The Relationship Among School District Size, Property Wealth, Ethnicity, and Prekindergarten Participation to Kindergarten Readiness

The Relationship Among School District Size, Property Wealth, Ethnicity, and Prekindergarten Participation to Kindergarten Readiness
Author: Christopher J. Eberlein
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2020
Genre: Education, Preschool
ISBN:
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Kindergarten readiness has been viewed as a strong predictor for academic success. Achievement gaps among low-income and ethnic minority children at kindergarten entry have often affected future educational outcomes. Participation in prekindergarten has been related to an increase in kindergarten readiness, a decrease in retention and referrals to special education, and an increase in high school graduation rates. Recent focus on high-quality components for prekindergarten in Texas indicate that policymakers view prekindergarten as a critical strategy for reducing achievement gaps. This study examined the relationships between district size, property wealth, ethnicity, and participation in public prekindergarten to kindergarten readiness in Texas public school districts in 2016-2017. The study utilized an ex-post facto, quasi-experimental research design based on student performance and school district data published by the Texas Education Agency. One-way ANOVA results showed no significant differences between nine district sizes and the percentage of students kindergarten ready. The results of a t-test showed no statistically significant differences between property wealth and the percentage of students kindergarten ready. Pearson’s correlation revealed a low correlation and statistically significant relationships between African American, Hispanic, White, and Other students and the percentage of students kindergarten ready. A statistically significant regression was found in the percentage of students kindergarten ready by ethnicity, R2 = .17, with White ethnicity the largest contributor. A statistically significant regression was found in the number of students kindergarten ready based on the percentage of prekindergarten students that were kindergarten ready, R2 = .03, with percentage prekindergarten students that were kindergarten ready as the greatest contributor.

Self-Regulation and Early School Success

Self-Regulation and Early School Success
Author: Megan M. McClelland
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2016-04-08
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1134920733
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Self-regulation has been identified as an important predictor of school readiness and academic achievement in young children. Children who struggle with self-regulation are at risk of experiencing peer rejection and academic difficulties. Teachers report that there is high variability in children’s self-regulatory abilities at school entry and that children with an accumulation of risk factors are especially likely to enter school without adequate self-regulation skills. Moreover, early academic skills are often cumulative, so children who fail to acquire early skills are at risk of falling behind their peers academically and facing achievement gaps that widen over time. Although the relation between self-regulation and school-related outcomes has been clearly documented, our understanding of the pathways through which self-regulation influences early achievement and school success remains unclear. This special issue considers previously neglected areas in the current understanding of self-regulation. The seven articles focus on issues including (a) the complex relations between self-regulation and school readiness, (b) predictors of self-regulation and academic achievement, and (c) advances in measurement of self-regulation and related skills. Research that continues to investigate the complex relations and mechanisms that influence early self-regulation and related outcomes will inform policy and practice in ways that help all children develop the self-regulation skills they need. The volume will be of interest to researchers in the field of child development or education, and educators and policy makers who are interested in promoting school readiness and academic success. This book was originally published as a special issue of Early Education and Development.

Moving Forward with Kindergarten Readiness Assessment Efforts

Moving Forward with Kindergarten Readiness Assessment Efforts
Author: Eboni C. Howard
Publisher:
Total Pages: 15
Release: 2011
Genre:
ISBN:
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As more states have become engaged in kindergarten assessment efforts, early childhood educators and assessment experts have recommended developing such efforts within a coordinated assessment system that provides data about children's progress over time, (pre-k through grade 12), and is designed to address both educational policy and practice questions. Based on the review of current efforts, the Early Childhood Education State Assessment Collaborative's (ECEA) position on assessment of children at the start of formal schooling, typically kindergarten, is the following: Early child assessments conducted prior to, at the start of, and during kindergarten can be useful for a number of purposes "if done well." Kindergarten readiness assessments should be used to directly support children's development and academic achievement to improve educational outcomes. To do so, kindergarten readiness assessment efforts should adhere to the following principles: (1) Use multiple tools for multiple purposes; (2) Address multiple developmental domains and diverse cultural contexts; (3) Align with early learning guidelines and common core standards; (4) Collect information from multiple sources; (5) Implement in a systems-based approach; and (6) Avoid inappropriate use of assessment information, specifically including high-stakes decisions, labeling children, restricting kindergarten entry, and predicting children's future academic and life success. The rest of this paper will discuss the rationale of ECEA's position and important cautions for parents, teachers, administrators, and policymakers to consider when planning kindergarten assessment initiatives. A glossary is included. (Contains 1 table and 37 notes.).

