This comparative study explored the influence of different pre-school models on school readiness among pre-school children from different urban socio-economic status (SES) neighbourhoods. The study sampled 207 pre-school children attending different pre-school models in different SES neighbourhoods within the city of Nairobi in Kenya. In the study, school readiness was conceived as the ability of children to learn and handle primary school tasks. Assessment was done through teachers' rating of children's level of developmental and fitnctional skills using a School Readiness Assessment Instrument (SRAI), which was adopted and modified from the Early Development Instrument (EDI). The study compared school readiness outcomes amongst pre-schoolers aged five and six years. School readiness outcome was also correlated with the level of developmentally appropriate practice of the different pre-schools, assessed through observation and interviews. Major findings from this study were that, pre-school children who attended Private pre-school models outperformed their peers from public pre-schools in school readiness scores and children from low SES neighbourhoods had lower school readiness scores compared with children from middle and high SES neighbourhoods. The study recommends a paradigm shift from an academically oriented pre-school model to one that embrace a holistic approach in program and assessment of children's school readiness. It also recommends further studies on the influence of cultural variations on school readiness and primary school readiness to receive pre-schoolers.

The problem of this study was to determine the present status and effectiveness of the Kindergarten programs in the public schools of Texas.

The problem of this study was to determine the difference in academic achievement between disadvantaged pupils who attended a Head Start program and those who did not when that difference was measured by a selected instrument. The groups used for the comparison were (1) Head Start, disadvantaged; (2) non-Head Start, disadvantaged without kindergarten experiences; (3) non-Head Start, advantaged with kindergarten experiences; and (4) non-Head Start, advantaged without kindergarten experiences.

This studied investigated parental involvement during the first year of a Chapter I extended-day kindergarten program which sought to promote parents taking an active role in their child's classroom and kindergarten educational experiences. A qualitative design was used to provide information about frequency and types of parental involvement as well as descriptive information about the interactions between parents and children within the classroom. This qualitative design also allowed investigation of the perceptions of the participants. Data analysis was ongoing and inductive; data were collected in the form of field notes, videotapes, audiotapes, interviews and classroom documents. Findings suggest that parental involvement provides benefits for the students, parents, teachers and the school as a whole. Findings also suggest that adult volunteers do not necessarily have to be parents; the adult volunteers could come from segments of the population that are not now fully utilized. Senior citizens and university teacher education students are two groups that could fill the volunteer positions. These findings have implications for the educational community in public schools and in teacher training programs of universities.

A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy / The current study adopts a developmental neuropsychological perspective, an approach which does not imply brain dysfunction but rather the principle of understanding the general relationship hetween brain growth and behavioural changes and the effect of environmental factors in children. A neuropsychology of normal development would seem to be an appropriate initial prerequisite if we are to understand the effects of brain insult or disease in the developing child. A modest aim was to acquire a fundamental understanding of emerging skills in black preschool children, starting with the most basic, the development of lateral preferences. This area was selected (a) as a departure point because of its location within the broad area of cerebrallateralization and (b) the opportunity it provided to explore the children's mental processing skills within the same theoretical perspective. The purpose of the present study was the longitudinal investigation of lateral preferences in a sample of Soweto children at three and five years.and information processing skills in the same sample at five years. Three hundred and thirty-five children, 170 girls and 165 boys, were sampled with the assistance of the Birth to Ten project.a longitudinal study of growth, health and development of children living in the Johannesburg Metropolitan area over a ten year period, 1990 to 2000. The children were assessed prior to starting school in January, 1996. A descriptive approach was adopted in explaining the patterns of handedness, footedness and eyeness. The findings showed that the patterns for handedness reflected the expected rightward direction at both ages although the degree to which preference has oeen established was weaker at five years than that reported in other studies with children of similar ages. Thirty-nine percent of the sample were mixed-handed at five years,only 3% were mixed-footed and 5% showed mixed-eyeness, At five years Simultaneous and Sequential information processing skills were assessed with the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC). Factor analysis revealed a two factor solution broadly supporting the presence of the two processing styles. However the two coding processes were differentially distributed throughout the sample showing significant differences. More specifically.it was found that 34% of the children presented profiles of both processing styles that were below the group mean;31 % showed profiles where one or other coding style was below the group mean;23 % of the children portrayed processing profiles above the group mean. Thirty-nine children (12 %) presented patterns of processing that were above the group mean but were highly developed in one or other processing style. Each of the profiles that emerged were grouped and considered separately. Cognitive tasks involving verbal fluency, naming skills,draw-a person,basic perceptual knowledge,basic literacy.plus lateral preference information such as handedness direction, handedness consistency and handedness skills were appended to all the groups. Low scores in processing styles were found to be associated with poor verbal skills, low mental age,poor perceptual and basic literacy knowledge,poor hand skill performance,and greater (but nonsignificant) numbers of mixed-handers. The lowest scoring group also contained the majority of male left-handers. One of the highest scoring groups showed the strongest lateralizing patterns although the numbers were small (n= 11). Girls with above average sequential skills also scored highly on verbal fluency (p < .05) and hand skills (p < .05). Boys in this group showed the strongest degree of right-handedness (p < .05). In the four lower performance groups,background variables such as type of preschool experience (p <.001),the presence of books in the home (p < .05) and mothers level of education (p <.001) were found to be significant. A regression model which incorporated environmental, epigenetic, cognitive and motoric factors was found to be the most viable in predicting processing skills. / Andrew Chakane 2018

