Literature Review for research on benefits of prekindergarten programs on literacy readiness - Essay Example

Literature Review for research on benefits of prekindergarten programs on literacy readiness Literature Map Theoretical Perspective The theory based on the problem of finding the benefits of prekindergarten on literacy is grounded in the Piagets theory of Cognitive Constructivism and Vygotskys Social Constructivism theory (Wans, Cockcroft, & Duncan, 2009; Woolfolk, 2006). These theories were originally developed by Jean Piaget in 1973 and Lev Vygotsky in 1933 and primarily used to study learning and teaching aspects of human development. Piagets theory of Cognitive Constructivism and Vygotskys Social Constructivism theory indicate that learning among children varies from ages and stages and social interaction plays a great role in a person’s cognitive development. Literature Review The following includes the review of literature regarding some researches conducted on investigating the benefits of prekindergarten programs on children’s literacy. The proponent integrates with this review the different information based on various researches in line with finding the benefits of prekindergarten programs on literacy. II. The Benefits of prekindergarten programs on literacy readiness Prekindergarten programs and children’s readiness for school Magnuson, Ruhm, and Waldfogel (2007) present in their study the evidence of spiraling forward number of prekindergarten programs, but in order to justify the importance of their study, they expound the fact that there is quiet limited number of studies showing evidence of the effects of such curriculum. Their study focuses on the association between prekindergarten programs and readiness of children in both public and private school. Regarding this, it is their objective to find out the impact of prekindergarten programs on children’s school readiness. In order to achieve the desired result and information, they employ data coming from Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. They used test of association between prekindergarten programs and academic skills and behaviors. They found that higher reading and mathematical skills at school entry are positively associated with prekindergarten programs. However, they also found that prekindergarten programs can contribute to behavioral problems, but evidence suggests this does not have much impact on children in public schools. Some findings could actually justify this claim. Social and cognitive development Loeb, Bridges, Bassok, Fuller and Rumberger (2007) try to find out the influence of preschool centers on children’s social and cognitive development. In order to achieve this objective, matching and instrumental variables estimates were employed. Family and income and races where included in the study. It is found that center-based care has positive impact on math scores, but with negative implications on socio-behavioral measures. On the contrary, Hispanic children proficient in English have high academic gain but with neutral socio-behavioral effects. It is also found that academic benefits are higher to those children who started early with their pre-school education, approximately 2 to 3 years old. However, these children were noted to have developed some behavioral problems. In other words, children who started at early age in preschool may have significant academic gain, but will also substantially face some remarkable behavioral problems. These results have also potential implications on family income and race. Skills and language literacy Assel, Landry, Swank, and Gunnewig (2007) conducted investigation to prove that American pre-school children lack sufficiency in language and literary skills to move forward to kindergarten. Prior to conducting this, they have their reference from two language and literacy curricula. In order to justify their point, Assel, Landry, Swank and Gunnewig created a pre and post-test design and initiated them to 603 children as chosen respondents plus a control group. In the data analysis, they formulated a multi-level growth curve modeling having child outcomes as dependent variables, while child’s level performance and rate of growth between pre and post test as independent variables. Based on the result, compared to those in the control group, the skills of children under language and literacy curricula have significant improvement. Thus, the proponents concluded that a well-specified curriculum in prekindergarten programs has substantial impact on children’s learning. This would then make prekindergarten program essential for the children’s learning opportunity in the future. Furthermore, Diamond, Gerde and Powell (2008) emphasizes that literacy skills are vital to the success of children especially in the beginning of their elementary grades. In relation to this, the proponents investigated the important impact of early writing competence on the knowledge of letter names, sounds and print concepts. The proponents chose low-income children enrolled in Head Start for this study. Data collection took place at the beginning until the end of the school year, so as to monitor remarkable development or progress of the students. Based on the analysis, the proponent found that those children with high skills in writing have acquired more understanding on letters, their