Elementary School Success Research Articles

CREATION OF A SITUATION OF SUCCESS AS A MODERN PEDAGOGICAL PROBLEM IN PRIMARY SCHOOL

The article is devoted to the study of one of the most important problems of modern pedagogy — creating a situation of success in primary school which in today’s changing life is considered an important and pressing issue, as it is the basis for the correct and effective organization of the educational process. Success is associated with joy and positive emotions that a person experiences during and as a result of the work done. Having positive emotions in the corner of the memory makes the work perform in a pleasant way. Consequently, if a student has achieved a positive result and felt the joy of success, then he is involved in further educational activities with pleasure and interest. Success in educational activities is directly related to subsequent success in various areas of life, since at school students acquire not only knowledge, but also life experience that accompanies them throughout their lives. Creating a situation of success in elementary school depends on the cooperation and mutually agreed upon work of the primary school student, parent and teacher. The teacher’s task is to create conditions for students to feel the joy of success, realize their capabilities and believe in themselves. Summarizing the outcomes of the research, the article substantiates the creation of a situation of success in primary school as a modern pedagogical problem. The paper serves as a guideline for teachers aimed at creating a situation of success in the pedagogical process of primary school and increasing the effectiveness of teaching activities.

Assessment of the Influence of Teaching Methods on Learners Preparedness for Primary Education in Kenya

The purpose of this research was to compare and contrast the efficacy of different teaching methods in preparing pre-primary school students for success in elementary school. Participants in the study included Curricula Support Officers (CSOs), Section Heads, Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) center administrators, and educators. The study took a descriptive survey approach. The sample size of 215 was determined by Yamane's (1967) formula and was reached by the use of a systematic sampling technique. Focus group discussions (FGD), questionnaires, and in-depth interviews were all used to compile the data. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, and the results were presented in tables, while qualitative data underwent content analysis and was presented narratively. Parametric and non-parametric tests were utilized in inferential statistics, and a 5% significance threshold was applied in a logistic regression analysis to assess the null hypothesis. The Shapiro-Wilk and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests were used to check for normality. Since the calculated p-value of 0.042 was less than the required significance threshold of 0.05, the null hypothesis was rejected, suggesting that teaching practices had a sizeable impact on students' readiness for academic success. These results can be used by the County Government to provide better Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs. The National Government can use this information in policymaking and regulation to better track and control schools, which will improve students' readiness for the classroom. The results of this study may prove useful to teachers because they provide a variety of suggestions for improving the educational preparation of their students through ECDE programs.

Parents Perceptions on School Readiness: Descriptive Study

The purpose of this study is to explore the parents’ perceptions on Children’s School Readiness. The open-ended question was administered to 116 parents in Padang, Padang Panjang, Bukittinggi, and Sawahlunto, West Sumatera. Content analyses were used to categorize all the response from participants. Overall this study found that 84% participants’ think that school readiness are very important for children to enter elementary school, 15% said that it’s important, and 1% quite important. Most of the reasons are because school readiness helps children to be success in elementary school. Looking more closely about their perception on school readiness, participants think that school readiness is related to cognitive ability (27%), social skill (17%), emotional competence (14%), sufficient age (11%), physical development (11%). Another response is related to financial readiness and motivation. This finding indicated that many parents considered that cognitive ability such reading skill as one of significant factor for children to enter elementary school.

Okul Öncesi Çocuklarda Çölyak Hastalığı: Retrospektif Bir Analiz

Background: The aim of this study is to evaluate the medical parameters of celiac disease cases in the preschool age group in terms of public health and to make recommendations to health professionals, policy makers and the society. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted between February 2017 and December 2018 in Şanlıurfa Education and Research Hospital, Pediatric Gastroenterology Clinic. Clinical and laboratory findings of preschool children diagnosed with celiac disease were retrospectively analyzed. Anamnesis, physical examination findings, laboratory findings, endoscopic biopsies and pathology results of pati-ents were evaluated. Results: The most common presenting complaint was growth retardation (96.3%), followed by chronic diarrhea (32.5%) and constipation (27.5%). Height-for-age and weight-for-age values were found to be lower in patients with chronic diarrhea and duodenitis compared to those without (p<0.05). Patients with strong positive tissue transglutaminase-IgA (tTG IgA) levels had significantly higher Marsh scores (p<0.05). Conclusions: For preschool-age children, initiating the diet via early diagnosis and ensuring adherence to diet are the main objectives. Children adhering to the diet have a higher success in elementary school and a shorter adaptation period.

