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The initial purpose of this study was to determine if a locally generated, highly structured, Pre-School program that included performance objectives in the areas of language, cognitive, and motor development were sufficient to provide a substantial achievement gain in the language age of four-year-old pupils. The secondary goal of the study was to determine how effective and lasting the Pre-School program was after one year of formal Kindergarten experience and education.Two null hypotheses were established to guide the study and the necessary statistical analysis. Hypothesis number one indicated there would be no significant difference in the language age growth of four-year-old Pre-School pupils when the scores of pre and post testing were examined statistically. Hypothesis number two assumed there would be no significant difference between the group mean Readiness scores of Pre-School background pupils and non Pre-School background pupils when testing results were examined statistically at the close of the Kindergarten school year.There were fifty-four-year-old children enrolled in the Pre-School program. Twenty-five pupil names were drawn at random and they made up the sample pupil population. All twenty-five pupils were individually administered the Zimmerman Pre-School Language Scale, both in September and May. All fifty pupils received 170 instructional periods of language, perceptual-motor, and cognitive skill development. Progress of pupils was monitored carefully each day and instructional groupings focused on skills students had not assimilated.Pre versus post test data was submitted to t test specifications to examine for significance of difference in Language Age of the pupil population. The mean of the difference scores for the sample population was 16.78 months of growth. The Language Age growth difference was significant at the .01 level of confidence.Phase two of the study followed the Pre-School population into a formal year of Kindergarten experience. Pre-School background students, who attended morning classes, were compared to non Pre-School background pupils who were enrolled in afternoon sessions of formal Kindergarten. There was no attempt to differ the curriculum for morning and afternoon classes.The pupil sample population that comprised the Kindergarten phase of the study was seventeen matched pairs of five-year-old students. Pairings were completed on the basis of sex, mental age, and social class. The Metropolitan Readiness Test was administered to all children involved in the study in May of the school year. Raw score data from the sample population was submitted to t test specifications to examine for significance of difference between the two paired groups. The t test results evidenced the fact that there was no significant difference in achievement between the Pre-School and non Pre-School background groups.Statistical processing of the data supported the finding that the structured, performance oriented, language development program did provide for a significant gain in the language growth of the Pre-School subjects of the study. Analysis of the data also witnessed to the fact that the Pre-School background pupils, after having experienced a full year of formal Kindergarten, were no better prepared for academic primary school education than were their matched pair counter-parts who had not been enrolled in any type of Pre-School program.Review of the literature and the research on the subject of early childhood intervention programs appears to support the position that highly structured, language development programs better serve children from disadvantaged elements of our society. Conversely, traditional middle class free play and group interaction Pre-School settings are not suited for all children who enter the formal setting of our public schools.The curriculum model and the design of programs appears to be of more value and assistance to well informed, enthusiastic teachers than to pupils. The demands made by curriculum on acceptant teachers have served to focus instructional energies and integrate activities into meaningful programs.

Use of compatible behavioral activities and management techniques were taught to teachers and aides, and implemented within two preschool handicapped classes. The effectiveness of the procedures in meeting behavioral goals was evaluated with the use of behavior analytic techniques. Traditional group research techniques were used to determine if the implemented curriculum affected the short-term attainment that students in treatment classrooms on the average made of academic and developmental goals. Findings1. Behavior observation research techniques documented dramatic increases in engaged/study behaviors during work and independent time periods and decreasing trends in problem behaviors after the behavioral curriculum was begun.2. Four independent factorial analyses of variance showed higher pretest - posttest gains on various subtests of the Learning Accomplishment Profile than control classroom students.ConclusionA compatible set of behavioral techniques and activities can be taught to teachers and aides within inservice training and instituted within preschool handicapped classes in such a way as to achieve more gains in observed student behavior and to affect school achievement positively.

