Children from disadvantaged backgrounds tend to start school with fewer school readiness skills than their more advantaged peers. Emergent literacy and math skills play an important role in this gap. The family is essential in helping children build these skills, and the active involvement of families is crucial to the success of any intervention for young children. The Getting Ready for School (GRS) program is a parent-focused curriculum designed to help parents equip their children with the skills and enthusiasm necessary for learning when they start school. Parents meet in weekly workshops led by a trained facilitator and implement the curriculum at home with their children. The objective of this pilot study was to assess the promise of the GRS intervention in children participating in an urban Head Start program and to explore parents' responses to the intervention. We hypothesized that participation in GRS would improve school readiness in literacy and math skills, relative to participation in business-as-usual Head Start. Four Head Start classrooms (two randomly selected “intervention” and two “comparison” classrooms) participated in this study. Preliminary analyses suggest that GRS improves school readiness over and above a Head Start-as-usual experience. Implications for early childhood programs and policies are discussed. 1. Introduction School readiness, or the development of the cognitive, social, and emotional skills necessary for children to enter school ready to learn, creates the foundation for academic success, physical and mental health, and general well-being [1]. Unfortunately, socioeconomic disadvantage tends to lead to large gaps in the development of both the cognitive [2–5] and socioemotional skills [6–8] underlying school readiness [9, 10]. By the time children enter school, disadvantaged children tend to score between one-half and one-full standard deviation lower than other children on reading and math achievement tests [8]. Additionally, socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with problems in children’s self-regulation, including difficulties controlling impulses and regulating emotions [3, 4, 7, 8]. Disparities in cognitive and socioemotional development are not ameliorated during the early elementary years. Indeed, gaps in achievement tend to increase with age [10, 11], having vast implications for future life achievement [12–15]. Disadvantaged children of Latino descent are at particular risk for poor school readiness [16–18] and subsequent school failure [19]. Quality preschool programs can reduce the school-readiness
References
[1]
Task Force on Community Preventive Services, “Promoting health through the social environment: early childhood development programs,” in Guide to Community Preventive Services, 2010.
[2]
R. H. Bradley, R. F. Corwyn, H. P. McAdoo, and C. García Coll, “The home environments of children in the United States Part I: variations by age, ethnicity, and poverty status,” Child Development, vol. 72, no. 6, pp. 1844–1867, 2001.
[3]
K. G. Noble, M. F. Norman, and M. J. Farah, “Neurocognitive correlates of socioeconomic status in kindergarten children,” Developmental Science, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 74–87, 2005.
[4]
K. G. Noble, B. D. McCandliss, and M. J. Farah, “Socioeconomic gradients predict individual differences in neurocognitive abilities,” Developmental Science, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 464–480, 2007.
[5]
G. J. Whitehurst, “Language processes in context: language learning in children reared in poverty,” in Research on Communication and Language Disorders: Contribution to Theories of Language Development, L. B. Adamson and M. A. Romski, Eds., pp. 233–266, Brookes Publishing, Baltimore, Md, USA, 1997.
[6]
A. W. Gottfried, A. E. Gottfried, K. Bathurst, D. W. Guerin, and M. M. Parramore, “Socioeconomic status in children's development and family environment: infancy through adolescence,” in Socioeconomic Status, Parenting and Child Development, M. H. Bornstein and R. H. Bradley, Eds., pp. 189–207, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, USA, 2003.
[7]
S. E. Rimm-Kaufman, R. C. Pianta, and M. J. Cox, “Teachers' judgments of problems in the transition to kindergarten,” Early Childhood Research Quarterly, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 147–166, 2000.
[8]
C. Rouse, J. Brooks-Gunn, and S. McLanahan, “Introducing the issue. School readiness: closing racial and ethnic gaps,” Future of Children, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 3–14, 2005.
[9]
P. C. High and Committee on Early Childhood Adoption and Dependent Care and Council on School Health, “School readiness,” Pediatrics, vol. 121, pp. e1008–e1015, 2008.
[10]
J. West, K. Denton, and E. Germino-Hausken, America's Kindergartener's: Findings from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99, National Center for Education Statistics, Washington, DC, USA, 2001.
