The Hispanic population is becoming increasingly prevalent in the United States, facing not only many sociodemographic risks, but academic risks as well. A large number of Hispanics are entering school unprepared to learn. While the importance of school readiness for academic success and achievement has been established, research focusing on school readiness in the Hispanic population has been limited. Furthermore, while research has established the importance of social-emotional skills for school readiness, these have been insufficiently studied in this population in how they relate to school readiness. This study examined school readiness in Hispanic preschoolers and the impact of sociodemographic, cultural, and socio-emotional variables on school readiness. A total of 162 children ages 3 to 5 years old were assessed by a school readiness measure in a Head Start program in central Texas. Children were assessed during the first 45 days of school. Teachers and caregivers completed a social-emotional rating scale on each student’s social skills and problem behavior during the first 45 days of school. In addition, caregivers completed a questionnaire that addressed cultural and sociodemographic factors. The purpose of this study was to fill the gaps of the literature by examining factors that impact school readiness among Hispanic preschoolers. The goal of this study was to determine the extent to which cultural variables can predict school readiness and social-emotional competence, above and beyond sociodemographic factors. This study also sought to determine the extent to which social-emotional competence can predict school readiness above and beyond sociodemographic factors and cultural factors. This study hypothesized that cultural factors and social-emotional competence would have an impact on school readiness, above and beyond sociodemographic factors. This study used hierarchical regression analyses. Results suggest that cultural variables were not good predictors of school readiness or social-emotional competence. Sociodemographic variables were good predictors of social-emotional competence. In addition, social skills were significant predictors of school readiness. Results suggest that Hispanic preschoolers are not that unlike other preschoolers when it comes to factors that have an impact on their school readiness and social-emotional competence.

The assessment of children’s social-emotional skills, especially in the preschool years, is essential, as it yields early identification of problems and allows for appropriate interventions to be tried. School psychologists and other professionals use a variety of assessment methods (e.g., observations, interviews, behavior rating scales) to determine a child’s social-emotional abilities. Two popular behavior rating scales used frequently by professionals are the Behavior Assessment System for Children-Third Edition (BASC-3) and the Child Behavior Checklist 1.5-5 (CBCL 1.5-5). The current study examines the consistency of results from the two instruments. Fifty-six Head Start teachers from two regions of the country completed both the BASC-3 and the CBCL 1.5-5 at the same point of time while thinking of a specific student who displays behavioral concerns. The findings revealed that most of similarly named scales from the two instruments correlated significantly. However, 40% of those comparisons resulted in significantly different mean scores. Approximately half of the comparisons resulted in adequate classification consistency (i.e., either average or clinically significant). Overall, the findings imply that the two instruments do not always measure similarly named behavioral constructs in a consistent manner.

<div>This dissertation includes two studies. The first study investigated longitudinal associations between the home and classroom environments at age 3 and academic and social outcomes at age 9 as well as the mediating role of attention regulation and language in these associations. Study 2 examined the continuity and change in the level of the quality of the home environment across ages 3 to 5 and its association with school readiness outcomes at age 5. Data for both studies came from four waves (baseline, age 3, 5 and 9) from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study, which includes 4898 children (52.4% male) and primary caregivers. Twenty one percent of the mothers for the total sample were White, 47% were Black, 27% were Hispanic, and 4% identified as other. Sixty five percent of mothers had an education level of high school or less, 24% completed some college, 11% had a college degree or higher. Results for study 1 indicated that better quality home and classroom environments at age 3 were related to stronger language skills at age 5, and the quality of the classroom environment was significantly related to better attention regulation at age 5. Further, mediation analyses indicated that children’s language skills at age 5 mediated the associations between both early contexts and later academic skills, and attention regulation at age 5 mediated associations between the classroom environment and later academic skills. Results for study 2 indicated that there was not stability in the quality of the home environment between the ages of 3 to 5. In addition, higher quality home environments at age 3 and change in the quality of the home environment predicted greater gains in children’s attention regulation, language, and social emotional competence. Taken together, findings from these studies inform our understanding of the importance of early environments for children’s school readiness and later skills and have potential implications for future research, policy, and interventions designed to promote healthy development in early and middle childhood. <br></div>