sounds and print concepts. This at some point remarkably proves that prekindergarten programs employing effective writing activity could substantially contribute positive benefits on children’s foundation in literacy skills. Mashburn, Justice, Downer, and Pianta (2009) on the other hand investigated the associations between peers’ expressive language abilities and children’s development of receptive and expressive language of the chosen respondents. Four-year-old children from 11 states were the chosen respondents for this study. There were around 1,812 of them enrolled in 453 classrooms which employ large-scale public prekindergarten programs. The proponents found that there was a positive association between peer expressive language abilities and development of receptive and expressive language during prekindergarten. This association was found even stronger among children who happened to start prekindergarten with already high receptive language skills especially within better classroom management. Major findings on how prekindergarten programs cater the needs of children for literacy Burchinal et al (2008) provides the basic foundation of their argument by agreeing that promotion of school readiness among children usually happens within the context of government-funded prekindergarten programs. Therefore, they just want to come up with a way to evaluate these programs so as to find out if they substantially cater the actual needs of children concerning their readiness for school. Thus, the initiation of assessment process took place at 240 randomly chosen programs for prekindergarten in six states and so there were 700 children chosen as respondents for the evaluation of academic achievement. This study has shown that prekindergarten teachers have moderate sensitivity and response to programs concerning prekindergartens. According to the proponents, increasing this sensitivity and response to prekindergarten programs among teachers could create a predictable acquisition of skills in language, social and pre-academic matters for the children. In addition, Wong, Cook, Barnett, and Jung (2008) try to evaluate the reason why there are many children enrolled in prekindergarten programs in 2006. Regarding this, they specifically evaluated prekindergarten programs and their impact on children’s skills in vocabulary, math and print awareness. In order to come up with the result, they employed regression-discontinuity design to test the effect of prekindergarten programs on children within the states they chose for this study. In particular, they chose Michigan, New Jersey, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and West Virginia. The reason why these states were chosen is due to the fact that they have high quality standards for their programs. Based on series of analyses conducted, Wong, Cook, Barnett, and Jung, prekindergarten programs remarkably have strong influence on children’s cognitive skills, but it could vary from state to state. This has remarkable policy implications. Thus, Winsler et al (2008) focuses their study on children in poverty, specifically those who belong in ethnic and diverse linguistic minority. They want to find out the impact of prekindergarten programs initiated by the government on these children. Regarding this, the design of the study focused on children attending center-based childcare, which comprises 1,478 from the total respondents. Then around 1,611 children came from free Title 1 public school prekindergarten programs. Finally, 749 children gathered from fee-supported public school prekindergarten programs. The intention of the proponent is clear in this study. They want to find out if prekindergarten programs emancipated by the government for these less-privileged children could have potential impact on the development of their cognitive, language and fine motor. As a result, there were interviews for parents and teachers involved in these programs in order to conduct the empirical assessment. The result remarkably showed the fact that prekindergarten programs for less-privilege children prepared them to be ready for school, but there was a bit more remarkable justification on cognitive and language development. Mashburn, Downer, Hamre, Justice, and Pianta (2010) try to find out the impact of My Teaching Partner (MTP) on the quality of teacher-child interaction especially in prekindergarten programs. MTP includes some programs on how teachers could improve handling language and literacy activities. This study consisted of 1, 165 children under pre-kindergarten whose teachers have undergone MTP program. There were 65 teachers randomly chosen to participate in MTP program, both for consultation and video exemplars. It is found that those children whose teachers participated in both consultation and video exemplars have greater gains in receptive language skills compared to those whose teachers received only video exemplars. This specifically implies that teacher’s ability and skills in prekindergarten is necessary in order to have positive impact on the learning potential of the children. This in particular also proves that prekindergarten programs indeed could create substantial impact on children’s learning ability and potential. Thus, Howes et al (2008) believe that children could acquire their academic and social skills gain in prekindergarten which