[11]
L. Feinstein, “Inequality in the early cognitive development of British children in the 1970 cohort,” Economica, vol. 70, no. 277, pp. 73–97, 2003.
[12]
J. Brooks-Gunn and L. B. Markman, “The contribution of parenting to ethnic and racial gaps in school readiness,” Future of Children, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 139–168, 2005.
[13]
J. Brooks-Gunn, “Do you believe in magic? What can we expect from early childhood intervention programs?” Social Policy Report of the Society for Research in Child Development, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 3–14, 2003.
[14]
J. Bennett, Investment in Population Health in Five OECD Countries, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, France, 2003.
[15]
N. Baydar, J. Brooks-Gunn, and F. F. Furstenberg, “Early warning signs of functional illiteracy: predictors in childhood and adolescence,” Child Development, vol. 64, no. 3, pp. 815–829, 1993.
[16]
C. Galindo and B. Fuller, “The social competence of Latino kindergartners and growth in mathematical understanding,” Developmental Psychology, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 579–592, 2010.
[17]
M. Quirk, M. Furlong, E. Lilles, E. Felix, and J. Chin, “Preliminary development of a kindergarten school readiness assessment for Latino students,” Journal of Applied School Psychology, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 77–102, 2011.
[18]
J. Brooks-Gunn and L. B. Markman, “The contribution of parenting to ethnic and racial gaps in school readiness,” Future of Children, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 139–168, 2005.
[19]
M. Berends and R. V. Penaloza, “Increasing racial isolation and test score gaps in mathematics: a 30-year perspective,” Teachers College Record, vol. 112, no. 4, pp. 978–1007, 2010.
[20]
K. A. Magnuson and J. Waldfogel, “Early childhood care and education: effects on ethnic and racial gaps in school readiness,” Future of Children, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 169–196, 2005.
[21]
L. M. Anderson, C. Shinn, M. T. Fullilove et al., “The effectiveness of early childhood development programs: a systematic review,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine, vol. 24, supplement 3, pp. 32–46, 2003.
[22]
G. D. Borman, G. M. Hewes, L. T. Overman, and S. Brown, “Comprehensive school reform and achievement: a meta-analysis,” Review of Educational Research, vol. 73, no. 2, pp. 125–230, 2003.
[23]
U. Bronfenbrenner, “Making human beings human: bioecological perspectives on human development,” in Making Human Beings Human: Bioecological Perspectives on Human Development xxix, p. 306, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, Calif, USA, 2005.
[24]
M. Burchinal, J. E. Roberts, S. A. Zeisel, E. A. Hennon, and S. Hooper, “Social risk and protective child, parenting, and child care factors in early elementary school years,” Parenting: Science and Practice, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 79–113, 2006.
[25]
U. Bronfenbrenner, “Is early intervention effective?” Early Childhood Education Journal, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 14–18, 1974.
[26]
U. Bronfenbrenner and S. J. Ceci, “Nature-nurture reconceptualized in developmental perspective: a bioecological model,” Psychological Review, vol. 101, no. 4, pp. 568–586, 1994.
[27]
U. Bronfenbrenner and G. W. Evans, “Developmental science in the 21st century: emerging questions, theoretical models, research designs and empirical findings,” Social Development, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 115–125, 2000.
[28]
J. R. H. Tudge, I. Mokrova, B. E. Hatfield, and R. B. Karnik, “Uses and misuses of Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory of human development,” Journal of Family Theory & Review, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 198–210, 2009.
[29]
M. A. Evans and D. Shaw, “Home grown for reading: parental contributions to young children's emergent literacy and word recognition,” Canadian Psychology, vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 89–95, 2008.
[30]
S. R. Hooper, J. E. Roberts, L. Nelson, S. Zeisel, and D. K. Fannin, “Preschool predictors of narrative writing skills in elementary school children,” School Psychology Quarterly, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 1–12, 2010.
[31]
G. J. Whitehurst and C. J. Lonigan, “Child development and emergent literacy,” Child Development, vol. 69, no. 3, pp. 848–872, 1998.
[32]
G. J. Whitehurst, J. N. Epstein, A. Angell, A. C. Payne, D. Crone, and J. E. Fischel, “Outcomes of an emergent literacy intervention in head start,” Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 86, no. 4, pp. 542–555, 1994.
