scholarly journals Are Content-Specific Curricula Differentially Effective in Head Start or State Prekindergarten Classrooms?

AERA Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 233285841878428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tutrang Nguyen ◽  
Jade Marcus Jenkins ◽  
Anamarie Auger Whitaker
Keyword(s):  
Head Start ◽  
School Readiness ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Preschool Program ◽  
Low Income Children ◽  
Content Domain ◽  
Classroom Processes

Head Start and state prekindergarten (pre-K) programs can boost the school readiness of low-income children through the use of effective preschool curricula. Encouraging results from some studies suggest that children who receive targeted or content-specific curricular supplements (e.g., literacy or math) during preschool show moderate to large improvements in that targeted content domain, but recent research also suggests differences in children’s school readiness among different preschool program settings. We examine whether children in Head Start or public pre-K classrooms differentially benefit from the use of randomly assigned classroom curricula targeting specific academic domains. Our results indicate that children in both Head Start and public pre-K classrooms benefit from targeted, content-specific curricula. Future research is needed to examine the specific mechanisms and classroom processes through which curricula help improve children’s outcomes.

Classroom Language Contexts as Predictors of Latinx Preschool Dual Language Learners’ School Readiness

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 339-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria C. Limlingan ◽  
Christine M. McWayne ◽  
Elizabeth A. Sanders ◽  
Michael L. López
Keyword(s):  
Head Start ◽  
School Readiness ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Cooperative Behavior ◽  
Approaches To Learning ◽  
Dual Language Learners ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Classroom Language

The present study examined the relations between teacher-child interactions, teachers’ Spanish use, classroom linguistic composition, and the school readiness skills of low-income, Latinx, Spanish-speaking dual language learners (DLLs), controlling for home and teacher background characteristics, with a national probability sample of Head Start children (i.e., from the Family and Child Experiences Survey [FACES, 2009]). Findings revealed that Head Start classrooms with higher concentrations of DLLs had teachers who reported lower average levels of children’s cooperative behavior. In addition, DLL students in classrooms where teachers used more Spanish for instruction and demonstrated more emotionally supportive teacher-child interactions were found to have higher average scores on measures of approaches to learning. Implications and directions for future research related to classroom language contexts are discussed.

Head Start: Making a Popular Program Work

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 440-441
Author(s):  
DOUGLAS J. BESHAROV ◽  
TERRY W. HARTLE
Keyword(s):  
Head Start ◽  
School Performance ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Annual Cost ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Future Prospects ◽  
Disadvantaged Children ◽  
Low Income Children ◽  
Poor Children

Head Start, the federal government's preschool program for low-income children, is one of the nation's most popular domestic initiatives. In 1980, President Carter praised it as "a program that works." President Reagan included Head Start in the "safety net" and has presided over a substantial funding increase. Head Start began in 1965 as a 6-week summer experiment in using child development services to improve the future prospects of disadvantaged children. It quickly became a full year program. Now, 20 years old, it serves about 450,000 children, at an annual cost of more than $1 billion. The program's popularity is based on the widespread impression that it lifts poor children out of poverty by improving their learning ability and school performance.

Does the CATCH Early Childhood Program Increase Physical Activity Among Low-Income Preschoolers?—Results From a Pilot Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 344-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ru-Jye Chuang ◽  
Shreela V. Sharma ◽  
Cheryl Perry ◽  
Pamela Diamond
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Head Start ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Low Income Children ◽  
School Year ◽  
Observation Method

Purpose: To explore whether the physical activity (PA) component of the Coordinated Approach to Child Health Early Childhood (CATCH EC) program helps increasing preschoolers’ PA during active times at preschool. Design: Nonrandomized controlled experimental study. Setting: Head Start centers in Houston, Texas, 2009 to 2010 school year. Participants: A total of 439 preschoolers aged 3 to 5 years (3 intervention centers, n = 220; 3 comparison centers, n = 219). Intervention: The CATCH EC preschool-based teacher-led nutrition and PA program. Measures: Preschoolers’ PA was measured at baseline and postintervention using the System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time–Preschool version, a direct observation method measuring PA at the classroom level. Parent surveys provided demographic data. Analysis: Pre-to-post changes in preschoolers’ PA were examined using the Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Results show a significant decrease in the percentage time preschoolers spent in level 2 PA (low activity) at intervention ( P = .005) and comparison ( P = .041) centers. Indoor vigorous activity increased significantly on an average by +6.04% pre-to-post intervention among preschoolers in the intervention group ( P = .049); no significant change was found in the comparison group. Conclusion: The CATCH EC favorably increased indoor vigorous PA level among low-income children attending Head Start.

scholarly journals Natural Window of Opportunity? Low-Income Parents’ Responses to Their Children’s Impending Kindergarten Entry

AERA Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 233285841668150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Weiland ◽  
Dana Charles McCoy ◽  
Elizabeth Grace ◽  
Soojin Oh Park
Keyword(s):  
Head Start ◽  
School Readiness ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Literacy Skill ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
National Data ◽  
Parental Investments ◽  
Analytical Strategies ◽  
Literacy Skill Development ◽  
Formal School

Parental investments in the activities and materials that drive learning are central to young children’s school readiness and life success. Little is known, however, about how parents adjust these investments in response to outside pressures, including their children’s impending entry into kindergarten. In the present study, we employ two analytical strategies (multilevel residualized change and regression discontinuity) within national data from the Head Start Impact Study to examine whether parents of children facing an impending entry to kindergarten invest more time and materials in their children’s language and literacy skill development compared with parents of otherwise similar children who are not yet facing formal school entry. Results suggest that low-income parents react to the impending kindergarten transition by increasing their provision of parent–child language and literacy activities (d = .15) but not related materials. We discuss the implications of our findings for the timing of parenting interventions.

Predicting school readiness at kindergarten entry for low-income children with additional disability risks before age 3

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun-Joo Jeon ◽  
Carla A. Peterson ◽  
Shavaun Wall ◽  
Judith J. Carta ◽  
Gayle Luze ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
School Readiness ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Low Income Children ◽  
Kindergarten Entry
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