Preschool center quality and school readiness: quality effects and variation by demographic and child characteristics.

This article examines associations between observed quality in preschool center classrooms for approximately 6,250 three- to five-year-olds and their school readiness skills at kindergarten entry. Secondary analyses were conducted using data from four large-scale studies to estimate the effects of preschool center quality and interactions between quality and demographic characteristics and child entry skills and behaviors. Findings were summarized across studies using meta-analytic methods. Results indicate small, but statistically significant associations for preschool center quality main effects on language and mathematics outcomes with little evidence of moderation by demographic characteristics or child entry skills and behaviors. Preschool center quality was not reliably related to socioemotional outcomes. The authors discuss possible explanations for the small effect sizes and lack of differential effects.

Activity Settings and Daily Routines in Preschool Classrooms: Diverse Experiences in Early Learning Settings for Low-Income Children.

This paper examines activity settings and daily classroom routines experienced by 3- and 4-year-old low-income children in public center-based preschool programs, private center-based programs, and family child care homes. Two daily routine profiles were identified using a time-sampling coding procedure: a High Free-Choice pattern in which children spent a majority of their day engaged in child-directed free-choice activity settings combined with relatively low amounts of teacher-directed activity, and a Structured-Balanced pattern in which children spent relatively equal proportions of their day engaged in child-directed free-choice activity settings and teacher-directed small- and whole-group activities. Daily routine profiles were associated with program type and curriculum use but not with measures of process quality. Children in Structured-Balanced classrooms had more opportunities to engage in language and literacy and math activities, whereas children in High Free-Choice classrooms had more opportunities for gross motor and fantasy play. Being in a Structured-Balanced classroom was associated with children's language scores but profiles were not associated with measures of children's math reasoning or socio-emotional behavior. Consideration of teachers' structuring of daily routines represents a valuable way to understand nuances in the provision of learning experiences for young children in the context of current views about developmentally appropriate practice and school readiness.

Children's classroom engagement and school readiness gains in prekindergarten.

Child engagement in prekindergarten classrooms was examined using 2,751 children (mean age=4.62) enrolled in public prekindergarten programs that were part of the Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten and the State-Wide Early Education Programs Study. Latent class analysis was used to classify children into 4 profiles of classroom engagement: free play, individual instruction, group instruction, and scaffolded learning. Free play children exhibited smaller gains across the prekindergarten year on indicators of language/literacy and mathematics compared to other children. Individual instruction children made greater gains than other children on the Woodcock Johnson Applied Problems. Poor children in the individual instruction profile fared better than nonpoor children in that profile; in all other snapshot profiles, poor children fared worse than nonpoor children.

Attachment stability and the emergence of unresolved representations during adolescence.

This 15-year longitudinal study examined the stability of attachment representations from infancy to adolescence and investigated the emergence of unresolved representations during adolescence in a sample of 47 16-year-olds. Attachment was assessed at 12 months using the Strange Situation Procedure, at 4 years using the modified Strange Situation Procedure, and again at 16 years with the Adult Attachment Projective (AAP). The emergence of unresolved classifications in adolescence (AAP) was associated with higher rates of negative life events, low levels of early mother-child relationship security (an aggregate measure of the 12-month and 4-year measures), negative teacher-child relationship experiences in middle childhood, and low early adolescent friendship quality. The results support the growing body of evidence suggesting that changes in attachment are lawful, while adding to the growing understanding of the emergence of unresolved attachment representations.

Diverse Pathways in Early Childhood Professional Development: An Exploration of Early Educators in Public Preschools, Private Preschools, and Family Child Care Homes.

This paper presents a naturalistic investigation of the patterns of formal education, early childhood education training, and mentoring of a diverse group of urban early childhood educators participating in the Los Angeles: Exploring Children's Early Learning Settings (LA ExCELS) study. A total of 103 preschool teachers and family child care providers serving primarily low-income 3- and 4-year-old children in Los Angeles County provided data on their education, training, and beliefs about teaching. This sample worked in public center based preschool programs including Head Start classrooms and State preschool classrooms (N=42), private non-profit preschools including community based organizations and faith-based preschools (N=42), and licensed family child care homes (N=19). This study uses a person-centered approach to explore patterns of teacher preparation, sources of support, supervision, and mentoring across these 3 types of education settings, and how these patterns are associated with early childhood educators' beliefs and practices. Findings suggest a set of linkages between type of early education setting, professional development, and supervision of teaching. Public preschools have the strongest mandates for formal professional development and typically less variation in levels of monitoring, whereas family child care providers on average have less formal education and more variability in their access to and use of other forms of training and mentorship. Four distinct patterns of formal education, child development training, and ongoing mentoring or support were identified among the educators in this study. Associations between professional development experiences and teachers' beliefs and practices suggested the importance of higher levels of formal training for enhancing the quality of teacher-child interactions. Implications of the findings for changing teacher behaviors are discussed with respect to considering the setting context.

