Recent research in phonological awareness found a strong link between rhyming ability in preschool children and later reading achievement. The use of orthographic analogy, the ability to make inferences from similarities in spelling to similarities in sound, was proposed as the mechanism to explain this relationship (Goswami & Bryant, 1990). Literature was presented that suggested the need for further research. Four research questions were examined. First, can prereaders learn to read unfamiliar words on the basis of orthographic analogy after brief training with rhyming words? The evidence supported the view that they could. Second, will the ability to read words by orthographic analogy be enhanced by phonological training in onset and rime, and by the use of segmented text? The brief phonological training did not increase analogy word reading over the same training without it. However, using text segmented at the onset-rime boundary for training items did increase analogy word reading. Third, will reading by orthographic analogy vary according to the level of prereading skills (rhyming ability, phoneme identity, letter-sound knowledge)? The majority of children with high prereading skills learned to read analogy test words whereas most children with low prereading skills found the task too arduous. Fourth, will rhyming ability make an independent contribution to reading achievement? The results were equivocal. Rhyming ability did make an independent contribution to the number of trials taken to learn the training items. It did not when analogy word reading was the dependent variable. Phoneme identity accounted for most of the variance in analogy word reading. Further analyses found that the ability to identify the final phoneme was the best discriminator between children who learned to read analogy test words and those who did not. A possible explanation was that children used the final phoneme to determine the sound of the rime ending rather than the last two phonemes together.

Ikimokykliniu amžiaus tarpsniu ypač svarbu organizuoti vaiko šokio veiklą kaip vientiso asmenybės ugdymo būdą, padedantį pamatus judesių raiškos, jų meninės kokybės tolesnei plėtotei, o šio proceso metu teigiamos socialinės ir emocinės patirties įgijimas, pažinimo motyvacijos žadinimas, kūrybiškumo skatinimas darželyje yra viena iš socialinės kompetencijos ugdymo prielaidų. Vadinasi, ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaikų šokio veiklą būtina organizuoti ir įgyvendinti taip, kad ji savo tikslų sistema, turiniu, organizacinėmis formomis, technologijomis, ugdymo sistemų pobūdžiu, jų vidinėmis ir išorinėmis savybėmis realizuotų kiekvieno vaiko asmenybės vystymosi raidos ir socializacijos idėją. Todėl ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaikų socialinės kompetencijos ugdymo šokio veikloje galimybių atskleidimas yra aktuali pedagoginė problema. Tyrimo tikslas – atskleisti ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaikų socialinės kompetencijos ugdymo šokio veikloje galimybes bei ypatumus. Šiam tikslui įgyvendinti kelti uždaviniai: remiantis pedagoginės, psichologinės, metodinės literatūros bei švietimo dokumentų analize atskleisti socialinės kompetencijos sampratą bei ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaikų socialinių gebėjimų ugdymo prielaidas; išryškinti vaiko socialinės kompetencijos ugdymo šokio veikloje galimybes; įvertinti tėvų požiūriu šokio veiklos svarbą vaikų socialinės kompetencijos ugdymui; pateikti ir eksperimentu patikrinti socialinės kompetencijos ugdymo šokio veikloje modelį. Tyrimo objektas – ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaikų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / It is particularly important to organize child’s dance activity to make it a solid means of person education, which gives base to movement expression, development of its artistic quality and, in this process, gaining positive social and emotional experience, stimulating familiarity motivation, encouraging creativeness in the kindergarten is one of social competence education presumptions. Consequently, it is necessary to organize and implement preschool children dance activity insomuch that it would realize the idea of every child’s personal development and socialization by its aim system, content, organizational forms, technologies, nature of educational systems, their internal and external features. Therefore, potentiality revelation of social competence development during dance activity of preschool children is a relevant pedagogical problem. The aim of the research is to reveal the potentiality and peculiarities of social competence development during dance activity of preschool children. Specific objectives were set in order to realize this aim: to reveal the concept of social competence and presumptions of social competence development of preschool children using analysis of pedagogical, psychological, methodic literature and educational documents; to highlight possibilities of preschool children social competence development during dance activity; to evaluate parents attitude towards dance activity importance to children social competence development; to propose and... [to full text]