for them should involve structural and classroom process dimensions of program quality. Thus, they have in mind that children’s advancement in the academe especially among those who are in prekindergarten programs associates with structural and classroom process dimensions of program quality. The data came from 2,800 prekindergartens as randomly selected four from every classroom coming from the 11 states with state funded prekindergarten programs. In the test of association, Howes et al found that there is a positive association of prekindergarten programs with children’s academic performance, which also does not have a direct relationship with child’s or program’s characteristics. For them, the maximization of academic gains happens when children would also receive instructions and teacher-child relationship with high quality. III. Conclusion It is obvious that prekindergarten programs have remarkable impacts on children’s literacy. However, understanding this aspect requires careful evaluation of the subject matter itself. The entire issue is not only confined in the actual evaluation of children’s literacy skills, but including their environment and especially the entire prekindergarten program itself. At this point, it would be remarkable to consider the most obvious about how prekindergarten programs could be maximized for children’s literacy benefits. References Assel, M. A., Landry, S. H., Swank, P. R., & Gunnewig, S. (2007). An evaluation of curriculum, setting, and mentoring on the performance of children enrolled in pre-kindergarten. Reading and Writing An Interdisciplinary Journal, 20, 463-494. Burchinal, M., Howes, C., Pianta, R., Bryant, D., Early, D., Clifford, R., Barbarin, O. (2008). Predicting Child Outcomes at the End of Kindergarten from the Quality of Pre-Kindergarten Teacher-Child Interactions and Instruction. Applied Developmental Science, 12, 140-153. Diamond, K. E., Gerde, H. K., & Powell, D. R. (2008). Development in early literacy skills during the pre-kindergarten year in Head Start: Relations between growth in children’s writing and understanding of letters. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 23, 467-478. Howes, C., Burchinal, M., Pianta, R., Bryant, D., Early, D., Clifford, R., & Barbarin, O. (2008). Ready to learn? Children’s pre-academic achievement in pre-Kindergarten programs. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 23, 27-50. Loeb, S., Bridges, M., Bassok, D., Fuller, B., & Rumberger, R. W. (2007). How much is too much? The influence of preschool centers on children’s social and cognitive development. Economics of Education Review, 26, 52-66. Magnuson, K. A., Ruhm, C., & Waldfogel, J. (2007). Does prekindergarten improve school preparation and performance? Economics of Education Review, 26, 33-51. Mashburn, A. J., Justice, L. M., Downer, J. T., & Pianta, R. C. (2009). Peer Effects on Children’s Language Achievement During Pre-Kindergarten. Child Development, 80, 686-702. Mashburn, A. J., Downer, J. T., Hamre, B. K., Justice, L. M., and Pianta, R. C. (2010). Consultation for Teachers and Children’s Language and Literacy Development during Pre-Kindergarten. Applied Developmental Science, 14, 179-196. Watts, J., Cockcroft, K., & Duncan, N. (2009). Developmental Psychology (2nd ed.). Cape Town: Juta and Company Ltd. Winsler, A., Tran, H., Hartman, S. C., Madigan, A. L., Manfra, L., & Bleiker, C. (2008). School readiness gains made by ethnically diverse children in poverty attending center-based childcare and public school pre-kindergarten programs. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 23, 314-329. Woolfolk, A. E. (2006). Educational Psychology (10th ed.). Canada: Pearson College Division. Wong, V. C., Cook, T. D., Barnett, W. S., & Jung, K. (2008). An effectiveness-based evaluation of five state pre-kindergarten programs. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 27, 122-154. Appendix: Abstract from articles Magnuson, Ruhm, and Waldfogel (2007) Prekindergarten programs are expanding rapidly but evidence on their effects is limited. Using rich data from Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, we estimate the effects of prekindergarten on childrens school readiness. We find that prekindergarten is associated with higher reading and mathematics skills at school entry, but also higher levels of behavior problems. By the spring of first grade, estimated effects on academic skills have largely dissipated, but the behavioral effects persist. Larger and longer lasting associations with academic gains are found for disadvantaged children. Finally, we find some evidence that prekindergartens located in public schools do not have adverse effects on behavior problems. Howes et al (2008) We examined childrens growth in school-related learning and social skills over the pre-Kindergarten (pre-K) year in state-funded programs designed to prepare children for kindergarten. We expected that childrens gains in academic and social skills could be attributed to variations in the structural and classroom process dimensions of program quality. Nearly 3000 (n = 2800) children were randomly selected, four per classroom, from approximately 700 randomly selected, state-funded pre-Kindergarten classrooms in eleven states. Enrollment in pre-K appeared related to gains in academic skills. Children showed larger gains in academic