Measures of language sample length (in c-units) and morphological, syntactic, and narrative abilities were obtained from oral narrative transcripts of 22 children who stutter and 22 children who do not stutter; participants attended kindergarten, first, and second grades. A two-way MANOVA yielded significant main effects for grade, with significant differences on some measures evidenced between...

Annual screenings of preschool children at kindergarten registration identified 158 children having high levels of aggressive, hyperactive, impulsive, and inattentive behavior. These "disruptive" children were randomly assigned to four treatment conditions lasting the kindergarten school year: no treatment, parent training only, full-day treatment classroom only, and the combination of parent t...

Children's number competencies over 6 time points, from the beginning of kindergarten to the middle of 1st grade, were examined in relation to their mathematics achievement over 5 later time points, from the end of 1st grade to the end of 3rd grade. The relation between early number competence and mathematics achievement was strong and significant throughout the study period. A sequential proce...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to examine the longitudinal predictive relationships among variables that may contribute to poor phonological awareness skills in preschool-age children with speech-sound disorders. METHOD Forty-seven children with speech-sound disorders were assessed during the spring of their prekindergarten year and again at the end of their kindergarten year. Hierarch...

In recent years there has been an increasing focus on the missing ‘‘T’’ of technology and ‘‘E’’ of engineering in early childhood STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) curricula. Robotics offers a playful and tangible way for children to engage with both T and E concepts during their foundational early childhood years. This study looks at N = 60 children in pre-kindergarten throu...

States have accumulated considerable experience in operating publicly sponsored pre-kindergarten programs. In spite of this extensive experience, only fragmentary accounts exist of how these pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs handle issues such as program intensity, location, staffing, and population served. These issues are addressed by the National Center for Early Development and Learning’s M...

BACKGROUND School readiness generally captures the notion that children do best when they arrive at formal schooling with a certain threshold of skill that will help them thrive in the classroom's academic and social milieu. AIMS To examine the dimensionality of the construct of school readiness among children with language impairment (LI), as well as the extent to which these dimensions rela...

One year after participating in the Research-based, Developmentally Informed (REDI) intervention or "usual practice" Head Start, the learning and behavioral outcomes of 356 children (17% Hispanic, 25% African American; 54% girls; Mage  = 4.59 years at initial assessment) were assessed. In addition, their 202 kindergarten classrooms were evaluated on quality of teacher-student interactions, emph...

Title of Document: THE IMPACT OF PARENTING PRACTICES AND EARLY CHILDHOOD CURRICULA ON CHILDREN’S ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND SOCIAL COMPETENCE Anne Townsend Kessenich, Doctor of Philosophy, 2006 Directed By: Professor Sandra L. Hofferth Department of Family Studies Current research highlights the importance of early social competence for later academic success. Nevertheless, despite that documente...