare early language and communication development and school readiness among children raised by grandparents (alone or in multigenerational households) to children raised by parents. We included in this cross-sectional study children ages 1-5 years from the 2016-2020 National Survey of Children's Health to examine healthy and ready to learn school readiness outcomes and binary language and communication development (2018-2020 data only) by caregiver type (parent, multigenerational, and grandparent-only) with survey-weighted log-binomial regression adjusted for confounders. We stratified by survey years pre-COVID-19 pandemic versus during. Among 33,342 children, 86.0% (SE = 0.51) of children were 'On-Track' for language and communication development; only 37.2% (SE = 0.68) were 'On-Track' overall for school readiness. Children raised by grandparents or in multigenerational households were more often 'On-Track' for school readiness than children raised by parents, but only upon adjustment for covariates (adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR) for grandparent-only 1.13, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.11, 1.15; aPR for multigenerational 1.13, CI 1.12, 1.15). Smaller and less consistent differences in prevalence were observed for the other outcomes (language and communication development, school readiness domains of early learning skills, social-emotional development, self-regulation development and physical well-being and motor development). A disparity in school readiness may have emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic; children in grandparent-only households had a lower prevalence of being 'On-Track' for school readiness (aPR 0.71, 95% CI 0.69, 0.73) compared to children in parent households, whereas children in multigenerational households continued to be more often school-ready than children in parent households. Large proportions of children across caregiver types were not fully prepared for school. Consideration of key covariates is important because socio-economic disadvantage may mask other advantages grandparent-led and multigenerational households offer children's early development.

Spaced recall reduces forgetting of fundamental mathematical concepts in a post high school precalculus course

The retention of fundamental mathematical skills is imperative to provide a foundation on which new skills are developed. Educators often lament about student retention. Cognitive scientists and educators have explored teaching methods that produce learning which endures over time. We wanted to know if using spaced recall quizzes would prevent our students from forgetting fundamental mathematical concepts at a post high school preparatory school where students attend for 1 year preparing to enter the United States Military Academy (USMA). This approach was implemented in a Precalculus course to determine if it would improve students’ long-term retention. Our goal was to identify an effective classroom strategy that led to student recall of fundamental mathematical concepts through the end of the academic year. The concepts that were considered for long-term retention were 12 concepts identified by USMA’s mathematics department as being fundamental for entering students. These concepts are taught during quarter one of the Precalculus with Introduction to Calculus course at the United States Military Academy Preparatory School. It is expected that students will remember the concepts when they take the post-test 6 months later. Our research shows that spaced recall in the form of quizzing had a statistically significant impact on reducing the forgetting of the fundamental concepts while not adversely effecting performance on current instructional concepts. Additionally, these results persisted across multiple sections of the course taught at different times of the day by six instructors with varying teaching styles and years of teaching experience.

The extent of female biology teachers awareness of scientific enlightenment

The aim of the current research is to study the extent of female biology teachers awareness of scientific enlightenment by answering the following question, For the purpose of answering this question, the author prepared a scale for scientific enlightenment that includes seven areas, which are (Biological knowledge, the mutual relationship between biology, society and the environment, translation of terms, science processes, scientific directions, scientific inclinations and scientific assessment), The scale consists of 50 items that distributed equally over the seven areas of scientific enlightenment. The items for the first four areas were objective which means the answer was either true or false (takes 0-1), as for the last three areas the answer alternatives were three-fold (agree, hesitant, disagree) or (3-2-1). The research sample consisted of female biology teachers of Baghdad/ Al-Rusafa Third Education Directorate, amounting to 105 biology schools, who were chosen randomly from the middle, secondary, and preparatory schools about 150 schools. The results of the research concluded that biology teachers possess scientific awareness, depending on these results, the author developed recommendations and proposals to complement this research.