Este trabajo, titulado “Competencia socioemocional en adolescentes de altas habilidades: un estudio comparativo” tiene como objetivo analizar la relación entre la competencia socioemocional y la alta habilidad (superdotación o talento). La muestra estuvo compuesta por 566 estudiantes (386 con alta habilidad y 180 sin alta habilidad), con edades comprendidas entre los 11 y los 18 años. Además, han participado 535 padres y 443 profesores. Los instrumentos utilizados fueron: 1) las escalas de Percepción de Inteligencias Múltiples dirigidas a padres, profesores y estudiantes; 2) el Test de Aptitudes Diferenciales (DAT-5); 3) el Test de Pensamiento Creativo de Torrance (TTCT Figurativo); 4) el Cuestionario de Inteligencia Emocional para niños y adolescentes (Bar-On EQ-i:YV); y 5) el de padres y profesores (Bar-On EQ-i:YV-O). Algunos resultados mostraron que los padres y los profesores percibieron con mayor adaptabilidad a los estudiantes con alta habilidad. Además, los padres percibieron con mayor adaptabilidad a los chicos; y con mayores habilidades interpersonales a las chicas. / This work, entitled Social-emotional Competence of high abilities adolescents: A comparative study, aims to analyse the relationship between social-emotional competences and high ability (giftedness or talent). The sample was composed of 566 students (386 high ability and 180 not high ability students) aged 11 to 18 years old. In addition, 535 parents and 443 teachers have taken part in this study. The instruments used were: 1) Scales of Perception of Multiple Intelligences by parents, teachers and students; 2) The Differential Aptitude Tests (DAT-Fifth Edition); 3) Torrance´s Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT-Figural); 4) the Emotional Quotient Inventory by children and adolescents (Bar-On EQ-i:YV); and 5) the Emotional Quotient Inventory by parents and teachers (Bar-On EQ-i:YV-O). Some results showed that parents and teachers perceived students with high abilities as being more adaptable. Also, parents perceived boys as having greater adaptability; and girls as having greater interpersonal abilities.

To date the research in the area of social emotional competence has focused on child-based intervention and outcomes. The findings cite effective approaches to assisting children in the area of social and emotional development involving promotion of appropriate social skills, explicit instruction of behavioral expectations, and support for emotional literacy and awareness (Wester -- Stratton, 1990; Hyson, 2004; Fox et al, 2003; Denham & Burton, 1996). These recommended practices requires teacher knowledge and skill, content knowledge in the area of social emotional developmental, and skills in using pedagogical techniques that support acquisition of the aforementioned areas. Educational researchers and specialists cannot begin to support the advancement of teacher practice in the area of social-emotional competence until they are clear on the methods and behaviors childcare professional currently employ. On the basis of a review of empirical literature, it is clear that limited descriptive information about childcare provider's pedagogical practices in the area of promoting social, emotional, and behavioral competence exists. The intent of this inquiry was to investigate childcare professionals' chosen methods in guiding children's social and behavioral development. After identifying which methods were used, the researcher sought to describe the childcare professional's intention when choosing to use specific pedagogical techniques during large- and small-group instruction. Specifically, the concentration of interest was on the methods used during teacher-initiated instruction (such as large and small group) to guide children's social skill building and behavioral expectation compliance. Research questions were examined using a mixed methodological framework with a descriptive research design component and a phenomenographic approach incorporating stimulated recall. Findings suggest childcare professionals readily and proficiently engage in explicit instruction around behavioral expectations. However, they rarely systematically instruct children on social skills. Childcare professionals seem to rely on the implicit nature of day to day interactions to embed social interactions and reactions. Further, childcare professionals seem to be primed for systematic instruction around the promotion of social skills. They are cognoscente of explicit techniques to guide behavioral expectation compliance but seem to have limited transference from this skill to explicit instruction in social skill acquisition. Additional findings and implications are provided in the text.