Purpose of StudyThe purpose of this study was to determine whether there were significant differences in the motor, personality, and social characteristics between kindergarten children with formal preschool experience and kindergarten children without formal preschool experience.ProceduresThe population of this study consisted of twenty-two pairs of kindergarten children (forty-four pupils), one with and one without formal preschool experience. The children were paired according to the number of siblings, sex, whether the mother was working or not working, and socio-economic level according to the Minnesota Scale of Paternal Occupations.Three instruments were used as measuring devices. A developmental inventory, the Preschool Attainment Record, was utilized to ascertain motor and social characteristics of each member of the group with and without formal preschool experience. The California Test of Personality: Primary Form AA, an oral examination, was used in assessing the social and personal adjustment characteristics of each child in the study, and the Would You Rather Questionnaire was employed (as a supplement to the California Test of Personality) to measure more specific traits of personality, e.g., cooperation, independence, shyness, the null hypothesis of no significant difference was tested.The t-test was applied to the data collected in this study. This procedure was employed to determine the statistical significance of differences between computed mean scores of correlated groups. The two groups were compared to identify differences between group scores in the areas of motor, social, and personality characteristics.FindingsStatistical analysis of the data indicated that pupils with formal preschool experience and pupils without formal preschool experience do not differ to a degree statistically significant in motor, personality, and social characteristics as assessed by the instruments utilized; and that formal preschool experience appeared to make relatively little or no difference in the performance of the children in the items used in this study. The group with formal preschool experience obtained mean scores that were higher in twenty-four out of thirty sub-tests. The differences in the mean scores were not statistically significant, therefore, the null hypotheses failed to be rejected.ConclusionsThe conclusions reached in this study were:Kindergarten children with formal preschool experience, as measured by the Preschool Attainment Record, the California Test of Personality, and the Would You Rather Questionnaire, do not differ in performance to a statistically significant degree when compared to kindergarten children who have not had formal preschool experience.There were no statistically significant differences in motor, personality, and social characteristics between kindergarten children with and without formal preschool experience.Although differences were not found to be statistically significant, there was a rather consistent pattern of slightly higher means of scores evidenced by kindergarten children with formal preschool experience.RecommendationsRecommendations for further research based on the findings of this study were:1. A replication of this study should be done utilizing a broader population of kindergarten children with and without formal preschool experience.2. Studies with a longitudinal base should be done to consider the provision of experience within the home, or other informal setting, which provide opportunities for development that match or exceed those typically fostered in formal settings.3. The development of additional instruments to assess the social development and specific personality characteristics of young children is recommended.4. Studies should be conducted which evaluate varied preschool experiences for the individual child.5. An in-depth follow-up study of the kindergarten children involved in this study could lead to insight into the characteristics enhanced through formal preschool experiences and those affected to a minor degree.6. Research is recommended which will look at motor, personality, and social measures in a more "global" fashion.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of two methods of practicing words: (1) visual discrimination and (2) copying. Both methods were designed to facilitate the retention of words. Two hundred fifty-four kindergarten subjects in twelve intact classrooms received twenty-five minutes of instruction on five high frequency words the subjects had failed to identify prior to the study. Each class was, then, divided into three groups which were stratified on the basis of the subjects' scores on the Murphy-Durrell Letter Names Test. Two experimental groups practiced the words in either a visual discrimination or copying task for ten minutes. The control group engaged in creative dramatics for ten minutes. The subjects were checked for recall of the five words, twenty-four hours after the initial teaching session.Three null hypotheses were tested using a 2x2x2x3 fixed effect nonorthogonal analysis of variance. Subjects were identified as high or low scorers on the MurphyDurrell Letter Names Test, younger or older than the median chronological age of the subjects in the study, as male or female, and according to the treatment group to which they were assigned. Tukey's HSD procedure was used to compute 95 percent confidence intervals to analyze the presence of a 2-way interaction involving treatment and sex. Males in the Copying Group recalled significantly more words than males in the Visual Discrimination Group or the control group. Females in the Visual Discrimination Group recalled significantly more words than females in the control group. Females recalled significantly more words than males in the Visual Discrimination Group and the control group. There was no significant interaction involving sex, age, and treatment; no one method was found to significantly facilitate word recall. No significant differences were found between the average number of words recalled by the younger or older subjects.The major conclusion of the study was that males profited from copying words with chalk on a chalkboard while being directed to the distinctive features of the words.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Undergraduate honors paper--Mount Holyoke College, 2008. Dept. of Psychology and Education. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-101).

Thesis (M.S.)--Wisconsin. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-111).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 360-380).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2002. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-79). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.