A Study of the Impact of English Tests Anxiety on the Development of Language Learning in Foreign Language Contexts

The study aims to explore the impact of anxiety on English learning for preparatory schools students in Iraq, specifically by revealing a strong connection between anxiety and academic challenges in the official context. Sixty-four participants (male and female) were randomly selected from the preparatory schools. The study discovered significant differences in the rates of learning English as a foreign language. The participants indicated a strong relationship between English tests and anxiety in classroom activities. The Chi-square test showed a positive relationship between the two variables: anxiety and speaking skills c2 (63,1),11.00=.003, p<0.05. On the contrary, the Chi-Square test revealed a negative correlation between anxiety and language skills, including listening, reading and writing skills, respectively. In comparison, the results demonstrate that the likelihood of females suffering an anxiety disorder is not statistically significantly higher compared to the case of males (t=.089, Sig.=.930). The participants obtained the lowest mean scores for the four language skills. Based on the responses provided by 31% of the participants to the FLCAS questionnaire (M= 25.3, SD= 3.2), speaking emerges as the most challenging skill for foreign language learners in preparatory schools. The study's recommendations underscore teachers' critical role in alleviating the adverse impact of anxiety on learning. Specifically, it suggests that teachers should identify the root cause of the anxiety and assist students in coping with anxiety while engaging in academic activities. Furthermore, they should establish a safe atmosphere for English learning, which could prove vital for future studies.

COVID-19 school closures and Chinese children's school readiness: Results from the natural experimental data.

To determine the associations between COVID-19 school closures and school readiness skills for Chinese kindergarteners. We utilized the natural experimental condition created by local COVID-19 outbreaks in 2022 (Study 1) to compare school readiness skills of children whose kindergartens were closed for 5 months (Group 1) with children whose kindergartens stayed open (Group 2). We further compared the school readiness skills of one pre-COVID-19 cohort (Cohort 2019) with one COVID-19 cohort (Cohort 2021) from a fifth kindergarten (Study 2). For Study 1, Group 1 included 445 children and Group 2 included 584 children aged 4-6 years. For Study 2, Cohort 2019 included 156 children and Cohort 2021 included 228 children aged 3-6 years. For both studies, survey data on four school readiness skills were collected from parents. Additionally, Study 1 collected parental locus of control data from parents. Controlling for covariates, Study 1 revealed that Group 1 and Group 2 did not differ in terms of language and emergent literacy or approaches to learning. However, Group 1 scored lower than Group 2 on health and well-being and arts and imagination. Study 2 revealed that Cohort 2021 scored higher than Cohort 2019 on language and emergent literacy but lower on the other three skills. The associations of COVID-19 school closures with Chinese children's school readiness skills were not uniform, with a positive relation with language and emergent literacy and negative associations with health and well-being, approaches to learning, as well as arts and imagination.

Inquiry-Based Flipped Learning and Developing Self-Empowerment Skills for Prep School Pupils

Inquiry-Based Flipped Learning and Developing Self-Empowerment Skills for Prep School Pupils

Pendampingan dan Sosialisasi Protokol Kesehatan Covid-19 sebagai Upaya Persiapan Pembelajaran Tatap Muka

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought a significant impact on the world of education, including in Indonesia. In response, the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture issued Guidelines for the Implementation of Learning for the Second Semester of the 2020/2021 Academic Year during the Covid-19 Pandemic on November 20, 2020. SMK Kesehatan Binatama, an accredited "A" educational institution in Sinduadi Village focusing on health sciences, has also felt the impact of this pandemic. A SWOT analysis conducted at SMK Kesehatan Binatama revealed issues related to the school's readiness to meet the health protocol standards set by the government for face-to-face learning. As a solution, the school organized assistance and socialization of health protocols. The socialization and counseling aimed to increase knowledge and awareness about Covid-19, as well as efforts to prevent and reduce the risk of its transmission. The assistance focused on maintaining the consistency of health protocol implementation within the school environment. The steps for implementing community service begin with initial observation, identification of partner problems, application for community service permits, followed by implementation of training activities consisting of health protocol counseling and SOP preparation, and ending with mentoring activities consisting of mentoring risk mapping, compliance with risk implementation and preparation of SOPs. The result of this community service activity is to make Binatama Health Vocational School a role model and pilot project for implementing face-to-face learning in Sinduadi Village. This community service activity has targets and outcomes divided into two aspects: services and products. The service aspect includes improving the school's knowledge and readiness in dealing with Covid-19 and conducting face-to-face learning. The product aspect includes the creation of SOP documents and scientific articles

