Many children live in circumstances which make it difficult for them to develop the capacities needed to succeed later in life. Previous research has focused on determining the risk factors for impaired outcomes and on evaluating the impact of specific programs. There has been a lack of research exploring the wisdom of people at the grassroots level and across programs. This research asked service providers and parents to describe the challenges that are faced by families with young children living in circumstances of disadvantage, the barriers preventing participation in programs, and the strategies that would address these challenges and barriers.<p> Three research approaches were incorporated into the design of this project; qualitative policy research, community-based participatory research, and knowledge transfer methodology. These approaches were applied in order to encourage the participation of community organizations, to produce information that would provide guidance to policy-makers, and to promote implementation of the strategies recommended by research participants.<p> In Phase One, 28 service providers from 24 Regina programs were interviewed. In Phase Two, the results from the service provider interviews were presented to focus groups of target parents to obtain their feedback. This process served to acknowledge the expertise of the parents as those with firsthand experience of their own reality.<p> The categories of challenges, barriers and strategies that were identified by participants were psychosocial (related to personal connections and mental well-being) and/or structural (concrete and tangible issues). Four themes emerged from these findings. First, interrelatedness and synergistic interaction among the social conditions faced by these families was evident. Second, instability was present at both familial and program delivery levels. Third, target families faced power imbalances from multiple sources. Finally, a lack of belonging or connectedness was experienced by families as a result of their circumstances of social exclusion.<p> The results point to the need for policies to address the following areas: adequate household income, childcare, funding of non-government organizations, housing, and mental health and addictions. By presenting the views of people at the grassroots level, it is hoped that these research results will provide direction to policy-makers.

Aboriginal Head Start Urban and Northern Communities (AHSUNC) Initiative in Ontario provides an early childhood development program specifically for urban Aboriginal children between 3 and 5 years old. Twenty-nine families from Waabinong Head Start in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, completed two questionnaires given four months apart covering a range of health and education topics. The completed surveys supported a trend toward healthier lifestyle choices, improved education of the children, upward mobility in employment, increases in self-perceived general and mental health of primary and second caregivers, and decreases in smoking, illegal drug use, and alcohol use. Families reported an increased sense of pride in being Aboriginal shown by their children, plus learning of culture and Ojibwe language, which has lead to improvement in all of the child’s skills and abilities.

Aboriginal Head Start Urban and Northern Communities (AHSUNC) Initiative in Ontario provides an early childhood development program specifically for urban Aboriginal children between 3 and 5 years old. Twenty-nine families from Waabinong Head Start in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, completed two questionnaires given four months apart covering a range of health and education topics. The completed surveys supported a trend toward healthier lifestyle choices, improved education of the children, upward mobility in employment, increases in self-perceived general and mental health of primary and second caregivers, and decreases in smoking, illegal drug use, and alcohol use. Families reported an increased sense of pride in being Aboriginal shown by their children, plus learning of culture and Ojibwe language, which has lead to improvement in all of the child’s skills and abilities.

Multiple theories suggest that the early parent-child relationship plays an important role in development. Past research has shown linkages between parenting style and aggression as well as between language and aggression. Emerging evidence suggests that attachment security is an important predictor of language development. It was hypothesized that there would be an effect of parent-child relationship quality at 36 months on aggression at school entry via language ability at 54 months. To test this hypothesis, path analysis in M-Plus was used. Data for this study were collected as a part of the NICHD, Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1,364). Mediation was tested with bootstrapped estimates of indirect effects. The results did not support the hypothesized m