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This study analysed why children under four years old were admitted to care, and whether they suffered harm due to abuse or neglect, based on file documentation regarding all 175 admissions, involving 129 children and 93 mothers, by one Ontario Children's Aid Society between 1992 and 1996. Using the Ontario Child Welfare Eligibility Spectrum to classify reasons for admission, more admissions were due to risks defined under Caregiver Capacity than Harm by Commission or Omission. Mothers' background and lack of resources were common factors. Evidence of harm was often hard to establish but was rated as clear or extreme in 12% of cases. Differences related to fathers' status, number and age of children in the home, and history of agency involvement were found between cases where children suffered severe harm due to abuse or neglect, and cases where they did not, but these differences were not statistically significant.

This research project attempted to test assumptions about the development of private speech' and its relationship to attentional modes of engagement, and task performance. Results showed an ontogenetic trend from audible, externalised types of private speech to less audible, more internalised forms, consistent with Vygotsky's assumption that private speech undergoes a curvilinear course of development. Use of on-task private speech was accompanied by greater task attentional focus in the form of motor and looking behaviourial modes of engagement and a reduction in non-attention behaviour and successful performance in problem-solving. "The relation of word to thought, and the creation of new concepts is a complex, delicate and enigmatic process unfolding in our soul." (Tolstoy, 1903, 143, in Vygotsky, 1986) / Thesis (M.A.) - University of Natal, Durban, 2000

The purpose of this study was to explore the construct validity of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (KABC-II; Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004a) and the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities, Third Edition (WJ-III COG; Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 2001) with a sample of 200 preschool children, ranging in age from 4 years, 0 months to 5 years, 1 1 months, and attending preschool and daycare programs in and around a Midwestern city. This study attempted to determine if the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) factor structure represented on these tests can be identified with young children. Individual confirmatory factor analyses were conducted separately with the KABC-II and WJ-III COG. Moreover, a joint confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using both the KABC-II and WJ-III COG. The results of the individual KABC-II factor analyses indicated a two-tiered Gf Gc model provided the best fit to the data, although the three-tiered CHC model also fit the data well. This suggests the underlying factor structure of the KABC-II is well represented by the CHC theory. The WJ-III COG was best represented by an alternative CHC model, in which the Gf factor and subtests had been removed, indicating not all CHC constructs represented on the WJ-III COG can be reliably identified among young children. The joint confirmatory factor analysis indicated the strongest measures of the shared CHC factors on the KABCII and WJ-III COG, which can help to guide cross-battery assessment with preschool children. Overall, the results confirmed multiple CHC abilities can be assessed with young children, implying clinicians should be using preschool tests that provide scores for several cognitive abilities. This study also revealed the constructs of the CHC theory may be represented somewhat differently on preschool tests due to developmental influences. Strong correlations were evident between unrelated tasks, primarily because the verbal and linguistic demands of many subtests caused them to load unexpectedly on the Gc factor. Suggestions for future research include conducting the same study using preschool children with suspected disabilities, as well as with older children, examining other instruments that include a Gf factor, and conducting exploratory factor analysis with subtests from the KABC-II and WJ-III COG that contain significant components of more than one ability. / Department of Educational Psychology

Individual differences in human intellectual abilities and the measurement of those differences have been of great interest to the field of school psychology. As such, different theoretical perspectives and corresponding test batteries have evolved over the years as a way to explain and measure these abilities. A growing interest in the field of school psychology has been to use more than one intelligence test in a "cross-battery" assessment in hopes of measuring a wider range (or a more in-depth but selective range) of cognitive abilities. Additionally, interest in assessing intelligence began to focus on preschool-aged children because of initiatives to intervene early with at-risk children. The purpose of this study was to examine the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition (SB-V) and Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (KABC-II) in relation to the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of intelligence using a population of 200 preschool children. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were conducted with these two tests individually as well as in conjunction with one another. Different variations of the CHC model were examined to determine which provided the best representation of the underlying CHC constructs measured by these tests. Results of the CFAs with the SBV revealed that it was best interpreted from a two-stratum model, although results with the KABC-II indicated that the three-stratum CHC model was the best overall design. Finally, results from the joint CFA did not provide support for a cross-battery assessment with these two particular tests.3 / Department of Educational Psychology