No description available.

Darbe atskleidžiamas pedagogų ir tėvų požiūris į ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaikų pažangos ir pasiekimų vertinimą, išryškinama sąveikos ir mokymosi paradigmų sampratų genezė ir išbandoma Edukologijos universiteto mokslininkų parengta pasiekimų aprašo vertinimo metodika, kiek ši leidžia fiksuoti socialinę – emocinę vaiko raidą. Baigiamojo darbo struktūra konstruojama mokslinės literatūros ir empirinio tyrimo analizės pagrindais, kurių tikslas - atskleisti šiuolaikinį ikimokyklinio ugdymo pedagogų požiūrį į pažangos ir pasiekimų vertinimą. Tikslui pasiekti keliami uždaviniai: 1. Išanalizuoti mokslinę literatūrą ir švietimą reglamentuojančius dokumentus ir apibrėžti šiuolaikinę ikimokyklinio ugdymo(si) pažangos ir pasiekimų vertinimo sampratą. 2. Atskleisti vertinimo ciklo ypatumus ir aptarti užsienio šalių vaikų ugdymo(si) pažangos ir pasiekimų patirtį. 3. Išsiaiškinti pedagogų ir tėvų požiūrį į ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaikų pažangos ir pasiekimų vertinimą ir atlikti lyginamąją analizę. 4. Išbandyti ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaikų pažangos ir pasiekimų vertinimo metodiką bei patikrinti kiek ši leidžia fiksuoti socialinę – emocinę vaiko raidą. Kiekybinio ir kokybinio tyrimo analizė atskleidė, kad pedagogams ir tėvams pažangos ir pasiekimų vertinimas yra labai reikalinga ir reikalinga ugdymosi proceso dalis, kuri padeda numatyti ugdymosi žingsnius, gerinti ugdymo kokybę, stebėti, pažinti, įvertinti kiekvieno vaiko individualią pažangą ir ugdymosi raidą, įžvelgti ugdymosi... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In this final thesis educators’ and parents’ attitude towards evaluation of pre-school aged children’s progress and achievements is revealed, genesis of interface and learning paradigm conceptions is emphasized and evaluation methodology of achievements description prepared by scientists of University of Educational Sciences is used as far as it lets record social-emotional development of a child. Structure of the final thesis is constructed on the basis of analysis of nonfiction and empirical research, which aim is to reveal modern pre-school educators’ attitude towards evaluation of progress and achievements. In order to reach the aim the following tasks have been raised: 1. To analyze regulatory documents of nonfiction and education, also determine a modern conception of pre-school education progress and achievements’ conception. 2. To reveal peculiarities of evaluation and discuss learning progress’ and achievements’ experience of children from foreign countries. 3. To find out educators’ and parents’ attitude towards evaluation of pre-school children’s progress and achievements and perform a comparative analysis. 4. To experiment with pre-school children’s progress and achievements evaluation methodology and examine how far it lets record social-emotional development of a child. Analysis of quantitative and qualitative research revealed that evaluation of progress and achievements is a very important part of education process for educators and parents which helps to... [to full text]

In a sample of 57 two-parent families, the current study investigated: (a) mother-father differences in observed autonomy supportive and control behaviours (i.e., directives and negative, parent-centered control); and (b) mothers and fathers unique and relative contributions to childrens later social-emotional competence. Parents behaviours were assessed during an observed clean-up task with mother-child and father-child dyads when children were 2 to 3-and-a half years of age. Parent ratings of childrens social-emotional competence were obtained one year later, when children were 3 to 5-and-a-half years old. Results revealed that mothers engaged in significantly more autonomy support than fathers when observed interacting with their young children. Furthermore, mothers negative, parent-centered control, and fathers autonomy support uniquely predicted childrens later social-emotional competence. These results suggest that mothers and fathers have differential influences on their young childrens growing competences, and exemplify the importance of including fathers in parenting research and intervention. / Psychological Studies in Education

Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents, with ten to fifteen percent of young children experiencing internalising problems (Briggs-Gowan, Carter, Irwin, Wachtel, & Cicchetti, 2004; Egger & Angold, 2006). Researchers have indicated that clinically significant anxiety can exist in preschool aged children and can be sub-typed into patterns similar to that of older children. This early identification of anxiety has lead researchers to recommend that prevention efforts occur early in the life course (Beinvenu & Ginsburg, 2007), before the onset of disorder(s). Research remains scarce as to when the ultimate time to intervene would be, as anxiety research with young children is minimal. The studies presented in this thesis attempt to expand the current literature within in the area of early childhood anxiety. The first objective of this thesis was to extend the literature in the field of early childhood anxiety by examining the aetiology of anxiety and behavioural inhibition (BI) through the investigation of potential risk factors. This study (Study One) represents one of the first investigations within the research to examine risk factors for early childhood anxiety. Two hundred and thirty-six children aged four to six years participated in this study. Parents of the children completed self-report questionnaires at one time point. Results revealed that BI did not significantly predict anxiety, nor did any of the risk factors significantly predict BI. Significant predictors of anxiety included mother’s negative affect and mother’s parenting stress. Father’s parenting stress was found to play a mediating role between mother’s parenting stress and child anxiety. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of both parents (directly or through mediation) in the aetiology of early childhood anxiety. The findings of Study One provide important information regarding the aetiology of early childhood anxiety and provide important implications for the development of preventative intervention programs. Study Two sought to examine the efficacy of a preventative intervention program (Fun FRIENDS; Barrett, 2007a) for preschool aged children, delivered as a school- based, universal intervention. This was the first study conducted evaluating the Fun FRIENDS program and was one of only a few prevention trials cited within the literature examining early childhood anxiety. The study involved a cohort of 263 children enrolled in one of 16 preschool classes. Children were aged between four and six years. Schools were randomly allocated to either an intervention group (IG) or a waitlist control group (WLG). Parents of the children and teachers completed self-report questionnaires at preintervention, postintervention, and at 12-month follow-up (parents in the IG only). Parent report data revealed no significant differences between intervention conditions on anxiety at postintervention, although participants in the IG experienced larger reductions in anxiety than participants in the WLG. Children in both conditions decreased in BI symptoms at postintervention, except for boys in the IG. Significant increases in social-emotional strength were found for girls in both conditions, but not for boys. When examining the IG only over the long-term (pre, post, 12 month follow-up), nearly significant decreases in anxiety were found at postintervention and significant decreases were found again at 12-month follow-up. Improvements in BI were found at all time points for girls but not for boys and improvements on social-emotional strength were found from preintervention to 12-month follow-up, with girls scoring significantly higher than boys. For teacher report, children in the IG improved significantly more on BI compared to the WLG at postintervention indicating that the intervention program may have had a positive impact on these children in learning strategies to manage BI symptoms. However, at pr-intervention, scores on BI were significantly different between the IG and the WLG. Similar to parent report, girls in the IG experienced the largest decrease in BI symptoms at postintervention. On social-emotional strength, children in the IG improved significantly more than children in the WLG at postintervention with girls in the IG experiencing the largest improvement from pre to postintervention. Overall, these findings suggest that the intervention program had a positive impact on some children as evidenced by improvements in anxiety, BI, and social-emotional strength at postintervention and at 12-month follow-up. Parent report indicated that children in the WLG also improved on these measures, making it difficult to contribute positive changes solely to the program. However, teacher report did indicate that children in the IG improved significantly more than children in the WLG. The improvements gained at 12-month follow-up highlight the potential long-term impact of the program although, without a comparison group, it is unknown whether significant differences would exist between both conditions. Implications of these results are discussed along with limitations and directions for future research.

Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents, with ten to fifteen percent of young children experiencing internalising problems (Briggs-Gowan, Carter, Irwin, Wachtel, & Cicchetti, 2004; Egger & Angold, 2006). Researchers have indicated that clinically significant anxiety can exist in preschool aged children and can be sub-typed into patterns similar to that of older children. This early identification of anxiety has lead researchers to recommend that prevention efforts occur early in the life course (Beinvenu & Ginsburg, 2007), before the onset of disorder(s). Research remains scarce as to when the ultimate time to intervene would be, as anxiety research with young children is minimal. The studies presented in this thesis attempt to expand the current literature within in the area of early childhood anxiety. The first objective of this thesis was to extend the literature in the field of early childhood anxiety by examining the aetiology of anxiety and behavioural inhibition (BI) through the investigation of potential risk factors. This study (Study One) represents one of the first investigations within the research to examine risk factors for early childhood anxiety. Two hundred and thirty-six children aged four to six years participated in this study. Parents of the children completed self-report questionnaires at one time point. Results revealed that BI did not significantly predict anxiety, nor did any of the risk factors significantly predict BI. Significant predictors of anxiety included mother’s negative affect and mother’s parenting stress. Father’s parenting stress was found to play a mediating role between mother’s parenting stress and child anxiety. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of both parents (directly or through mediation) in the aetiology of early childhood anxiety. The findings of Study One provide important information regarding the aetiology of early childhood anxiety and provide important implications for the development of preventative intervention programs. Study Two sought to examine the efficacy of a preventative intervention program (Fun FRIENDS; Barrett, 2007a) for preschool aged children, delivered as a school- based, universal intervention. This was the first study conducted evaluating the Fun FRIENDS program and was one of only a few prevention trials cited within the literature examining early childhood anxiety. The study involved a cohort of 263 children enrolled in one of 16 preschool classes. Children were aged between four and six years. Schools were randomly allocated to either an intervention group (IG) or a waitlist control group (WLG). Parents of the children and teachers completed self-report questionnaires at preintervention, postintervention, and at 12-month follow-up (parents in the IG only). Parent report data revealed no significant differences between intervention conditions on anxiety at postintervention, although participants in the IG experienced larger reductions in anxiety than participants in the WLG. Children in both conditions decreased in BI symptoms at postintervention, except for boys in the IG. Significant increases in social-emotional strength were found for girls in both conditions, but not for boys. When examining the IG only over the long-term (pre, post, 12 month follow-up), nearly significant decreases in anxiety were found at postintervention and significant decreases were found again at 12-month follow-up. Improvements in BI were found at all time points for girls but not for boys and improvements on social-emotional strength were found from preintervention to 12-month follow-up, with girls scoring significantly higher than boys. For teacher report, children in the IG improved significantly more on BI compared to the WLG at postintervention indicating that the intervention program may have had a positive impact on these children in learning strategies to manage BI symptoms. However, at pr-intervention, scores on BI were significantly different between the IG and the WLG. Similar to parent report, girls in the IG experienced the largest decrease in BI symptoms at postintervention. On social-emotional strength, children in the IG improved significantly more than children in the WLG at postintervention with girls in the IG experiencing the largest improvement from pre to postintervention. Overall, these findings suggest that the intervention program had a positive impact on some children as evidenced by improvements in anxiety, BI, and social-emotional strength at postintervention and at 12-month follow-up. Parent report indicated that children in the WLG also improved on these measures, making it difficult to contribute positive changes solely to the program. However, teacher report did indicate that children in the IG improved significantly more than children in the WLG. The improvements gained at 12-month follow-up highlight the potential long-term impact of the program although, without a comparison group, it is unknown whether significant differences would exist between both conditions. Implications of these results are discussed along with limitations and directions for future research.