Social skills critical for success in elementary school: teachers and special educators’ perspective

Introduction Students with more advanced social skills are more likely to meet teacher expectations in terms of classroom behaviour and participation in the teaching and learning process. On the other hand, students with special educational needs (SEN) often have difficulties in developing these skills. Insight into social skills that teachers consider critical for the success of students in their classes enables better preparation of SEN students for inclusion in a mainstream environment. The purpose of this study is to determine which social skills are considered critical for classroom success by regular teachers who teach students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in inclusive classrooms and special educators in special schools. Method The sample consists of 33 regular teachers and 57 special educators. The Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS) Teaching Form was used for data collection. Results Both participant groups attributed the highest value to Cooperation skills, however skills related to Responsibility and Self-Control were also highly valued. Ratings of teachers and special educators differ significantly only for Empathy skills, with significantly lower values attributed by special educators. Significant differences between participants who teach in lower and upper elementary grades were found only for special educators, with a higher value for Assertion attributed by special educators in upper grades. Conclusion Teachers and special educators place significant emphasis on social skills such as Cooperation, Responsibility, and Self-Control, which facilitate unhindered teaching and learning processes.

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).

Item Response Theory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis: Complementary Approaches for Scale Development

ABSTRACT Purpose This article demonstrates the advantages of using both confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and item response theory (IRT) in the development and evaluation of social work scales with dichotomous or polytomous items. Social work researchers have commonly employed CFA and internal consistency reliability tests to validate scales for use in research- and evidence-based practice; IRT has been underused. We report findings from CFA and IRT analyses of a short social isolation scale for elementary school students to demonstrate that scale development and validation can benefit from complementary use of the two methods. Results provided evidence that scores from the scale are statistically sound, and each method contributed valuable information. Method Data collected from 626 third- through fifth-grade students using the social isolation scale from the Elementary School Success Profile (ESSP) were examined with both CFA and IRT. Results Complementary CFA and IRT results provide detailed information about item and scale performance of the social isolation scale. Discussion Evidence-based practice requires scales with known properties; knowledge of those properties is more complete when researchers use both CFA and IRT. Conclusion Using IRT modeling in combination with CFA can help social work researchers ensure the quality of scales they recommend to practitioners and researchers.

Improving Educational Policy in the Context of Improving the Organizational Structure of Physical Education Lessons in Schools

The article deals with the problems of success in New Elementary School, which does not depend on new partners or laptops, but primarily on radical changes in the organization of the educational process. And first of all, will we be able to shift in it the emphasis on the developing component (physical, intellectual, aesthetic, emotional, etc.). Will we be able to ensure the diverse development of pupils by all schools? Will we be able to provide a diverse schooling system for all students? Will not all pedagogical innovations lead to a deterioration of the students' condition and, consequently, to lower the educational component? To prevent this happening, it is essential to change the approaches to physical development of students, to strengthen their health. It is possible to predict the regular educational overload of young schoolchildren, if not significantly change the basic approaches to physical education of children. This will be discussed in this article. Today, there is a transformation of all spheres of social security of the life of the population, the need for research and a constructive approach to the scientific substantiation of methods of state influence on the social development of the society is growing. Of particular importance are issues of government assistance to the development of the education sector due to the growing imbalance between consumers of highly qualified specialists for enterprises, institutions, institutions and the financial capabilities of the population as a provider of human resources for acquiring knowledge in educational institutions.

Older and Wiser? Relative Age and Success in High School and College

Slightly missing a school starting age cutoff date, and more generally a student's relative age in their cohort, has been shown in recent research to have important effects. A student's relative age appears to influence their academic success in elementary and middle school, and there is mixed evidence some of these disparities continue into adult labor markets. The time in between, especially one's collegiate years, have been less studied. How far into life relative age effects consistently persist therefore remains an open question. We use a nationwide sample of students from 619 institutions to examine if relative age is related to success in high school and college. Results show the oldest students within a cohort earn slightly better average grades in high school and college and are significantly less likely to fail college courses. We also find mixed evidence that relative age is related to college entrance exam performance.

Smart, confident, interested: Contributions of intelligence, self-concept, and interest to elementary school achievement

Cognitive and motivational variables are significant correlates and predictors of scholastic achievement. In upper elementary school grade levels, intelligence seems to be more important compared to motivational variables. Regarding motivational variables, (competence) self-concept revealed higher path coefficients in reported grades than interest. Extending these findings to lower grade levels, the present study with N=858 students that stemmed from grade levels 2, 3, and 4 (n=253/321/284) revealed that, when all three predictors were jointly considered, self-concept and interest contributed substantially to the prediction of reported grades in mathematics and German beyond intelligence in all three examined grade levels, with the exception of interest of fourth graders in German. Self-concept was the numerically stronger motivational predictor. Significant grade level-related differences of the predictors were not evidenced. The importance of cognitive and motivational predictors for scholastic success in elementary school is discussed.

