Search

Despite established linkages between family routines and practices with aspects of school readiness, our understanding of these linkages would be further enhanced with research that: measures school readiness skills and behaviors across multiple domains; examines family routines and practices comprehensively; and is sufficiently generalizable to preschool-age children living in poverty. This study investigated the family routines and practices of newly enrolled Head Start attendees and explored connections between routines and practices and children's school readiness at preschool entry across 5 developmental domains: cognitive, physical, language, social-emotional, and approaches to learning. Utilizing the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2009 cohort, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed 5 distinct factors that characterize the underlying relationships between family routines and practices children experience. Specifically, family routine and practice patterns included: (1) implementing learning- and literacy-focused activities; (2) implementing art activities and playing games; (3) engaging in community activities; (4) avoiding unhealthful foods; and (5) consuming healthful foods. Regression results revealed the factors related to implementing art activities and playing games and implementing learning- and literacy-focused activities are the most consistent predictors of school readiness outcomes across all domains measured. Using a nationally representative sample of entering Head Start attendees, findings suggest that family routines and practices may serve as protective factors for young children living in poverty and support their school readiness across multiple key readiness domains.

Objective: Current understanding of the linkage between maternal education and parenting practices has largely been informed using a narrow definition of educational attainment—the highest level of education an individual has completed. However, the proximal processes that shape parenting, including informal learning experiences, are also important to understand. Less is known about the informal learning experiences that shape parenting decisions and practices. To this end, we conducted a qualitative inquiry about the informal learning experiences of mothers of children ages 3–4 years with the specific goal of understanding how maternal informal learning experiences shape parenting decisions and practices. Design: We conducted interviews with 53 mothers from across the United States who had previously participated in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of an intervention targeting infant care practices. We recruited a purposive sample of mothers chosen to maximize diversity across educational attainment and adherence to infant care practices targeted in the RCT. Using a grounded theory approach, data were analyzed using an iterative process for organizing codes and themes that mothers identified as informal learning experiences. Results: We identified seven themes representing distinct types of maternal informal learning experiences that impact parenting practices, including: (1) experiential learning during childhood; (2) experiential learning during adulthood; (3) interpersonal interactions including via social media; (4) experiences with non-interactive media sources; (5) informal trainings; (6) beliefs; and (7) current circumstances. Conclusions: Multiple informal learning experiences inform the parenting decisions and practices of mothers with varying levels of formal educational attainment.

Despite previous studies showing that children's development of executive function (EF) skills is associated with the differing contexts in which children live, evidence about the independent and synergistic effects of families and neighborhoods is limited. Using a sample from a two-cohort longitudinal study of preschoolers from low-income families, we examined whether residential neighborhood resources (measured with the Child Opportunity Index (COI)) moderated the relationship between family cumulative risk and the growth trajectory of children's EF skills. Results from conditional growth curve models indicate family cumulative risk was negatively related to baseline EF skills and the rate of EF skill growth. In contrast, the overall COI and the COI social and economic domain z-score were positively associated with the initial, but not linear, growth of EF skills. We found no evidence of moderator effects. Policies that aim to better target and support the most vulnerable children should consider the unique contribution of family risks and neighborhood resources to child development.

The present study examined how the dosage and quality of the federal preschool program "Head Start" (HS) in the US related to children's self-regulation skills in kindergarten. Using Propensity Score Matching and multiple regression (OLS), this study explored how the number of years and hours a week of HS were related to self-regulation among 2,383 children, who entered the program either at 3 or 4 years old. An additional year in HS was significantly positively associated with self-regulation in kindergarten, while the number of hours a week in HS was not. However, the quality of teacher-child interactions moderated the relation between hours a week in HS and self-regulation. Findings contribute to the growing body of evidence about how dosage and quality of early childhood education experiences relate to children's development.

