The purposes of this study were to determine if a kindergartener's developmental stage correlates with subsequent scholastic achievement, to determine whether developmentally younger children who repeat kindergarten attain higher academic achievement than developmental 1y younger children who do not repeat kindergarten, and to investigate the relationship between head circumference, developmental age, and achievement. Ninety-seven kindergartners of various ethnicity and socio-economic status were administered the Gesell School Readiness Screening Test to determine developmental age and were followed academically for three years. Head circumference was noted periodically to measure brain growth. The hypotheses predicted significant positive correlations between developmental age in kindergarten and scores on later achievement tests. Further, it was predicted that children below 5.3 years in developmental age who delayed entrance to first grade would score significantly higher on first grade achievement tests than match-paired promoted students. It was hypothesized that there would be significant correlations between head circumference growth and (a) gains in achievement test scores and (b) developmental age at kindergarten. The first hypothesis, tested by Pearson Product Moment Correlations, established the existence of significant correlations between developmental ages of test subjects and their scores on four academic achievement tests. The results indicated that developmental age was a better predictor of achievement test scores than chronological age. Since only five children in this study were retained in kindergarten, hypothesis 2 was analyzed descriptively. Mean scores on first grade achievement tests were higher for the retainees than for the "at risk" non-retainees. Hypothesis 3 was tested by stepwise multiple regression. At the first step, the linear trend between the independent variable, CTBS score, and the dependent variable, I TBS score, was calculated and found to be significant at the .001 level. The addition of head circumference growth to the equation did not add significantly to the prediction of I TBS scores from CTBS scores. There was a significant negative correlation between developmental age in kindergarten and head growth.

The year 2002 saw the amendment of section 5(4) of the South African Schools Act no 84 of 1996. The amended Act now allows children of five years or younger to enter school. The entry of five year olds and younger into the school system left the researcher with the question: when is a child emotionally ready for school? The test and mediums currently used to determine school readiness do not place emphasis on the emotional aspects, although this plays an integral part in the child’s scholastic success. This scientific investigation was to determine the emotional development of children between the ages of four and seven years. The aim of this study was to determine which emotional aspects a child should have to be emotionally ready for school. These findings were discussed and information gathered through semi-structured interviews with grade 1 teachers. The teachers were a good source of practical and personal experience and observations on children who enter school. The information gathered from the literature study and interviews formed the basis for developing an emotional school readiness checklist and related programme that can be used to determine the emotional school readiness of a child entering grade 1. The emotional school readiness checklist and related programme that was designed was not in question, rather the aspects deemed necessary for a child to be emotionally ready for school and how therapy could be developed based on these aspects. Thus the inventory was not tested on a child, but was implemented in a case study to illustrate a therapeutic plan that could be designed based on the emotional school readiness checklist. / Dissertation (MA (Counselling Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Psychology / unrestricted