Many children live in circumstances which make it difficult for them to develop the capacities needed to succeed later in life. Previous research has focused on determining the risk factors for impaired outcomes and on evaluating the impact of specific programs. There has been a lack of research exploring the wisdom of people at the grassroots level and across programs. This research asked service providers and parents to describe the challenges that are faced by families with young children living in circumstances of disadvantage, the barriers preventing participation in programs, and the strategies that would address these challenges and barriers.<p> Three research approaches were incorporated into the design of this project; qualitative policy research, community-based participatory research, and knowledge transfer methodology. These approaches were applied in order to encourage the participation of community organizations, to produce information that would provide guidance to policy-makers, and to promote implementation of the strategies recommended by research participants.<p> In Phase One, 28 service providers from 24 Regina programs were interviewed. In Phase Two, the results from the service provider interviews were presented to focus groups of target parents to obtain their feedback. This process served to acknowledge the expertise of the parents as those with firsthand experience of their own reality.<p> The categories of challenges, barriers and strategies that were identified by participants were psychosocial (related to personal connections and mental well-being) and/or structural (concrete and tangible issues). Four themes emerged from these findings. First, interrelatedness and synergistic interaction among the social conditions faced by these families was evident. Second, instability was present at both familial and program delivery levels. Third, target families faced power imbalances from multiple sources. Finally, a lack of belonging or connectedness was experienced by families as a result of their circumstances of social exclusion.<p> The results point to the need for policies to address the following areas: adequate household income, childcare, funding of non-government organizations, housing, and mental health and addictions. By presenting the views of people at the grassroots level, it is hoped that these research results will provide direction to policy-makers.

Preterm birth continues to be an important public health concern globally. Born only 3 to 6 weeks premature, findings increasingly demonstrate that the late preterm population (34-36 weeks gestational age) is not exempt from long-term risk, as the last few weeks of gestation are important for both physical and cognitive development. This study examined whether late preterm birth was associated with poorer health, development and educational outcomes in the early childhood period, after controlling for a range of medical and social factors. / February 2016

Background: The focus of this dissertation is on methods associated with evaluating a program's merit and worth. There are many approaches documented in the literature for evaluating merit and worth. The focus is only on theory driven evaluation (TDE). The premise of TDE is the program theory (PT) must be understood before being able to evaluate the merit and worth of a program. One of the early limitations in the TDE literature was a lack of methods for deriving PT. Renger has recently published methodology describing how existing source documentation could be to develop a program theory. A key component of Renger's methodology is the validation of the PT. Renger suggested using subject matter experts (SME) and program staff to validate the PT. However, it is uncertain whether relying on SMEs to validate a PT is sufficient. Objectives/Methods: Thus the current work focuses on whether there is empirical (i.e., research) and/or statistical (i.e., correlation analyses) support for a PT generated by SMEs. Results: Findings of the correlation analysis provide some evidence of the effectiveness of SMEs validation process. Specifically, weak or very weak statistical support was found for 56.25% (N=9) of relationships between mechanisms of change depicted in the model from Aim 5 (N=16). The results of targeted literature review indicate a strong relationship between the PT generated by SMEs and targeted literature search. Specifically, research evidence was found for 13 (81%) relationships between mechanisms of change identified in the model from Aim 5. Conclusion: PT can be reconstructed from source documentation. Reconstructed PT should be validated. Validation by SME appears to be time a fast, cost-effective way of getting feedback on the initial draft of PT. However, due to the limited scope of targeted literature search and correlational analysis, it is not possible to conclusively determine whether relying on subject matter experts is sufficient to validate reconstructed Program Theory. More research on TDE validation methods is needed.

Children’s entry into school at appropriate ages and their successful progression through the primary grades are strong predictors of later life opportunities and successes. This retrospective study focuses on factors that can influence age appropriate school entry and grade progression with children who were eight at the time of the study and who live in a peri-urban community in Uganda. Children in this resource constrained community face risks of educational exclusion and longer term underachievement that arise from social, health and economic disadvantages, inequalities and inadequate services. The most disadvantaged children, those who live in households with life stress events such as the absence of one or more parents or the impact of diseases such as HIV and AIDS, are at risk of not enrolling in school at an appropriate age or not advancing successfully. Such risks may be mediated through family composition and family demographic variables and may be ameliorated through the presence of community programs designed for young children. This study examined the influence of family variables, home environment life stress events, and exposure to early childhood development (ECD) services on the educational transitions of young children. The study determined that children living with biological parents, and parents with higher educational levels, had more opportunities of exposure to community-based ECD programs, had higher success in enrolling in school at an age-appropriate time, and more successfully progressed through the grade levels. For the purposes of this study, data were collected from 535 children and their 535 caregivers in the peri-urban community of Kyanja in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. The findings provide a backdrop for a discussion regarding the relationship between home environment life stress events, community ECD services for young children, and the current educational status of children aged eight years. A major focus lies on whether enrolment in ECD can help close the gap created by events in and the structure of the home environment. / Graduate