Background Although higher education and healthier practices are positively associated, the explanatory mechanisms for this association remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to better understand mechanisms underlying this association by examining maternal adherence to 2 health-promoting infant care practices: supine placement and breastfeeding. Methods We analyzed nationally representative data from the Study of Attitudes and Factors Effecting Infant Care, which surveyed US mothers after infant birth and 2 months thereafter. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior as a framework, we used structural equation models to elucidate mediational pathways from maternal education to supine infant placement or any breastfeeding. Results Data from 3297 mothers demonstrated 77.0% of infants usually were placed supine, and 57.8% received any breastfeeding. The overall direct effect of maternal educational level on supine placement and any breastfeeding was odds ratio (OR) 1.31 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11–1.54) and OR 2.82 (95% CI 2.35–3.37), respectively. In pathway analyses, the strongest associations with both supine position and breastfeeding were seen with positive attitudes (supine: aOR 18.96, 95% CI 9.00–39.92; breastfeeding: aOR 3.86, 95% CI 2.19–6.82) and positive social norms (supine: aOR 6.69, 95% CI 4.52–9.89; breastfeeding: aOR 5.17, 95% CI 4.28–6.23). Mothers with more education had higher odds of both positive attitudes and positive norms for the 2 practices. Conclusions The associations linking educational attainment with health practices are intricate, with multiple mediating pathways. Attitudes and social norms are powerful forces that mediate the association between maternal educational attainment and both infant supine positioning and breastfeeding, and may be important mediators for other health behaviors.

This mixed methods study examines the impact of online professional development on preschool teachers’ self-efficacy, burnout, and stress. Participating teachers (n = 89) were randomly assigned int...

The Chinese implementation of the second child policy has resulted in a dramatic need for infant and toddler early care programs, yet little research exists to guide how to weigh quality options. This study utilizes an internationally validated assessment instrument—Infant and Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised—to explore program quality in 79 Chinese early care classrooms. Three profiles emerged to reflect the variation in quality observed. Further, teacher and classroom characteristics were explored to understand differences in observed quality. Results indicated that child-to-teacher ratio, class size, certification, teacher salary and school property successfully differentiated the three profiles, while teachers' years of teaching, degree and time allocated for free play did not. Findings are discussed in light of previous literature and the Chinese sociocultural context.

To explore patterns in parent-reported child sleep health and to investigate connections between such patterns and school readiness for newly enrolled prekindergarten (PreK) attendees from racially and ethnically diverse, low-income backgrounds.In a secondary analysis from a larger multiple-cohort longitudinal observational study of prekindergartners in low-income families, parental reports of sleep health for 351 children (mean age, 52.8 ± 3.5 months) during the first month of PreK were analyzed. Children also had completed direct assessments measuring language, literacy, mathematics, and executive functioning, and teachers rated children's social-emotional-behavioral competencies and approaches to learning at PreK entry. We performed latent class analyses to identify patterns in sleep health and used regression models to examine concurrent associations between child sleep health patterns and school readiness competencies across 6 domains: language, literacy, mathematics, executive functioning, social-emotional-behavioral, and approaches to learning.Two classes emerged reflecting more and less desirable patterns of sleep health. Children classified in the earlier, longer, consistent sleep health class (87% of children) experienced earlier bedtimes, longer night-time sleep durations, more consistent sleep routines, less caffeine consumption ≤3 hours before bedtime, and scored higher on a direct assessment of expressive vocabulary and on teacher-reported measures of social-emotional-behavioral competencies and learning approaches than their peers in the later, shorter, inconsistent sleep health class (13% of children).Consistent sleep routines and more optimal sleep health may serve as a protective mechanism for the language development, social-emotional-behavioral regulation, and approaches to learning of PreK from racially and ethnically diverse, low-income backgrounds. Clinician-parent discussions regarding optimal sleep health may provide key opportunities for targeted education that promotes school readiness skill development.