outcomes when they experienced higher-quality instruction or closer teacher–child relationships. Gains were not related to characteristics of the child or program (i.e., ratio, teacher qualifications and program location and length). These findings have implications for a range of state and local policy and program development efforts as well as for theories of contextual influences on development. Wong, Cook, Barnett, and Jung (2008) Since 1980, the number of state pre-kindergarten (pre-K) programs has more than doubled, with 38 states enrolling more than one million children in 2006 alone. This study evaluates how five state pre-K programs affected childrens receptive vocabulary, math, and print awareness skills. Taking advantage of states strict enrollment policies determined by a childs date of birth, a regression-discontinuity design was used to estimate effects in Michigan, New Jersey, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and West Virginia. For receptive vocabulary, only New Jersey and Oklahoma yielded significant standardized impacts, though two of the three other coefficients were in a direction indicating positive effects. For math, all the coefficients were positive but only Michigan and New Jersey yielded reliable results. The largest impacts were for print awareness, where all five coefficients were positive and four were reliable in Michigan, New Jersey, South Carolina, and West Virginia. The five states were not randomly selected and, on average, have higher quality program standards than non-studied states, precluding formal extrapolation to the nation at large. However, our sample of states differed in many other ways, permitting the conclusion that state pre-K programs can have positive effects on childrens cognitive skills, though the magnitude of these effects varies by state and outcome. Winsler et al (2008) Although intensive early childhood interventions and high quality preschool programs have been shown to foster childrens school readiness, little is known about the school readiness gains made by ethnically and linguistically diverse children in poverty receiving subsidies to attend center-based childcare or those in public school pre-kindergartenprograms. Within the context of a large-scale, university–community applied research and evaluation project, The Miami School Readiness Project, children receiving subsidies to attend center-based childcare (n = 1478), children attending free Title 1 public school pre-k programs (n = 1611), and children attending fee-supported public school pre-k programs (n = 749) were individually assessed at the beginning and end of their pre-kindergarten year in the areas of cognitive, language, and fine motor development. Parents and teachers reported on childrens socio-emotional strengths and behavior concerns. Findings revealed that although children from all types of programs made considerable school readiness gains in most areas in terms of their national relative standing, children attending public school pre-k programs typically made somewhat greater gains in the areas of cognitive and language development. Results suggest that center-based childcare programs in the community may be beneficial for fostering school readiness within ethnically diverse children in poverty, and that public school pre-kindergartenprograms may show even greater gains in some areas. Policy implications are discussed. Burchinal et al (2008) Publicly funded prekindergartens are programs that most states use to promote school readiness, especially of 4-year-old children at risk for academic problems due to poverty. Despite large public expenditures, these programs have not been widely evaluated. We examined 240 randomly selected pre-kindergarten programs in six states with mature programs that serve large numbers of children, and evaluated specific aspects of classroom quality and childrens academic achievement in both the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten year for over 700 children. Results showed that, on average, pre-kindergarten teachers were moderately responsive and sensitive, but were less successful in engaging children in learning specific skills. Both sensitive and stimulating interactions with the teacher and the instructional quality aspects of the pre-kindergarten classroom predicted the acquisition of language, pre-academic, and social skills through the end of the kindergarten year. Assel, Landry, Swank, and Gunnewig (2007) An alarming number of American pre-school children lack sufficient language and literacy skills to succeed in kindergarten. The type of curriculum that is available within pre-kindergarten settings can impact childrens academic readiness. This work presents results from an evaluation of two language and literacy curricula (i.e., Lets Begin with the Letter People and Doors to Discovery) from a random assignment study that occurred within three settings (i.e., Head Start, Title 1, and universal pre-kindergarten) and included a control group. The design included a mentoring and non- mentoring condition that was balanced across sites in either curriculum condition. A pre and post-test design was utilized in the analyses, with children (n = 603) tested before the intervention and at the end of the year. Multilevel growth curve modeling, where the child outcomes (dependent measures) are modeled as a