Respectful relationships: Socialization goals and practices among Mexican mothers.

This article examines the socialization goals, representations, and practices in toddler- and preschool-age children and their Mexican immigrant or U.S.-born, Mexican-heritage mothers. Eighty-eight mothers and children (49% girls) participated in this research. All mothers were visited in their homes to be observed and interviewed when the children were 8, 14, 24, and 36 months old. The study used naturalistic observations of children's behavior and participation in everyday routines and their mothers' socialization practices. Prekindergarten teachers reported on the children's school social skills. It was expected that differences in mothers' participation in four distinct cultural communities would be associated with variations in their socialization goals and practices. The mothers articulated socialization goals that were reflective of positive social relationships. Compliance episodes were less frequent than participation in everyday routines. The mothers' participation in different cultural communities was associated with different practices in routines, but not with goals or compliance practices. Toddler and preschool observations of children and mothers were associated with teachers' ratings of children's prekindergarten social skills.

Measures of classroom quality in prekindergarten and children's development of academic, language, and social skills.

This study examined development of academic, language, and social skills among 4-year-olds in publicly supported prekindergarten (pre-K) programs in relation to 3 methods of measuring pre-K quality, which are as follows: (a) adherence to 9 standards of quality related to program infrastructure and design, (b) observations of the overall quality of classroom environments, and (c) observations of teachers' emotional and instructional interactions with children in classrooms. Participants were 2,439 children enrolled in 671 pre-K classrooms in 11 states. Adjusting for prior skill levels, child and family characteristics, program characteristics, and state, teachers' instructional interactions predicted academic and language skills and teachers' emotional interactions predicted teacher-reported social skills. Findings suggest that policies, program development, and professional development efforts that improve teacher-child interactions can facilitate children's school readiness.

Cumulative perinatal steroids: child development of preterm infants.

The development of premature infants may be altered due to exposure to high cumulative doses of the perinatal corticosteroid dexamethasone during critical growth periods. To compare child behavioral development of prematurely born infants who were exposed to higher perinatal steroids (PNS; >0.2 mg/kg) with that of infants exposed to lower PNS (

Teachers' education, classroom quality, and young children's academic skills: results from seven studies of preschool programs.

In an effort to provide high-quality preschool education, policymakers are increasingly requiring public preschool teachers to have at least a Bachelor's degree, preferably in early childhood education. Seven major studies of early care and education were used to predict classroom quality and children's academic outcomes from the educational attainment and major of teachers of 4-year-olds. The findings indicate largely null or contradictory associations, indicating that policies focused solely on increasing teachers' education will not suffice for improving classroom quality or maximizing children's academic gains. Instead, raising the effectiveness of early childhood education likely will require a broad range of professional development activities and supports targeted toward teachers' interactions with children.

Ways with children: examining the role of cultural continuity in early educators' practices and beliefs about working with low-income children of color.

New directions in child care research are compelling researchers to explore larger socialization perspectives. In one of these, ethnic and cultural matches between caregiver and child are used to explain important psychological and developmental processes in children of color (Guerra & Jagers, 1998; McLoyd, 1998; Phinney & Landin, 1998). This paper discusses three recent child care studies that have used teacher-child ethnicity as a proxy for cultural continuity. The first study identified teacher and program practices in child care programs designed to serve low-income children and families of color and used a teacher-child ethnic match to ground its examination of associations among teacher-articulated practices, quality, and observed child behaviors. The second study also used a teacher-child ethnic match to ground its examination of associations among teacher-articulated beliefs and practices about families and observed teaching practices in child care programs that served low-income children and families of color. The third study explored young children's processes of forming attachments with caregivers in child care when the child and caregiver did and did not share an ethnic cultural community. The findings in all three studies suggested that teachers' perceptions and practices, and children's experiences in child care, are rooted within ethnic communities.

Children enrolled in public pre-K: the relation of family life, neighborhood quality, and socioeconomic resources to early competence.

This article presents data on the family and social environments of 501 children enrolled in public sponsored pre-K in 5 states and tests the relation of these resources to child competence. Structured interviews and questionnaires provide information from parents about the family's social and economic status. Direct assessments and teacher reports provide data on children's literacy, numeracy, and behavioral problems. A majority of the children served in public pre-K lived in poverty and showed decrements in language but not in other domains. A socioeconomic resource factor consisting of parental education, household income, and material need predicted all domains of children's functioning. Children from households high in socioeconomic resources entered pre-K with more well developed language and math skill but fewer behavioral problems than their disadvantaged peers. Neighborhood quality status was related to language competence and mother's marital status to math competence. Neighborhood quality and income level may have their impact on child competence through their relation to dyadic quality and the health and the psychological well-being of the parents.