Early childhood education serves an increasing number of multilingual children, and teachers are challenged to create high-quality learning opportunities in the classroom for all children. The child’s engagement and interactions with the teacher are important in this respect. The present study therefore examined how multilingualism relates to engagement and teacher-child interactions, taking a person-oriented approach. During one school year, 76 kindergarteners (43 multilingual) from 19 classrooms were observed for behavioral engagement and individual teacher-child interactions. Five engagement profiles were identified that reflect different levels of engagement across classroom settings. Multilingual children were overrepresented in profiles that showed lower engagement in one or more settings. Also, five interaction profiles were identified that showed strong diversity in the interactions of teachers with children in their classroom. Monolingual and multilingual children were equally represented across these profiles. Children in the more beneficial interaction profiles were also often in the moderate-to-high engagement profiles.

In this work we present a multi-modal machine learning-based system, which we call ACORN, to analyze videos of school classrooms for the Positive Climate (PC) and Negative Climate (NC) dimensions of the CLASS observation protocol that is widely used in educational research. ACORN uses convolutional neural networks to analyze spectral audio features, the faces of teachers and students, and the pixels of each image frame, and then integrates this information over time using Temporal Convolutional Networks. The audiovisual ACORN's PC and NC predictions have Pearson correlations of $0.55$ and $0.63$ with ground-truth scores provided by expert CLASS coders on the UVA Toddler dataset (cross-validation on $n=300$ 15-min video segments), and a purely auditory ACORN predicts PC and NC with correlations of $0.36$ and $0.41$ on the MET dataset (test set of $n=2000$ videos segments). These numbers are similar to inter-coder reliability of human coders. Finally, using Graph Convolutional Networks we make early strides (AUC=$0.70$) toward predicting the specific moments (45-90sec clips) when the PC is particularly weak/strong. Our findings inform the design of automatic classroom observation and also more general video activity recognition and summary recognition systems., The authors discovered that the results are not reproducible

Research Findings: Growing international evidence points to high-quality teacher–child interactions in early learning environments as key contributors to children’s learning and development. Little...

The development of a warm and supportive relationship with their teacher is protective for preschool children, and particularly beneficial for children who display early disruptive behaviors. Banking Time is a dyadic, short-term intervention to improve the quality of teacher–child interactions between a teacher and a specific child, building a more positive teacher–child relationship. During Banking Time sessions, both teacher and child interact toward an activity chosen by the child. This study used variable- and person-centered approaches to examine Banking Time implementation in a sample of diverse preschool teachers (N = 120) and children (N = 319) randomly selected to participate in the intervention. Results indicated that the majority of teachers implemented expected practices (i.e., observe and narrate the child’s actions, allow the child to lead) as intended. However, although teachers were instructed to limit teacher-directed practices (i.e., ask questions, give praise, and use commands), teachers’ use of these practices was not as limited as ideally expected. Three different implementation patterns were evident: (1) High Fidelity, in which the teachers engaged in the child’s activity while ensuring that the child led the session; (2) Low Engaged, in which the child led the session, but the teacher was not engaged in the child’s activity; and (3) Teacher-Led, in which the teacher was engaged in the child’s activity but also directing the session instead of ensuring the child’s lead. These implementation patterns were linked to changes in the quality of teacher–child interactions. Implementation findings from this study can inform interventions to improve the quality of teacher–child interactions.

Quality early childhood education (ECE) is central to children's development and, thus, has become a focus of the current Chinese education agenda. Using a sample of 589 Chinese children in 59 preschool classrooms, this study examined how a key aspect of ECE quality, teacher-child interactions, was related to children's skills. Findings indicated that teacher-child interactions were related to children's cognitive skills, but not to social skills. These results contribute to the growing international research literature on the critical role teacher-child interactions play with children's learning and development. Implications for policy and professional development are discussed.