[33]
G. J. Whitehurst, D. S. Arnold, J. N. Epstein, A. L. Angell, M. Smith, and J. E. Fischel, “A Picture book reading intervention in day care and home for children from low-income families,” Developmental Psychology, vol. 30, no. 5, pp. 679–689, 1994.
[34]
M. Senechal, “Testing the home literacy model: parent involvement in kindergarten is differentially related to grade 4 reading comprehension, fluency, spelling, and reading for pleasure,” Scientific Studies of Reading, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 59–87, 2006.
[35]
M. Senechal and J. A. LeFevre, “Parental involvement in the development of children's reading skill: a five-year longitudinal study,” Child Development, vol. 73, no. 2, pp. 445–460, 2002.
[36]
B. A. Levy, Z. Gong, S. Hessels, M. A. Evans, and D. Jared, “Understanding print: early reading development and the contributions of home literacy experiences,” Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, vol. 93, no. 1, pp. 63–93, 2006.
[37]
L. M. Phillips, R. Hayden, and S. P. Norris, Family Literacy Matters. A Longitudinal Parent-Child Literacy Intervention Study, Temeron, Calgary, Canada, 2006.
[38]
K. Denton, J. West, and J. Walston, Reading—Young Children's Achievement and Classroom Experiences, National Center for Education Statistics: Findings from the Condition of Education, Washington, DC, USA, 2003.
[39]
D. R. Entwisle and K. L. Alexander, “Factors affecting achievement test scores and marks of black and white first graders,” The Elementary School Journal, vol. 88, no. 5, p. 449, 1988.
[40]
P. Starkey and A. Klein, “Sociocultural influences on young children's mathematical knowledge,” in Contemporary Perspectives on Mathematics in Early Childhood Education, pp. 253–276, Information Age Publishing, 2007.
[41]
H. P. Ginsburg and R. L. Russell, “Social class and racial influences on early mathematical thinking,” Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, vol. 46, no. 6, pp. 1–69, 1981.
[42]
N. C. Jordan, S. C. Levine, and J. Huttenlocher, “Development of calculation abilities in middle-and low-income children after formal instruction in school,” Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 223–240, 1994.
[43]
H. P. Ginsburg, A. Klein, and P. Starkey, “The development of children's mathematical thinking: connecting research with practive,” in Handbook of Child Psychology: Vol 4, Child Psychology in Practice, pp. 401–476, John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, USA, 5th edition, 1998.
[44]
K. H. Seo and H. P. Ginsburg, “What is developmentally appropriate in early childhood mathematics education? Lessons from new research,” in Engaging Young Children in Mathematics: Standards for Early Childhood Mathematics Education, pp. 91–105, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004.
[45]
D. H. Clements, J. Sarama, and A. M. DiBiase, Engaging Young Children in Mathematics: Standards for Early Childhood Mathematics Education, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, USA, 2004.
[46]
National Association for the Education of Young Children and National Council of Teachers and Mathematics, Early Childhood Mathematics: Promoting Good Beginnings, Joint position statement on math, 2002.
[47]
J. A. Lefevre, S. L. SKwarchuk, D. Kamawar, B. L. Smith-Chant, L. Fast, and J. Bisanz, “Home numeracy experiences and children's math performance in the early school years,” Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 55–66, 2009.
[48]
G. B. Saxe, S. R. Guberman, M. Gearhart, R. Gelman, C. M. Massey, and B. Rogoff, “Social processes in early number development,” Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 1–162, 1987.
[49]
P. Starkey, A. Klein, I. Change, Q. Dong, L. Pang, and Y. Zhou, “Environmental supports for young children's mathematics development in China and the United States,” in Society for Research in Child Development, Albuquerque, NM, USA, 1999.
[50]
A. Klein and P. Starkey, “Preparing for the transition to school mathematics: the head start family math project,” in P. Starkey (Chair). School Readiness and Early Achievement of Impoverished Children, in Symposium Conducted at the Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Indianapolis, Ind, USA, 1995.
[51]
P. Starkey and A. Klein, “Fostering parental support for children's mathematical development: an intervention with head start families,” Early Education and Development, vol. 11, no. 5, pp. 659–680, 2000.
