Transition and protective agency of early childhood learning behaviors as portents of later school attendance and adjustment.

This article reports on the study of differential change trajectories for early childhood learning behaviors as they relate to future classroom adjustment and school attendance. A large sample (N=2152) of Head Start children was followed through prekindergarten, kindergarten, and 1st grade. Classroom learning behaviors were assessed twice each year by teachers who observed gradual declines in Competence Motivation and Attentional Persistence as children transitioned through schooling.

Longitudinal stability of IRT and equivalent-groups linear and equipercentile equating.

A multiscale criterion-referenced test that featured two presumably equivalent forms (A and B), was administered to 1,667 Head Start children at each of four points over an academic year. Using a randomly equivalent groups design, three equating methods were applied: common-item IRT equating using concurrent calibration, linear transformation, and equipercentile transformation. The methods were compared by examining mean score differences, weighted mean squared difference, and Kolmogorov's D statistics for each subscale.

Measuring preschool cognitive growth while it's still happening: the Learning Express.

Educators need accurate assessments of preschool cognitive growth to guide curriculum design, evaluation, and timely modification of their instructional programs. But available tests do not provide content breadth or growth sensitivity over brief intervals. This article details evidence for a multiform, multiscale test criterion-referenced to national standards for alphabet knowledge, vocabulary, listening comprehension and mathematics, developed in field trials with 3433 3-5(1/2)-year-old Head Start children.

An investigation of classroom situational dimensions of emotional and behavioral adjustment and cognitive and social outcomes for Head Start children.

This study used a developmental-ecological approach to investigate the relationship across the school year between early problems in preschool classroom situations and a comprehensive set of readiness competencies for urban low-income children. Study 1 identified 3 reliable and unique underlying classroom situational dimensions where behavior problems occurred: structured learning, peer interaction, and teacher interaction situations. Boys and younger children evidenced more problematic behavior across all situations.

Employing community data to investigate social and structural dimensions of urban neighborhoods: an early childhood education example.

The present study sought to define neighborhood context by examining relationships among data from city-level administrative databases at the level of the census block group. The present neighborhood investigation included 1,801 block groups comprising a large, northeastern metropolitan area. Common factor analyses and multistage, hierarchical cluster analyses yielded two dimensions (i.

Preschool competency in context: an investigation of the unique contribution of child competencies to early academic success.

The present concurrent study combined developmental and ecological considerations to examine the unique contribution of multiple preschool competencies to an indicator of early academic success. Participants included 195 Head Start children from 32 classrooms representative of a large, urban Head Start program. Dimensional (variable-centered) analyses revealed 3 distinct classroom competency dimensions (i.