This study examined fidelity of implementation in a randomized trial of Banking Time, a classroom-based intervention intended to improve children's behavior, specifically for those at risk for developing externalizing behavior problems, through improving the quality of teacher–child interactions. The study sample comes from a randomized controlled trial that took place over three years and included 183 teachers and 470 preschool children recruited across three sites. Results exploring fidelity of implementation indicated that Banking Time practices were present across treatment and nontreatment groups. In addition, the presence of more Positive Banking Time Practices accounted for improvements in teacher–child interactions while Restricted Banking Time Practices showed inconsistent patterns, relating both to positive and negative teacher–child interactions. Further, random assignment to Banking Time resulted in the presence of more Positive Banking Time Practices and fewer Restricted Banking Time ...

Research Findings: Effects on children’s school readiness were evaluated for 2 interventions focused on improving teacher–student interactions (coursework, coaching) implemented sequentially across 2 years. Teachers from public prekindergarten programs in 10 locations were assigned randomly to treatment or control conditions in each year. Children’s language behavior was observed during the coaching year: Coaching and the course each had positive impacts on children’s multiword language behavior. Treatment impacts on directly assessed literacy, language, and self-regulation skills were evaluated within an intent-to-treat framework for children taught by the participating teachers in the coaching and postcoaching years. Children demonstrated higher levels of inhibitory control in direct assessments when their teacher had received coaching the prior year. Teachers who received both coursework and coaching reported in the postcoaching year that children in their classrooms demonstrated greater levels...

We devised and evaluated a multi-modal machine learning-based system to analyze videos of school classrooms for "positive climate" and "negative climate", which are two dimensions of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) [1]. School classrooms are highly cluttered audiovisual scenes containing many overlapping faces and voices. Due to the difficulty of labeling them (reliable coding requires weeks of training) and their sensitive nature (students and teachers may be in stressful or potentially embarrassing situations), CLASS- labeled classroom video datasets are scarce, and their labels are sparse (just a few labels per 15-minute video dip). Thus, the overarching challenge was how to harness modem deep perceptual architectures despite the paucity of labeled data. Through training low-level CNN-based facial attribute detectors (facial expression & adult/child) as well as a direct audio-to- climate regressor, and by integrating low-level information over time using a Bi-LSTM, we constructed automated detectors of positive and negative classroom climate with accuracy (10- fold cross-validation Pearson correlation on 241 CLASS-labeled videos) of 0.40 and 0.51, respectively. These numbers are superior to what we obtained using shallower architectures. This work represents the first automated system designed to detect specific dimensions of the CLASS.

There is growing recognition that cumulative economic risk places children at higher risk for depressed academic competencies (Crosnoe & Cooper, 2010; NCCP, 2008; Sameroff, 2000). Yet, children’s temperamental regulation and the quality of the early childhood classroom environment have been associated with better academic skills. This study is an examination of prekindergarten classroom quality (instructional support, emotional support, organization) as a moderator between temperamental regulation and early math and literacy skills for children at varying levels of cumulative economic risk. The sample includes children enrolled in Head Start programs drawn from the FACES 2009 study. Three main findings emerged. First, for lower and highest risk children, more instructional support was associated with better math performance when children had high levels of temperamental regulation but poorer performance when children had low temperamental regulation. Second, among highest risk children, low instructional support was protective for math performance for children with low temperamental regulation and detrimental for those with high temperamental regulation. Third, for highest risk children, high classroom organization predicted better literacy scores for those with high temperamental regulation. Children with low temperamental regulation were expected to perform about the same, regardless of the level of classroom organization. Implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)

A randomized controlled trial was used to examine the impact of an attachment-based, teacher-child, dyadic intervention (Banking Time) to improve children's externalizing behavior. Participants included 183 teachers and 470 preschool children (3-4 years of age). Classrooms were randomly assigned to Banking Time, child time, or business as usual (BAU). Sparse evidence was found for main effects on child behavior. Teachers in Banking Time demonstrated lower negativity and fewer positive interactions with children compared to BAU teachers at post assessment. The impacts of Banking Time and child time on reductions of parent- and teacher-reported externalizing behavior were greater when teachers evidenced higher-quality, classroom-level, teacher-child interactions at baseline. An opposite moderating effect was found for children's positive engagement with teachers.