Behavior Concerns Among Low-Income, Ethnically and Linguistically Diverse Children in Child Care: Importance for School Readiness and Kindergarten Achievement

ABSTRACTResearch Findings: Recent research and teacher reports have highlighted the importance of early behavior skills for children’s school readiness and academic success in elementary school. Significant gaps in school readiness and achievement exist between children in poverty and those more affluent. Low-income children are also more likely to exhibit behavior concerns than their more financially advantaged peers. The current study examined the importance of behavior skills at age 4 for school readiness and academic achievement in kindergarten among an ethnically diverse sample of 1,618 low-income children (63% Latino, 37% Black) in an urban setting. Children’s early behavior concerns at age 4 were significantly associated with children’s school readiness scores and end-of-year kindergarten grades above and beyond the contributions of family and child demographics and children’s early cognitive and language skills. In addition, behavior problems were more strongly related to school readiness and kindergarten performance within English-dominant Latino children as opposed to Spanish-dominant Latino children. Practice or Policy: The findings from the current study provide support for targeting behavior skills, and not just preliteracy and/or number skills, prior to school entry as a strategy to increase the likelihood of low-income diverse children’s school readiness and school success. Behavior interventions are discussed.

Dressed and Groomed for Success in Elementary School: Student Appearance and Academic Adjustment

AbstractTeacher judgments of student competence can influence student achievement. Clothes, behavior, and physical appearance may all be used to infer student competence. We examined how fourth-grade teacher ratings of student physical appearance (e.g., appropriateness of clothing) relate to concurrent academic adjustment in terms of achievement, classroom engagement, teacher-child relations, parent-teacher partnership, and student academic self-concept and motivation, controlling for academic competence, ethnicity, and family characteristics. We followed 1,311 children from birth to grade 4. Children described by teachers more negatively in terms of their appearance had worse academic adjustment. Student physical appearance was also related to self-reported intrinsic motivation and academic self-concept, as well as to directly assessed math scores. Our results are consistent with social psychological and cognitive theories of stereotyping and classroom expectations, and suggest that school disengagement ...

Measuring Social Support and School Belonging in Black/African American and White Children

Objective: To determine the suitability of the Elementary School Success Profile for Children (ESSP-C) for assessment and comparison of social support and school belonging between Black/African American and White students. Methods: Multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis and invariance testing were conducted to determine the ESSP-C’s validity for use with Black/African American and White students. Latent mean comparisons were performed to determine statistically significant differences in school belonging and social support between racial/ethnic groups. Results: The ESSP-C demonstrated partial measurement invariance at a level (93% invariant) that supports the validity of the measure for Black/African American and White students. Black/African American students reported a significantly higher mean level of school belonging compared to White students. Conclusion: The ESSP-C can be used to make valid assessments and comparisons of social support and school belonging between Black/African American and White students, which may be useful in guiding school social work practice and intervention.

Conforming to reform: Teaching pre-kindergarten in a neoliberal early education system

Policymakers’ neoliberal education reforms have altered the landscape of publicly funded early education in the United States and across the globe. Practically speaking, these reforms expect early childhood teachers to prepare their students for success in elementary school and later life by providing them with a specific set of knowledge and skills. This creates a new set of challenges for early educators who strive to prepare their culturally and linguistically diverse students for school in a manner that addresses their individual, cultural, and sociopolitical needs. The study discussed in this article set out to examine how teachers who were identified as meeting their students’ various needs prepared them for success in elementary school. In doing so, it became apparent that these teachers struggled to define their practices as well as the construct of effective teaching in ways that went beyond policymakers’ neoliberal conception of the early education process. This article examines this tension and considers what is possible for teachers and the field of publicly funded early education in these highly structured neoliberal systems of governance.