[52]
C. Bowyer-Crane, M. J. Snowling, F. J. Duff et al., “Improving early language and literacy skills: differential effects of an oral language versus a phonology with reading intervention,” Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, vol. 49, no. 4, pp. 422–432, 2008.
[53]
C. M. Connor, F. J. Morrison, and L. Slominski, “Preschool instruction and children's emergent literacy growth,” Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 98, no. 4, pp. 665–689, 2006.
[54]
R. W. Woodcock, K. S. McGrew, and N. Mather, Woodcock Johnson III Nu, Riverside Publishing, Rolling Meadows, Ill, USA, 2007.
[55]
J. W. Creswell, W. E. Hanson, V. L. Clark Plano, and A. Morales, “Qualitative research designs: selection and implementation,” Counseling Psychologist, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 236–264, 2007.
[56]
R. Whitley, “Introducing psychiatrists to qualitative research: a guide for instructors,” Academic Psychiatry, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 252–255, 2009.
[57]
A. Strauss and J. M. Corbin, Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, Calif, USA, 1990.
[58]
W. S. Barnett, “Early childhood education,” in School Reform Principles: The Research Evidence, A. Molner, Ed., Information Age Publishing, Greenwich, Conn, USA, 2002.
[59]
C. T. Ramey, S. L. Ramey, R. G. Lanzi, and J. N. Cotton, “Early educational interventions for high-risk children: how center-based treatment can augment and improve parenting effectiveness,” in Parenting and the Child's World: Influences on Academic, Intellectual, and Social-Emotional Development, J. G. Borkowski, S. L. Ramey, and M. Bristol-Power, Eds., pp. 125–140, Erlbaum Publishers, Mahwah, NJ, USA, 2002.
[60]
T. P. Beauchaine, C. Webster-Stratton, and M. J. Reid, “Mediators, moderators, and predictors of 1-year outcomes among children treated for early-onset conduct problems: a latent growth curve analysis,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, vol. 73, no. 3, pp. 371–388, 2005.
[61]
C. Blair, “School readiness: integrating cognition and emotion in a neurobiological conceptualization of children's functioning at school entry,” American Psychologist, vol. 57, no. 2, pp. 111–127, 2002.
[62]
M. M. McClelland, C. E. Cameron, C. M. Connor, C. L. Farris, A. M. Jewkes, and F. J. Morrison, “Links between behavioral regulation and preschoolers' literacy, vocabulary, and math skills,” Developmental Psychology, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 947–959, 2007.
[63]
F. J. Morrison, H. J. Bachman, and C. M. Connor, Improving Literacy in America: Guidelines from Research, Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn, USA, 2005.
[64]
C. C. Raver, P. W. Garner, and R. Smith-Donald, “The roles of emotion regulation and emotion knowledge for children's academic readiness: are the links causal?” in School Readiness and the Transition to Kindergarten in the Era of Accountability, pp. 121–147, Paul H. Brookes Publishing, Baltimore, Md, USA, 2007.
[65]
W. S. Barnett, K. Jung, D. J. Yarosz et al., “Educational effects of the Tools of the Mind curriculum: a randomized trial,” Early Childhood Research Quarterly, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 299–313, 2008.
[66]
K. L. Bierman, C. E. Domitrovich, R. L. Nix, M. T. Greenberg, and C. Blair, “Executive functions and school readiness intervention: impact, moderation, and mediation in the Head Start REDI program,” Development and Psychopathology, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 821–843, 2008.
[67]
C. E. Domitrovich, S. D. Gest, S. Gill, K. L. Bierman, J. A. Welsh, and D. Jones, “Fostering high-quality teaching with an enriched curriculum and professional development support: the head start REDI program,” American Educational Research Journal, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 567–597, 2009.
[68]
A. Diamond, W. S. Barnett, J. Thomas, and S. Munro, “The early years: preschool program improves cognitive control,” Science, vol. 318, no. 5855, pp. 1387–1388, 2007.
[69]
W. S. Barnett, D. Yarosz, J. Thomas, and A. Hornbeck, Educational Effectiveness of a Vygotskian Approach to Preschool Education: A Randomized Trial, National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA, 2006.