Research Findings: This study examined the contribution of several class-room experience measures (classroom characteristics, teacher characteristics, and teacher–child interactions) to preschoolers’ improvement in visuomotor integration. Children (N = 467) ranged in age from 3 to 5 years old and were enrolled in 115 classrooms in 5 U.S. states. Children’s visuomotor integration was measured twice (on average 5.2 months apart) using the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (visuomotor integration subtest). Hierarchical linear models controlling for background characteristics and inhibitory control showed that children improved more in visuomotor integration when they were in classrooms with fewer 3-year-olds, when their teacher had at least a bachelor’s degree, and when teachers demonstrated high quality in their interactions. Practice or Policy: Visuomotor integration, and specifically the ability to copy designs with a writing utensil, is a robust indicator of children’...

This article summarizes recent trends in early childhood education and the role of teacher-child interactions, and also expands upon one particular framework that has helped the field advance in understanding this key component. Motivation for this summary comes from a growing body of international research, including some studies in Latin America, that indicate that investment in early childhood education can reap significant benefits for children and their communities. Latin America has made significant efforts to increase early childhood education; however, access does not appear to be sufficient to ensure adequate outcomes for children’s learning and development. The growing evidence base points to the quality of the experience within the classroom, and specifically to the quality of teacher-child interactions, as critically necessary in order to maximize children’s development and learning. The Teaching Through Interactions Framework provides a useful approach to understanding the nature of classroom interactions, as well as initial evidence that professional development can enhance such interactions. Based on this summary of the current state of affairs, this article then offers recommendations for early childhood education.

This article summarizes recent trends in early childhood education and the role of teacher-child interactions, and also expands upon one particular framework that has helped the field advance in understanding this key component. Motivation for this summary comes from a growing body of international research, including some studies in Latin America, that indicate that investment in early childhood education can reap significant benefits for children and their communities. Latin America has made significant efforts to increase early childhood education; however, access does not appear to be sufficient to ensure adequate outcomes for children’s learning and development. The growing evidence base points to the quality of the experience within the classroom, and specifically to the quality of teacher-child interactions, as critically necessary in order to maximize children’s development and learning. The Teaching Through Interactions Framework provides a useful approach to understanding the nature of classroom interactions, as well as initial evidence that professional development can enhance such interactions. Based on this summary of the current state of affairs, this article then offers recommendations for early childhood education.

This study investigated toddler caregivers’ ability to notice effective classroom interactions and indicators of toddler development, including the degree to which these abilities predict the quality of their own classroom interactions with toddlers. Sixty-one toddler caregivers completed a video-based noticing assessment prior to participating in a professional development study. Results indicate that caregivers’s noticing abilities are relatively low overall, with caregivers’ abilities to notice indicators of toddler development being lower than their ability to notice effective caregiver-child interactions. There is initial evidence to support the predictive value of the ability to notice effective caregiver-child interactions to caregivers’ enacted effective interactions.

In this study, the complex association between developmentally appropriate activities and teacher-child interaction quality is explored among 122 teachers from 59 rural preschools in northern China. Specifically, the researchers examined the association between three dimensions of Provisions for Learning (i.e., Space and Furnishing (SF), Curriculum Planning and Implementation (CPI), and Activities) and three domains of teacher-child interaction quality (Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, and Instructional Support). The results confirmed activities fully mediated the influence from SF to Emotional Support and Instructional Support. Also, Activities fully mediated the association between CPI and Emotional and Instructional Support. Moreover, SF and CPI moderated the association between Activities and Instructional Support. Implications are discussed, particularly in light of the rural preschool context.

This study examined how overall quality and within-day consistency in fifth graders’ teacher-student interactions related to feelings about, engagement, and academic performance in school. Participants were 956 children in a national study. Students who experienced higher quality interactions reported more positive feelings about school, were more engaged, performed better in math and reading, and had more closeness and less conflict with teachers. Independent of overall interaction quality, students who experienced less consistency in their interactions with teachers, whether it was with the same teacher or across teachers, were less engaged and had more teacher-reported conflict. Findings emphasize the separate contributions of both high quality and consistency of teacher–student interactions to students’ success.

