The purpose of the study was to analyze the objectives of the first grade program as they appeared in the different subjects in ten state courses of study, in order to find common agreements as to a desirable first grade program.

The problem of this investigation was to determine the number of children who are ready to read when they enter first grade and the number ready to read after a reading-readiness program.

"First and foremost in the drama of education is the social scene in which it is enacted. The school is in the midst of all the elements of this scene--the soil and climate; the land, the streams, minerals and timber; the people, black and white; their homes, farms, factories, shops and roads; their work and plan; their houses and gardens; their food and clothing; their churches, amusements and folk-ways; their government; their problems of disease and crime; their poverty, their wealth; their vanishing natural resources; their economic uncertainty; their insecurity of position of place; their joys and sorrows; their children and anxieties for the future." Unless the school is viewed in its relationship to these factors in the social situation, no adequate conception of its task can be gained. The relative importance of the school as a directive agency amid such forces of the culture will depend upon the way in which education conceives its function, organizes and executes its program. Certainly the school cannot be indifferent to the world from which its pupils come each morning and to which they return each evening. Because the writer firmly believes in the preceding statements, it was considered essential to secure information regarding the social and economic conditions of the pupils in her first-grade group of the Chipley Elementary Public School so that an improved and enriched school program may be developed based upon the pupils' and the community's needs. / Typescript. / "July, 1949." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts under Plan II." / Advisor: R. L. Goulding, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-40).

School maladjustment incidence studies estimate that thirty percent of American school children experience school adaptation problems and that about ten percent need immediate clinical attention. (Glidewell, 1969) Various labels, including school maladjustment, school maladaptation, school dysfunction, soclo-emotional disorders and emotional disturbance have been used more or less interchangeably in current research to refer to this thirty percent of the school population. A leading researcher in the field, Emory L. Cowen, considers children to be "maladapted when they are unable, because of prior history and personal qualities or skill deficiencies, to cope with the educational or behavioral demands that the school environment places on them." (Cowen, 1971a) The development of accurate and economical procedures for the early identification of school maladaptation has become the goal of many mental health specialists and educators. Most often emphasis is placed on the need to make more efficient use of the limited mental health facilities available to the school systems. But in addition to case finding and treatment, Initial prevention of school maladaptatlon has been proposed as a long range goal for educational systems. As Cowen points out, the mental health approach requires that we move away from "near exclusive emphasis on repairing rooted dysfunction in favor of exploring programs designed to prevent disorder." (Cowen, 1973).

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The purposes of this study were to identify public school districts that currently offer, or are planning to offer, transitional first-grade programs, to describe existing transitional programs, to describe the genesis of transitional first-grade classes in the North Texas area, and to assist in the establishment of a networking system for schools in the North Central Texas area that currently have, or are planning to have, transitional first-grade classes. The 158 school districts in Regions 10 and 11 were surveyed. The findings of the study indicate that about one-third of the districts offered transitional first-grade programs during the 1988-89 school year, and two-thirds of the districts saw a need for transitional first-grade classes. These transitional programs were implemented to meet the needs of children who had completed kindergarten but were not ready for regular first grade. Transitional first-grade programs focus primarily on language arts and math skills for kindergarten and early first grade. While curriculum materials vary from district to district, language arts is likely to be based on a whole-language approach, and math is likely to focus on manipulatives.. Kindergarten teacher observation is used in the screening procedures in the majority of the districts. A number of instruments are used in the transitional screening process. The Gesell School Readiness Inventory, used in 24% of the districts, is most popular. About one-half of the districts use an informal method of evaluating the transitional program. A pretest-posttest method is used in 32% of the districts, and a longitudinal student tracking method is used in 20% of the districts. Of the 158 districts surveyed, 122, or 77%, of the districts are interested in being included in a networking system to exchange information about transitional first-grade programs.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a transitional first grade program on the attitude and readiness scores of a group of regular first grade students who qualified for the transitional program but attended regular first grade (control group) and a group of transitional first grade students (experimental group). The study utilized a pretest/posttest design. The regular first grade students received formal instruction in all academic areas. The experimental group received no formal instruction.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a transitional first grade program. A comparison of reading and math achievement and school attitude was the focus of the study. The study utilized a pretest/posttest design. The group of regular first grade students who qualified for the transitional program but attended regular first grade was the control group. The group of transitional first grade students was the experimental group. The regular first grade students received formal instruction in all academic areas. The experimental group received no formal instruction. All students were pretested and posttested using the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the Minnesota School Attitude Survey. Testing was administered to small groups of five or less by the researcher. Scoring was done also by the researcher. An analysis of covariance was used to determine if a significant difference existed between the groups. The analysis of covariance did not produce a significant F at the .05 level when applied to the Iowa Test of Basic Skills except for reading for boys in both groups. The numbers in each cell were low and no further comparisons were made. Due to a testing date that was approved late in the year, the Minnesota School Attitude Survey was determined to be invalid. Scores are reported for the reader's perusal only.