The Effect of PDEODE and SWOM Strategies in Developing 10th Grade Literary Students’ Historical Thinking Skills

The current study which is an extract from a PhD dissertation adopted a mixed- method, experimental-design to find out the effect of PDEODE and SWOM strategies in developing tenth- grade literary students’ historical thinking skills. The sample of the study consists of sixty tenth grade students from the literary branch at Tafan Preparatory School for Girls. After equalizing them, they are divided in this way: Group A regarded as the first experimental group taught by PDEODE strategy, Group B as the control group taught conventionally and group C taught by SWOM strategy as the second experimental group. For each of these groups, a twenty- four daily teaching plan was used and a 30- item test was prepared by the researcher to know the effect of these strategies in developing historical thinking skills. After analyzing the data through the statistical method ONE- WAY ANNOVA, it was displayed that there are statistically significant differences among the groups in a way the first experimental group is better than the second experimental and control groups. It was also concluded that PDEODE and SWOM as two new teaching strategies can provide appropriate platform for improving teaching and learning processes as they focus on students’ intellectual, psychological and personal dimensions, making them the center of the process which enables them to apply their knowledge in different contexts.

Dietary Habits and Determinants of Overnutrition Among Secondary and Preparatory School Adolescents: A Multi-Center Unmatched Case-Control Study

Dietary Habits and Determinants of Overnutrition Among Secondary and Preparatory School Adolescents: A Multi-Center Unmatched Case-Control Study

Every Newborn-Reach Up Early Education Intervention for All Children (EN-REACH)- a parent group intervention for school readiness in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Tanzania: study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial

BackgroundVulnerable children, including those with neuro-developmental delays and disabilities, often face barriers in accessing early primary education, thus hindering progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 4.2. Evidence-based interventions are essential to enhancing inclusivity and establishing sustainable implementation strategies to address this challenge. This study, Every Newborn—Reach up Early Education Intervention for All Children (EN-REACH), builds on the previous Every Newborn- Simplified Measurement Integrating Longitudinal Neurodevelopmental and Growth (EN-SMILING) observational cohort study. This paper provides the protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT) to evaluate the effectiveness of a parenting group intervention program for enhancing school readiness in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Tanzania, and an embedded process evaluation to inform scalability and feasibility.MethodsEN-REACH is a cRCT with at least 150 clusters to evaluate the impact of a parent training program led by trained parent-teacher facilitator pairs, focusing on children aged 4 ~ 6 years preparing for preschool. Approximately 500 participants from the EN-SMILING cohort at each site have been identified. A geographic information system will define ~ 50 clusters in each of the three countries, each with approximately ten parent–child dyads. Half the clusters will be randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The primary outcome is “school readiness”, assessed using the Measuring Early Learning Quality and Outcomes tool. Secondary outcomes include Intelligence Quotient, child functioning, growth, visual, and hearing assessments. Data will be collected at baseline, and post-intervention data following implementation of the parent group intervention sessions over approximately 5 months. Quantitative data on coverage and quality care, combined with qualitative insights from children, caregivers, facilitators, and stakeholders’ perspectives, will be used to conduct a process evaluation applying the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. DiscussionThis protocol details a trial focused on enhancing school readiness and cognitive abilities in young children, inclusive of those with disabilities, aiming to bridge gap from home to early primary education. EN-REACH aims to provide insights into the effectiveness and acceptability of a co-designed disability-inclusive school readiness program in three countries, potentially impacting national and global policies for all children, including those with disabilities.Trial registrationThe trial was retrospectively registered on clinicaltrials.gov on 29 February 2024 (NCT06334627).

