Statement of the Problem. The problem of this study was to determine if the frequency of home visits made to families enrolled in a home-based early childhood education program was related to changes in parental behavior and student achievement. Design of the Study. The procedural analysis for the study was the randomized three group pretest-posttest design. One hundred twenty low income families who had one or more children between three and five years of age, and who volunteered to participate in the home-based early childhood education program, were selected for the study. The early childhood program consisted of three basic components: (1) a half-hour television program ("Captain Kangaroo") broadcast five days per week, (2) a once per-week group experience for the children, and (3) paraprofessional home visitors who made weekly visits to homes in order to deliver to and instruct parents how they should teach their own children. Four measurement instruments were used to secure data on parent behavior and child achievement. Each instrument was administered at the beginning and end of the project year. The High/Scope Home Environment Scale and the Schaefer Behavior Inventory were administered to parents in an attempt to determine the degree of parental behavior change. Children who participated in the program were administered the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and the Cooperative Preschool Inventory in an effort to determine their degree of cognitive growth. Records of parent participation in group meetings and child attendance at group sessions were also recorded in order to determine the amount of parent and child participation in the program. Summary and Conclusions. (1) A visit to parents once per week was no more effective in influencing parent behavior than a visit once every two weeks. However, a parent who received a visit once per week or once every two weeks was more likely to develop a positive change in parent behavior toward his/her children than a parent who received no visits; (2) a visit once per week was no more effective in influencing child achievement than a visit once every two weeks. The child who received a visit once per week or once every two weeks, however, was more likely to have a higher level of achievement than a child who received no visits; (3) parent behavior was not significantly related to parent and child participation in the program as measured by the number of group sessions attended by the children and the number of parent meetings attended by the parents during the program year; (4) the greater the degree of positive change in parent behavior, the greater the degree of child achievement; (5) the number of parent meetings attended by parents and the number of group sessions attended by the children were not significantly related to the level of achievement attained by the children.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:etd-4250 |
| Date | 01 August 1976 |
| Creators | Locke, William W. |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
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