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Externalizing behavior problems during early childhood are fairly common, with approximately 10% to 15% of young children exhibiting at least mild to moderate disruptive behaviors. Of great significance, disruptive behaviors persist beyond early childhood for a substantial number of children and are related to impaired functioning 111 for children and families. Parent discipline and parent stress are two variables that have been examined in relation to children's disruptive behaviors. While a significant body of research has documented the association between broad parental discipline strategies and behavior problems during early childhood, little research attention has been devoted to specific discipline techniques that may be related to disruptive behaviors. This study surveyed 30 parents of children with behavior problems and 57 parents of children without behavior problems about the discipline techniques they use with their preschool children. The relationships between the specific techniques parents use with their young children, parents' perceived stress level, and parent-reported child behavior problems were examined. Telling the child "no," corrective feedback, lecturing, and scolding were the discipline techniques parents reported using most often. The discipline techniques of corrective feedback and threats as well as parent stress emerged as significant predictors of disruptive behaviors. Conclusions and clinical implications of these findings are provided.

Contextual stress has been associated with poor school readiness skills during early childhood. This study evaluated mechanisms by which parent’s exposure to poverty-related contextual stressors influence the acquisition of school readiness skills from child age 2 to 4 among 167 parent-child dyads. Parent report of contextual stress and observational measures of parenting quality were collected during the children’s 2-year-old assessment. Teacher reports and children’s scores on school readiness tasks were collected during the 4-year-old assessment. Two approaches were used to understand the process by which contextual stressors influences school readiness; the accumulation of stressors approach and the constellations of stressors approach. Using the accumulation of stressors approach, each indicator of contextual stress was identified as a stressor or non-stressor and the number of categories in which families experienced a stressor were summed. Results from separate structural equation models (SEM) indicated that the accumulation of stressors did not influence school readiness skills by way of positive parenting. The constellation of stressors approach considered how clusters of stressors may differentially impact children’s school readiness. Results of the Latent Class Analysis (LCA) revealed the presence of two risk profile groups that differed qualitatively, indicating that not all stressors are equal; the “low-stressor” group and the “multi-stressor” group. The multi-stressor group represented thirty-three percent of families (n= 55). When considering the influence of the multi-stressor group probability to each of the school readiness indicators, none of the path coefficients were statistically significant. Implications for research and intervention are discussed.

This thesis explores the relationship between assessment techniques and reporting procedures in early childhood settings. Discrepancies between curriculum being presented and skills and progress being reported are examined. The curriculum used in this study is Portland Public Schools' Piaget Curriculum, which stresses active, scientific problem solving for children 4 to 6 years old. A variety of assessment, observation, recording and reporting tools are suggested, implemented and critiqued. Creation of a portfolio to store and showcase these items is suggested and explained. The important role of parents and families in the assessment process is studied. Strategies for involving parents at all stages of implementation are included and field tested. The result is a unique, lively, complete look at the teacher's efforts to use authentic assessment strategies which honestly match the curriculum unfolding in the classroom.

This longitudinal study was undertaken to examine the developmental progression of banging during the second half year of life. The second purpose was to determine if and when banging is used 'appropriately,' that is, as a function of object properties. Twenty infants were videotaped while presented with five pairs of objects, one pair at a time, for one minute each at monthly intervals. Object pairs were varied systematically along the hardness/sound potential dimension, to promote more or less banging. Results indicate that in some instances banging may go through a short period of indiscriminate use before it is applied appropriately, as with the cubes. In other instances, banging appears to be used selectively upon its emergence, as was the case with the dowel. Infants evidenced more banging of hard or rigid objects than of soft and flexible ones. An independent group of ten-month-olds exhibited the same discriminate banging, suggesting that the present findings may reflect developmental change rather than the effects of repeated testing / acase@tulane.edu