Many studies have shown that adopted children show higher levels of psychological adjustment than children living in institutions. However, there is little research comparing the behaviour and cognitive abilities of adopted and institution-reared children in Latin America, despite the large number of children living in institutional care. The aim of this thesis was to examine differences in the socio-emotional and cognitive functioning of adopted and institution-reared children in Chile, and to identify factors associated with the psychological adjustment and cognitive ability of adopted children. Data were obtained from 52 adopted children and their parents, and a comparison group of 50 children living in institutions. All adoptions were national and the children were aged between 4-9 years. Children’s psychological problems and attachment difficulties were assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Relationship Problems Questionnaire, respectively, completed by adoptive parents or caregivers and teachers. Cognitive functioning was assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III). The Structured Child Assessment of Relationships in Families was used to assess children’s perceptions of family relationships. Adoptive mothers and fathers were individually administered a standardised interview designed to assess parenting quality and questionnaire assessments of anxiety, depression, marital quality and parenting stress. Observational assessments of mother-child interaction were also carried out. Adopted children showed significantly higher levels of socio-emotional and cognitive functioning than institution-reared children, with the majority of adopted children scoring within the normal range and the majority of institutionalised children showed clinical levels of emotional and behavioural problems. The mean IQ score of adopted children was 23 points higher than that of the institutionalised group. Factors associated with more positive outcomes among the adopted children were a younger age at adoption and lower levels of maternal and paternal stress. Although a selection effect cannot be ruled out, with higher functioning children more likely to be adopted, the results point to a beneficial effect of adoption on the psychological development and wellbeing of institutionalised children in Chile.

Doctor Legum - LLD / This study sets out to establish what is required of the South African government to comply with international human rights treaties and Constitutional obligations with respect to early childhood development (ECD) for children with disabilities. This requires clarification of the nature, scope and content of ECD and conceptual frameworks for child development and childhood disability are therefore presented. Early childhood is defined as the period from birth to four years of age. It is a period (by comparison to any other phase in the life course) of accelerated growth, during which brain development can be optimally promoted. It is at the same time a highly sensitive period when permanent damage caused by toxic stress can be averted. Early childhood is an opportunity for early intervention for children with disabilities, and is ideally suited for promoting social inclusion between children with disabilities and those without disabilities, particularly in early learning settings. By virtue of its potential to promote optimal development of young disadvantaged children in particular, ECD is not only a means of working towards equity, it has been recognised as a national investment. The content of ECD, drawing from the most recent publication of the South African Child Gauge (2013), is seen as comprising an ‘essential package’ of services, including nutrition, health, social services, caregiver support and early learning opportunities. The focus of this study is on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) all of which have provisions relating to the general context of children with disabilities as well as to the components of the ‘essential package’. In addition to the sector-related rights contained in these treaties, they impose general obligations on the State with respect to legislative and other measures which it must undertake. These are discussed together with the State obligations under the South African Constitution which provide not only for non-discrimination, dignity and equality, but also for specific socio-economic rights for children which create justiciable obligations for the State. Having established the obligations of the State under international law and the Constitution, there is analysis of current legislation and policies and the extent to which they are compliant. A brief description is given of the history of disability and ECD-related services during the apartheid era, and how these have shaped current provision. Attention is given to provisions of the Children’s Act for ECD, partial care and prevention, and early intervention, where there is a lack of a clear mandate for funding services. Further, while limited Social Security is provided to children with disabilities in the form of Care Dependency Grants, these are likely to reinforce a welfarist perspective unless viewed as part of a broader initiative for equalisation of opportunities and development of children with disabilities. In respect of the right to health, progress made in reducing maternal and child mortality rates is applauded, but the primary focus on preventive and curative care has ‘crowded out’ a comprehensive view of primary health care as also encompassing rehabilitative care. Further, mechanisms to ensure early identification and intervention for children with disabilities, through developmental screening and referral, need to be strengthened. In respect of the right to education, there has been limited attention given to children under the age of five years, including within the Inclusive Education Policy (White Paper 6). The study therefore concludes that there are various areas in which there is a lack of alignment between the State obligations under international law, and current legislation and policies. However, drawing on the CRPD in particular, and the current heightened political attention being given to ECD, evidenced by its inclusion in the National Development Plan, this study further concludes that there exists at present a tremendous opportunity to ensure the inclusion of children with disabilities such that they are able to enjoy all the benefits of ECD and thereby reach their full potential.