Research Findings: This study explored the role Head Start teachers’ (n = 355) depressive symptoms play in their interactions with children and in children’s (n = 2,203) social-emotional development, specifically changes in children’s problem behaviors and social skills as reported by parents and teachers during the preschool year. Results of the multilevel path analyses revealed that children in classrooms with more depressed teachers made significantly fewer gains in social-emotional skills as reported by both teachers and parents. We found no evidence of mediation by the quality of teacher–child interactions. Practice or Policy: These findings have implications for understanding and supporting Head Start teachers’ mental health and potentially improving children’s social-emotional outcomes.

Preschool teachers were randomly assigned to participate in two professional development interventions over two phases, both designed to improve their interactions with children: the NCRECE college course (N = 169) and MyTeachingPartner video-based coaching (N = 202). Using Berkel et al.’s (2011) integrated model of intervention implementation, we examined whether the association between teachers' perception of intervention quality and their improvement in instructional interactions was mediated by their responsiveness to the intervention. We tested the model across both professional development opportunities. Findings indicated that preschool teachers were more responsive to the intervention when they reported higher perceived quality for both the course and coaching. The association between perceived intervention quality and improvement in instructional teaching practice was mediated by teacher responsiveness in the coaching intervention only. Findings indicate that professional development implementers need to focus on how participants perceive interventions and what exactly the key aspects within the interventions are, given the importance of their perspective to what they actually do within interventions that lead to change.

There is a growing body of research demonstrating the association between high quality preschool and improved child outcomes; however, few studies have considered special education referral as a child outcome. This study examined whether four specific aspects of the preschool classroom experience (child engagement, global classroom interaction quality, closeness and conflict in teacher–child relationships) predicted special education referral in early elementary school. Participants were 959 preschoolers in 240 classrooms across 6 states. Of the four aspects of the preschool experience explored, higher levels of conflict in the preschool teacher–child relationship related to greater special education referral in elementary school. Associations between aspects of the preschool classroom experience and special education referral were not moderated by demographic risk. These results imply that relationships play a key role in a child’s preschool experience and reasons for potential conflict in teacher–child relationships should be more closely examined.

This study examined the quality of teacher-child classroom interactions in Chinese kindergartens and associated program- and teacher-related features. In examining 180 classrooms from randomly selected kindergartens in a southern China province, latent profile analysis (LPA) identified four distinctive profiles of teacher-child interactions. Significant associations were found between teacher-child interaction quality profiles, teacher and program features. Lower teacher-child interaction quality profiles were associated with less desirable program-and teacher-related features, suggesting that programs serving communities where families were most socioeconomically disadvantaged were least likely to receive them.

Visuomotor integration (VMI), or the ability to copy designs, and 2 measures of executive function were examined in a predominantly low-income, typically developing sample of children (n = 467, mean age 4.2 years) from 5 U.S. states. In regression models controlling for age and demographic variables, we tested the interaction between visuomotor integration (design copying) and inhibitory control (pencil-tap) or verbal working memory (digit span) on 4 directly assessed academic skills and teacher-reported approaches to learning. Compared with children with both poor visuomotor integration and low inhibitory control, those on the higher end of the continuum in at least 1 of these 2 skills performed better across several dependent variables. This compensatory pattern was evident for longitudinal improvement in print knowledge on the Test of Preschool Early Literacy (TOPEL), with similar though marginally significant findings for improvement in phonological awareness (TOPEL) and teacher-rated approaches to learning on the Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale (PLBS). Of note, the same compensatory pattern emerged for concurrently measured receptive vocabulary on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), expressive vocabulary on the Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ), TOPEL phonological awareness, and teacher-rated approaches to learning. The consistent pattern of results suggests that strong visuomotor integration skills are an important part of school readiness, and merit further study.