Developing Reflective Thinking in Female Students Fourth Grade Preparatory School in the Subject of Quran oh Noble and Islamic Education

Developing Reflective Thinking in Female Students Fourth Grade Preparatory School in the Subject of Quran oh Noble and Islamic Education

Hypercontent Media for Fostering Sociopreneurship in Vocational Education

This research explores the synergy between sustainable environmental education, sociopreneurship, and hypercontent media to support the SDGs and enhance 21st-century education. Focusing on vocational school students, it aims to design hypercontent-based learning media to promote sociopreneurship. The study uses qualitative methods with a case study approach, involving leaders, teachers, and students from five Vocational High Schools in Palembang. Data were collected through literature and field studies, including a media needs analysis via a questionnaire. The results indicate good school readiness for sustainable education programs, with an average score of 4.06. However, classroom implementation is low at 62.25%. Only 34% of students find current media effective, while 65% feel that traditional methods are insufficient. Therefore, 80% of students see the need for hypercontent-based learning media. Keywords: Sustainable Environmental Education, Hypercontent, Sociopreneurship, Sustainable Development Goals, Instructional Media

The Bradley-Terry Model in Binary Outcome Driven Rankings: An Application in Amateur Hockey

Ranking systems serve critical roles in sport settings, most notably in determining playoff participants and seeding. Many ranking methodologies exist that are flexible enough to incorporate many input measures and produce models that are highly predictive of game outcomes. However, there are circumstances—especially for amateur sport leagues—in which more complex inputs are either unavailable or not desirable, as they may lead to adverse performance incentives. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to highlight a ranking methodology that only considers binary game outcomes, i.e., wins and losses. Specifically, we consider the efficacy of the Bradley-Terry Model to efficiently rank sport teams for playoff consideration. We apply this method as a case study to the New England Prep School Ice Hockey Association (NEPSIHA), and compare the accuracy of their current ranking system to the Bradley-Terry model using simulation methods. We show that Bradley-Terry significantly outperforms NEPSIHA’s current method, especially when teams face unbalanced strengths of schedule. This result holds under various league competitive balance distributions.

The role of cumulative family risks in the relationship between executive functioning and school readiness

This study investigated the roles of cumulative family risks and executive functioning (EF) in explaining preschool children’s school readiness. The cumulative family risks comprised family socioeconomic status (SES), home literacy environment (HLE), and familial risk of dyslexia (FRD). The participants were 955 first-year kindergarten children (Mage = 3.53 years, SD=0.41, 46.60 % girls) and their parents (Mage = 35.56 years, SD=6.31, 82.7 % mothers) from Hong Kong, China. The parents completed a survey package measuring their children’s school readiness, EF skills, and the three above-mentioned cumulative family risks. Hierarchical regression analysis, controlling for children’s age and gender, was performed to test the unique contributions of EF and the profiles of cumulative family risks to school readiness. The results showed that in addition to the significant role of EF, HLE risk was significantly associated with school readiness. The association between EF and school readiness was significantly weaker in children with three or more family risks than in their peers. The findings highlight the necessity of developing family education and school–family–community collaboration programs to enhance the school readiness of children, especially those with multiple family risks.

Early Life Exposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences and School Readiness Among Preschoolers with Disruptive Behaviors

Early Life Exposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences and School Readiness Among Preschoolers with Disruptive Behaviors

Nature and success: Outdoor play is linked to school readiness

Backgroundand Purpose: Outdoor play is widely acknowledged for its benefits to physical health and psychological well-being, yet its relationship with school readiness remains understudied in preschoolers. To address this gap in the literature, this study investigated how outdoor play relates to cognitive and psychosocial development among a nationally representative sample of preschoolers. Materials and methodData on the duration of outdoor play (on weekdays and weekends) and specific cognitive and psychosocial outcome variables (i.e., early learning skills, self-regulation, social-emotional development, and flourishing) were collected via questionnaires provided to the caregivers of preschoolers. Logistic regressions were performed to examine the associations between outdoor play with cognitive and psychosocial outcomes while adjusting for covariates and calculate the odds ratio with 95 % confidence intervals (CI). ResultsAmong the 10,682 preschoolers (i.e., 3-5y) included in this study (i.e., 5558 boys, Mage = 3.98 ± 0.99 years), there was a lower percentage of preschoolers engaged in outdoor play for over 3 h per day on weekdays (33.39 %) compared to weekends (56.85 %). Outdoor play in preschoolers is positively associated with various domains of school readiness, and engaging in outdoor play for more than 3 h per day is associated with more beneficial outcomes. ConclusionThe findings of this cross-sectional study suggest that promoting outdoor play among preschoolers can be an effective strategy for enhancing cognitive, social, and emotional development in this age group although further intervention studies are required to buttress this assumption empirically.