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Eric.ed.gov – Getting Ready for Kindergarten: Children’s Progress during Head Start. FACES 2009 Report. OPRE Report 2013-21a

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This brief report focusing on children’ s kindergarten readiness i s the third in a series of reports describing data from the 2009 cohort of the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES 2009). Previous FACES 2009 reports described the characteristics of children and their families and programs as they entered Head Start in fall 2009 ( Hulsey et al. 2011) and, in spring 2010, at the end of one year in the program (Moiduddin et al. 2012). This brief report describes the family backgrounds and developmental outcomes of children as they completed the Head Start program and also describes progress in children’s outcomes between Head Start entry and exit. It focuses on the population of children who entered Head Start for the first time in… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The Identification of Socio-Economic Differences and Their Effect on the Teaching of Readiness for “New Math Concepts” in the Kindergarten. Final Report.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This report is a continuation of a study conducted at the University of Wisconsin during the spring of 1967. The previous study, Technical Report #38, succeeded in teaching conservation of numerousness to small groups of kindergarten children, in a middle-class community. The purpose of the present study was to determine if the typical classroom teacher, in schools differing in socio-economic levels, could successfully use the lessons developed in the previous study to effect conservation of numerousness with kindergarten children. Four questions were considered – (1) can the typical classroom teacher teach the conservation lessons as successfully as a specially trained expert, (2) is the treatment of greater value for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, (3) is the treatment of greater value for younger kindergarten children than for older… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – easyCBM Norms. 2014 Edition. Technical Report #1409

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Previous norms for the easyCBM assessment system were computed using scores from all students who took each measure for every grade and benchmark season (fall, winter, and spring). During the 2013-­14 school year, new national norms were developed to more accurately (proportionately) represent reading and mathematics performance by two variables: region and student demographic. Five hundred students were proportionately and randomly sampled from each of four regions of the country (Midwest, West, Northeast, and Southeast). Percentiles by region are displayed in tables at the top of each page (pp. 15-­170) for every season, grade, and measure available on easyCBM. To assist in navigating through all of the tables in the document, each page contains a heading at the top right listing the season, grade, and measure. In… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Effects of All-Day, and Half-Day Kindergarten Programming on Reading, Writing, Math, and Classroom Social Behaviors.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study compared the relative effects of three kindergarten schedules on children’s achievement in reading, writing, and mathematics, and on children’s prosocial classroom behaviors. Participating were 47 children attending all-day kindergarten, 56 attending alternate-day kindergarten, and 44 attending half-day kindergarten. Individual achievement tests were administered in a pretest-posttest procedure. Analysis of covariance showed that the all-day kindergarten group scored significantly higher in reading, with no significant differences in mathematics or writing. Multivariate analysis of covariance for the 14 subscales of classroom social behaviors on the Hahnemann Elementary Behavior Rating Scale showed significant differences between groups, with the half-day children exhibiting higher scores on classroom behaviors that facilitate learning and lower scores on negative behaviors. Possible reasons for these differences and implications of developmentally appropriate practices, teachers’ theoretical… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Let’s Begin with the Letter People[R]. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: “Let’s Begin with the Letter People”[R] is an early education curriculum that uses 26 thematic units to develop children’s language and early literacy skills. A major focus is phonological awareness, including rhyming, word play, alliteration, and segmentation. Children are encouraged to learn as individuals, in small groups, and in a whole-class environment. Teacher resource books and a set of classroom books and other program materials are available as a program kit. Two studies of “Let’s Begin with the Letter People”[R] meet What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards and no studies meet WWC evidence standards with reservations. The two studies include children in 49 classrooms in 25 preschools in Houston, Texas, and southeastern New York State. Based on these two studies, the WWC considers the extent of evidence… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Readiness Matters! 2014-2015 Kindergarten Readiness Assessment

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Maryland’s demanding new Kindergarten Readiness Assessment was administered statewide for the first time. Its results are revealing and sobering. Many states do not even check in any systematic way on their children’s readiness for kindergarten, and in previous years, Maryland used metrics based on modest expectations, outdated standards, and feel-good politics. With the leadership of State Superintendent Lillian Lowery and Assistant Superintendent Rolf Grafwallner, Maryland has brought a new sense of reality to the skills that five-year-olds should possess if they are truly prepared to succeed in kindergarten and the early grades. These span four domains, two of them cognitive (language, math), plus physical well-being (motor development, hygiene, etc.) and what they term “social foundations” (self-control, for example). The assessment is individually administered by kindergarten teachers and… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Experimental Evaluation of the Tools of the Mind Preschool Curriculum

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The aim of the “Tools of the Mind” prekindergarten curriculum is to enhance children’s executive function skills within an instructional context that promotes the basic academic and social skills that prepare them for kindergarten and beyond. To investigate the effectiveness of “Tools” in achieving this aim, the authors are conducting a longitudinal randomized experiment to answer the following questions: (1) Do children in “Tools of the Mind” classrooms improve more in literacy, math, social skills, and behavior problems during the preschool year than children in “business as usual” control classrooms? Are those gains sustained through kindergarten and first grade?; (2) Do children in “Tools of the Mind” classrooms show greater gains in executive function than children in the control classrooms? Do those gains mediate the curriculum effects… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Promoting Effective Early Learning: What Every Policymaker and Educator Should Know

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Language and literacy skills are critical to success in school. For low-income preschoolers, increasing early literacy and math skills is vital to closing the achievement gap between them and their more advantaged peers. New research shows that an intentional curriculum and professional development and supports for teachers are important components of effective preschool classrooms and programs. A special focus on these strategies is important because many low-income children in early learning settings fall behind early and remain very much behind their peers in reading and math. This brief provides a blueprint for state and local policymakers, early learning administrators, teachers, families, community leaders, and researchers to use effective preschool curricula and teaching strategies to help low-income young children close the achievement gap in early literacy and math… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Instructional Interactions of Kindergarten Mathematics Classrooms: Validating a Direct Observation Instrument

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In this paper, the authors report research focused directly on the validation of the Coding of Academic Teacher-Student interactions (CATS) direct observation instrument. They use classroom information gathered by the CATS instrument to better understand the potential mediating variables hypothesized to influence student achievement. Their study’s purpose is to gather the kinds of validity evidences that match the proposed interpretations and uses of the CATS instrument (Kane, 2008; Messick, 1995). Therefore, they first explore the content aspect of construct validity by collecting information about the content relevance and representativeness of the observation instrument (Messick, 1995). Second, concerned about the consistency of the observation data collected across a number of independent observers, they measure inter-observer agreement. Finally, they focus on the criterion-predictive aspect of construct validity and investigate… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Impact and Implementation Analyses of the ELM Kindergarten Mathematics Intervention

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purpose of this 4-year efficacy trial, funded by IES under the Mathematics and Science Education topic, is to study the efficacy of a (Tier 1) core kindergarten math curriculum, “Early Learning in Mathematics” (ELM), when implemented under rigorous experimental conditions. In the first year of this study (2008-09), kindergarten classrooms were randomly assigned, blocking on schools, to treatment and control conditions in two districts in Oregon. There are two primary purposes of this presentation. The first is to briefly present impact findings from the first year of the 4-year study. The second focus of the presentation will be to discuss procedural fidelity and variations in the quality of implementation of the intervention. The focus of the discussion will be on the nature of the association between… Continue Reading