A Master’s degree research report presented in partial fulfilment for the award of Master of Management in Public Policy At University of the Witwatersrand, Wits School of Governance / Preschool education is arguably one of the most important phases of education throughout the entire education system. This research report was aimed at exploring broad implications of dissemination of public funds (or lack thereof) in the earliest years of learning, what is generally known as Early Childhood Development Education. It found that whilst current public funding modalities have played a tremendous role in helping ECD practitioners reach more children, the magnitude of these funds and overall investments on the sector have been very little. Of the three sub-categories of ECD centres (registered, unregistered, and Grade R) sampled in this study, the latter was found to have gained the most from the recent increases (albeit small) in funding of ECDs. The study found that a large majority (80%) of preschool practitioners know about funding support offered by the state, however, they were not sure how it was allocated, and how they could access it. Central to the findings of this research report is the turbulent policy environment that the ECD sector has been facing due to uncoordinated interventions which only culminated into a single overarching draft national policy of 2015, which is still under scrutiny. Second to this, are the structural and operational challenges such as inadequate monitoring and evaluation of preschools by government, poor management of financial records by preschools, lack of adequate infrastructure and learning materials, and widespread red tape in registration and application of funds processes. / MT2017

In 2 studies, I sought to determine the relation between peer attention and the behavioral developmental cusp for learning by observation. In Experiment I, I selected 21 preschool-aged participants with and without developmental disabilities and screened the participants for a) peer attention; b) observational performance; c) observational learning of new operants; and d) observational learning of reinforcers. The results demonstrated that each of the participants all fit into 1 of 4 groups, based on the presence of peer attention and the 3 types of observational learning. I implemented the peer-yoked contingency gameboard intervention for the 14 participants who did not demonstrate one or more types of observational learning. The results of Experiment I demonstrated that only the participants with peer attention in repertoire acquired all three types of observational learning as a function of the peer-yoked contingency gameboard observational intervention. Serendipitous findings yielded a possible correlation between the different types of observational learning. In Experiment II, I conducted repeated probes to determine if all three types of observational learning would emerge for participants with peer attention. All 6 of the participants in Experiment II acquired all three types of observational learning, as a function of the repeated probes. Observational learning developmental trajectory findings are discussed.

Photocopy of typescript. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Thesis (M.Ed.) -- University of the North, 1978 / Refer to the document

This study aimed to discover ways of designing children's programs using creativity and imagination that are unique and relevant to young children. It examined whether the degree to which the early childhood professional's own sense of enchantment, creativeness and imagination is or is not inextricably linked to the creative and imaginative output of young children in childcare contexts. It evaluated the link between an educator?s own sense of enchantment, imagination and creativeness and the quality of the program offered to young children in childcare centres. The study also identified ways of enriching the care of children in childcare centres through programs that would enhance the children?s imagination and creativeness, utilising the individuality of the teacher/carer?s own ideas on creativity and program design. A case-study methodology was chosen to determine the answers to the posed questions. Three case studies in Hobart and one in Brisbane, using a variety of research tools, including interviews, the application of a creativity assessment sheet, observations and photography, were used to answer the research questions. The results in this small-scale study showed that the early childhood educator's own sense of enchantment and use of imagination and creativity did correlate with the children's imagination and creativity and also with the quality of the program. A conclusion is that an educator's creative disposition is a vital factor in the enrichment of the care of children in childcare contexts. / thesis (PhDEducation)--University of South Australia, 2002.