function of the childs level of performance and rate of growth between pre and post-testing, was used for all analyses. Results indicated that in many key language/literacy areas, the skills of children in classrooms using either one of the target curricula grew at greater rates than children in control classrooms. This was especially true in the Head Start programs. The findings from this study indicate that at-risk children can benefit from a well-specified curriculum. Additionally, findings demonstrate that a well-detailed curriculum appeared to be less important for children from higher income families. The impact of mentoring was less clear and seemed dependent on the type of skill being measured and type of program. Diamond, Gerde and Powell (2008) Childrens literacy skills are an important predictor of success in the early elementary grades. Education programs for at-risk preschool students target childrens acquisition of specific literacy skills, including knowledge of letters of the alphabet, in preparing children for early school success. Writing has been proposed as a complementary approach to other instructional strategies for teaching young children about letters. This study examines relations among preschool childrens early writing competence, knowledge of letter names, sensitivity to initial sounds in words and understanding of print concepts in a sample of low-income children enrolled in Head Start. Data were collected from the beginning to the end of the school year, which offered the opportunity to examine concurrent development of these early literacy skills. Results revealed that children whose writing was more sophisticated knew the names of more letters, understood more about print concepts and were more sensitive to initial sounds of words. There was evidence of bidirectional influences of writing on growth in letter knowledge, and of letter knowledge on growth in writing competence. Mashburn, Justice, Downer, and Pianta (2009) This study examined associations between peers’ expressive language abilities and children’s development of receptive and expressive language among 1,812 four-year olds enrolled in 453 classrooms in 11 states that provide large-scale public pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs. Higher peer expressive language abilities were positively associated with children’s development of receptive and expressive language during pre-k. The positive association between peers’ expressive language abilities and children’s receptive language development was stronger for children who began pre-k with higher receptive language skills and within classrooms characterized by better classroom management. Implications of these findings for understanding ecological inputs to children’s language development and for designing effective pre-k programs are discussed. Loeb, Bridges, Bassok, Fuller and Rumberger (2007) This paper examines the effects of different child-care arrangements on childrens cognitive and social proficiencies at the start of kindergarten. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, we identify effects using OLS, matching and instrumental variables estimates. Overall, center-based care raises reading and math scores, but has a negative effect for socio-behavioral measures. However, for English-proficient Hispanic children, the academic gains are considerably higher and the socio-behavioral effects are neutral. The duration of center-based care matters: the greatest academic benefit is found for those children who start at ages 2–3 rather than at younger or older ages; negative behavioral effects are greater the younger the start age. These patterns are found across the distributions of family income. The intensity of center-based care also matters: more hours per day lead to greater academic benefits, but increased behavioral consequences. However, these intensity effects depend on family income and race. Mashburn, Downer, Hamre, Justice, and Pianta (2010) MyTeachingPartner (MTP) is a teacher professional development program designed to improve the quality of teacher-child interactions in pre-kindergarten classrooms and childrens language and literacy development. The program includes language/literacy activities and two Web-based resources—video exemplars of effective interactions and individualized consultation—designed to support teachers high quality implementation of these activities. This study examined the impacts of the MTP Web-based resources on the language and literacy development of 1,165 children during pre-kindergarten. Children whose teachers were randomly assigned to receive access to both the video exemplars and participated in consultation (MTP Consultancy n = 65) made greater gains in receptive language skills during pre-kindergarten compared to children whose teachers were randomly assigned to receive access to the video exemplars only (MTP Video Library n = 69). Further, among MTP Consultancy teachers, more hours of participating in the consultation process was positively associated with childrens receptive language development, and more hours implementing the language/literacy activities was positively associated with childrens language and literacy development. Implications for improving childrens school readiness and promoting teachers participation in professional development programs are discussed. Read More