Patterns of Early Reading and Social Skills Associated With Academic Success in Elementary School

Research Findings: Researchers and policymakers emphasize that early childhood is a critical developmental stage with the potential to impact academic and social-emotional outcomes (G. Conti & J. J. Heckman, 2012; J. J. Heckman, 2012; R. Murnane, I. Sawhill, & C. Snow, 2012). Although there is substantial evidence that children's early prereading skills predict later academic achievement (K. M. La Paro & R. C. Pianta, 2000), there have been mixed findings regarding the contribution of early social skills to later achievement (e.g., G. J. Duncan et al., 2007). Using data from the national Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort, we found that subgroups of children with a combination of low/average reading skills and higher levels of social skills (86% of the sample) in kindergarten performed better on later academic assessments than children with similar reading skills but lower levels of social skills during kindergarten. In contrast, children who were very strong early readers (14% of the sample), regardless of their level of social skills, performed similarly on the 5th-grade academic outcomes. Practice or Policy: Implications for early education and policy are discussed.

The implications of early attentional regulation for school success among low-income children

This study examined the longitudinal associations between attentional regulation in preschool and children's school success in later elementary school within an at-risk sample (N = 2595). Specifically, two facets of attention (focused attention and lack of impulsivity) at age 5 were explored as independent predictors of children's achievement and behavioral competence at age 9. Overall, the pattern of results indicates specificity between the facets of attention and school success, such that focused attention was predictive of achievement outcomes whereas impulsivity was predictive of behavioral outcomes. Both facets of attention predicted the teacher ratings of children's approaches to learning, which suggests that they jointly influence skills that span both domains of school success. Poverty status, maternal warmth, and infant temperament did not moderate these associations. Implications of these findings for interventions targeting school readiness and success among at-risk children are discussed.

Why Should Pre-K Be More Like Elementary School? A Case Study of Pre-K Reform

As policymakers and early childhood advocates across the United States continue to promote the expansion of early childhood education to prepare students for success in elementary school, many within the field are worried about how these reforms will affect the field. Little is known as to why early education stakeholders would seek out programmatic reforms that align their programs with the goals and purpose of K-12 education systems. There is also an absence of research that examines how participating in such a reform process affects these programs. This article begins to address these gaps in the research literature. It presents findings from a case study of early childhood reform that was to align a set of pre-K programs across a collection of school districts in Texas to prepare their students for elementary school. By examining why early childhood stakeholders were attracted to this reform process and how they saw engaging in it affecting their programs, this article illuminates two central issues that early education stakeholders and policymakers should take into consideration as they continue to align these two fields of education.

A Quasi-Experimental Test of the Elementary School Success Profile Model of Assessment and Prevention

The Elementary School Success Profile Model of Assessment and Prevention (ESSP MAP) is an assessment and intervention strategy designed to improve student academic performance and behavior. The current analysis uses a quasi-experimental design to examine the relationship between a 3-year implementation of the ESSP MAP and aggregate academic outcomes. Students in one 3rd grade cohort (2007–2008) from 4 schools in 1 district received the intervention as they progressed from 3rd to 5th grade. Longitudinal hierarchical linear modeling with cross-classified effects of schools (N = 10) and cohorts (N = 11) was used to compare trajectories of reading proficiency percentages for the targeted group overall and its demographic subgroups with the trajectories of analogous groups of students across schools and time in the district. Findings suggest that the ESSP MAP was associated with greater growth in reading proficiency rates for Black and White students.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Elementary School Success Profile for Teachers

Objectives: This study examines the factor structure and scale quality of data collected with the online Elementary School Success Profile (ESSP) for Teachers from a sample of teachers of 1,145 third through fifth graders. Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using Mplus and weighted least squares means and variances adjusted (WLSMV) estimation took into account the ordinal and clustered nature of the data. Models were tested on four random subsamples. Results using maximum likelihood (ML) estimation are presented for comparison. Results: A five-factor, first-order model demonstrated superior fit. Scores from the five scales demonstrated acceptable reliability. Conclusions: Results suggest the ESSP for Teachers provides school practitioners with quality data to guide intervention choices in schools. Implications for future research are discussed.

Family-Faculty Trust as Measured with the Elementary School Success Profile

The degree to which parents and teachers perceive they are working together in the best educational interests of children is a critical aspect of school culture. In previous work by Hoy, Tarter, and Woolfolk Hoy (2006), the phenomenon was named Faculty Trust and was measured with data from teachers. The current study builds upon Hoy et al.'s work by recommending that measures of Faculty Trust capture the important reciprocal nature of trust and cooperation between schools and families that is theoretically part of the original construct. Data collected from parents and teachers with the Elementary School Success Profile (ESSP) were used to test a broadened construct called Family-Faculty Trust. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) with Mplus indicated that items and composites on the ESSP could be used to measure a multidimensional Family-Faculty Trust construct. Implications for how school social workers can improve this aspect of school culture when total or subscale scores are found to be low are discussed.