Behavioral competencies are important elements of school readiness and make up an important component in any preschool curriculum. In this study, music therapy was implemented in a Head Start preschool program as a behavioral intervention. Forty-five subjects received music therapy sessions in groups of six to ten children for 25 minutes, twice weekly. The first treatment group received music therapy intervention along with the regular curriculum for eight weeks while the other subjects participated in the regular curriculum only. The second eight weeks, the second treatment group received music therapy intervention along with the regular curriculum while the first group participated in the regular curriculum only. Head Start teachers used the Behavioral Objective Sequence to assess all students at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the sixteen week period. Results indicated a significant increase in positive behavioral competencies associated with the music therapy intervention. Additionally, the music therapy intervention had a stronger impact on older students (ages five to six years) versus younger students (ages three to four years). / Department of Special Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among measures of cognitive functioning, adaptive behavior, and language acquisition for a referred preschool population. The subjects were 115 preschoolers (75 boys and 40 girls) under the age of 6 years who had received a psychoeducational battery of tests for either suspected learning difficulties, emotional problems, or attention disorders. This data was collected from the archival records in a children's hospital.Pearson product moment correlations were used to examine the relationship among measures of cognitive functioning, adaptive behavior, and language acquisition. Correlation matrices were formulated to investigate the relationship.Three groups were delineated dependent on the instrument used to assess the preschoolers: Group 1 received the Bayley Intelligence Scale for Children and the Wisconsin Adaptive Behavior Scale; Group 2 received the Bayley Intelligence Scale for Children and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale; and Group 3 received the Stanford-Binet LM, the Vineland, and the Preschool Language Scale.The correlations obtained in Group 1 were all statistically significant (p<.01); these correlations for cognitive functioning and adaptive behavior were the highest of all the three groups. In fact, considerably higher than might be predicted after the review of the literature that contends that cognitive functioning and adaptive behavior are separate yet related constructs. Moderate correlations between cognitive functioning and adaptive behavior were found for the other two groups in alignment with earlier studies.In examining cognitive functioning and adaptive behavior for this referred preschool population it seems that the relationship changes as the child gets older. This study was not longitudinal; however, a greater separation of the constructs of cognitive functioning and adaptive behavior existed for the older child in this sample.In addition to examining the relationship between cognitive functioning and adaptive behavior, this study also looked at language acquisition in relationship to cognitive functioning and adaptive behavior. Statistically significantly high correlations were found for cognitive functioning and language acquisition for this study. The Preschool Language Scale Expressive subdomain was slightly more highly correlated with the Stanford-Binet LM than the Preschool Language Scale Receptive subdomain. This is consistent with the Vineland's Expressive subdomain correlating higher with the Stanford-Binet LM than the Vineland's Receptive subdomain. This suggests the age of the child has something to do with measuring language acquisition in the areas of receptive and expressive language.Given the moderate to high correlations for cognitive functioning, adaptive behavior, and language acquisition for this referred preschool population, it was concluded that measures of adaptive behavior and language acquisition assess constructs similar, yet distinct to cognitive functioning. Therefore, they are both valuable components in comprehensive assessment especially of children "at-risk". / Department of Educational Psychology

The study examined preschool students’ use of thinking strategies when responding to deep structure questions during interactive book readings. The children were enrolled in two different inclusive preschool classrooms in a large Midwestern city. The study explored which thinking strategies the preschool children used when answering deep structure questions. Also under investigation was the potential difference in usage of thinking strategies between general education and special education students. Data collected included observations and frequency tallies. Information gathered was analyzed using independent sample T-Tests. The classrooms were combined to generate a larger population. Analysis showed the preschool students in the two inclusive preschool classrooms used all seven thinking strategies during interactive book read alouds. Frequency counts revealed a higher mean usage of schema, making inferences, and determining importance. Further, these strategies were as likely to be used by a general education student as a special education student. Based on the results of the study, teachers should guide and instruct their students about stories within discussions. Teachers should also select engaging texts guided by student interest, student background, or classroom project. This will allow them to build on information that students have and also create learning opportunities in the classroom that affects the classroom community. / Department of Elementary Education