INVESTIGATING THE ASSOCIATION OF PARENTAL INFLUENCE AND CHILDREN'S SCHOOL READINESS AND EARLY ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

INVESTIGATING THE ASSOCIATION OF PARENTAL INFLUENCE AND CHILDREN'S SCHOOL READINESS AND EARLY ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
Author: Emanique Matthews
Publisher:
Total Pages: 105
Release: 2008
Genre:
ISBN:
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The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between parental and social factors, parents' academic belief systems and parenting practices, and its influence on children's school readiness and early academic achievement. Efforts to do so involved utilizing the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kindergarten (ECLS-K) First Grade Data to investigate the relationship between parental academic beliefs and parenting behaviors and its association with predicting children's kindergarten readiness (spring kindergarten cognitive and social development assessment scores) and early academic achievement (spring first grade cognitive and social development assessment scores). Significant findings from this study provide evidence that parental attitudes and parenting behaviors do impact children's cognitive and social-developmental performance in kindergarten and first grade. However, those parental beliefs and behaviors that are significant predictors of children's cognitive and social development readiness in kindergarten were not as significant in predicting children's first grade performance on these measures. Such phenomena raises important questions with respect to the necessity of educational institutions having a better understanding of the influential role parents play in their young children's education. Findings from this study also encourages the broadening of the definition of school readiness to not only acknowledge the influence of various parental and social factors on the development of parents' academic beliefs for their children, but also how these beliefs in turn shape those parenting practices that are important for children's school readiness and academic achievement.

Educating the Other America

Educating the Other America
Author: Susan B. Neuman
Publisher: Brookes Publishing Company
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2008
Genre: Education
ISBN:
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"Breaking the cycle of poverty by improving education and literacy: that's the ultimate goal of this trailblazing book from top experts. Educating the Other America brings together more than 30 of the biggest names in education to tackle the challenges faced by children who live below the poverty line - and offer fresh, cutting-edge ideas for closing the achievement gap." "Representing the most creative thinking from the best minds in education, this groundbreaking resource illuminates the challenges of poverty and gives professionals the knowledge they need to help students succeed - both in school and for the rest of their lives."--BOOK JACKET.

Predictors of Kindergarten Readiness

Predictors of Kindergarten Readiness
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2005
Genre: Kindergarten
ISBN:
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Age is currently the primary indicator of kindergarten readiness. Children become eligible to enter kindergarten when their fifth birthday falls by a designated date of the current school year. In the district studied that "cut-off" date is October first. It is currently the parents' responsibility to determine if their age appropriate child is "ready" to begin school. A comprehensive list of readiness skills is needed to give parents a guide when deciding if their kindergarten age child is ready to enter kindergarten. The literature reveals that age is not a predictor of academic success. In response to a readiness questionnaire, this study reveals the skills kindergarten teachers believe to be most important for students to possess upon entering kindergarten. The study also uses questionnaires that compare students experiences prior to kindergarten entrance with their readiness skills in attempt to develop a list of predictors of kindergarten readiness to be used by parents to help their child prepare for the demands of today's kindergarten classrooms.

Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children

Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 449
Release: 1998-07-22
Genre: Education
ISBN: 030906418X
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While most children learn to read fairly well, there remain many young Americans whose futures are imperiled because they do not read well enough to meet the demands of our competitive, technology-driven society. This book explores the problem within the context of social, historical, cultural, and biological factors. Recommendations address the identification of groups of children at risk, effective instruction for the preschool and early grades, effective approaches to dialects and bilingualism, the importance of these findings for the professional development of teachers, and gaps that remain in our understanding of how children learn to read. Implications for parents, teachers, schools, communities, the media, and government at all levels are discussed. The book examines the epidemiology of reading problems and introduces the concepts used by experts in the field. In a clear and readable narrative, word identification, comprehension, and other processes in normal reading development are discussed. Against the background of normal progress, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children examines factors that put children at risk of poor reading. It explores in detail how literacy can be fostered from birth through kindergarten and the primary grades, including evaluation of philosophies, systems, and materials commonly used to teach reading.