Research has found that there are several variables that place children 'at risk' for later school problems. Some of these variables include low socio-economic status (SES), special education eligibility in early childhood, race, and gender. Federally funded preschool programs, such as Head Start and Even Start, provide services for children from low SES backgrounds. Although these programs boast a variety of positive outcomes, there is very little research that conclusively measures their long-term effectiveness. Additionally, the children served in these types of programs still lag behind their middle-class peers overall when they exit the program, and they are more 'at risk' for later academic problems than their peers from higher SES backgrounds. These academic problems, particularly difficulties in learning to read, increase the likelihood that these children will later be referred for special education services. Moreover, as minority children are disproportionately living in poverty in the United States, researchers have called attention to how children from lower SES backgrounds frequently attend low performing schools. In turn, the impact of poverty and placement in poorer performing schools has been linked/associated with discouraging outcomes for various minority groups; for example, African American males tend to be disproportionately represented in special education programs throughout their school years. Likewise, children who have the language impairment (LI) or developmental delay (DD) label as preschoolers are much more likely to receive special education services at a later time in their schooling. Specific literacy-based curricula are being developed and studied to target the needs of these preschool children who are 'at risk' of later special education placement. One such study, the Preschool Curricula Evaluation Research (PCER) project, took place in Leon and Taylor County school districts in northern Florida. This study followed-up the children from the PCER study to examine the effects of an inclusive prekindergarten program by answering the following related research questions: (a) What is the stability of the eligibility classification for special education from preschool into the early elementary grades? (b) Do variations in the preschool curricula to which children are exposed to alter the stability of the eligibility classification? and (c) Are there variables that predict the stability of eligibility classification? The eligibility status was quite stable as children eligible for special education in PreK were 21 times more likely to be eligible for special education. There were less conclusive findings related to curriculum condition. / A Thesis submitted to the College of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester, 2008. / July 1, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. / Mary Frances Hanline, Professor Directing Thesis; Christopher J. Lonigan, Committee Member; Stephanie Al’Otaiba, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_183616 |
| Contributors | Flynn, Kylie Shawn (authoraut), Hanline, Mary Frances (professor directing thesis), Lonigan, Christopher J. (committee member), Al’Otaiba, Stephanie (committee member), Department of Childhood Education, Reading and Disability Services (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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