Individualized education programmes and parental behaviours for children with disabilities: moderation effects of head start on children's developmental outcomes

This study examined associations among Head Start attendance, individualized education programmes (IEPs), parental behaviours and child outcomes in a sample of five‐hundred and seventy 3‐ to 4‐year‐old children with disabilities. Home language, number of disabilities and Head Start enrollment were associated with having an IEP. Parents of children with IEPs and those who participated in Head Start used more social services, while social support was more prevalent for parents of non‐Head Start children with IEPs. For all children, frequent parental book reading, greater number of books in the home and greater perceived social support among parents were associated with favourable cognitive and social–emotional outcomes. Greater social service use was adversely associated with reading scores only for non‐Head Start children. Findings highlight the need for inclusive IEP policies and Head Start programmes for parents regarding access to special education supports for children who demonstrate developmental concerns. Participation in Head Start may buffer negative effects of social service use on children's reading skill development, although more research is needed to uncover the specific mechanisms responsible for this association.     

Head Start,Prekindergarten, and Academic School Readiness: A Comparison Among Regions in the United States

ABSTRACT

Child care programs (including Head Start, prekindergarten [pre-K], and other center-based care) can differ, with patterns of use based on their location. Yet little research has examined how Head Start and pre-K programs affect children's academic school readiness, including vocabulary and reading skills at school entry, in the South as compared to other regions. To examine this further, secondary data (n = 2,803) collected in the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study were examined. Overall findings suggest, regardless of region, that Head Start and pre-K participants had higher academic skills at school entry than did their counterparts. In addition, when Head Start was compared to other center-based care and pre-K was compared to other care arrangements, both had larger effects on improving academic skills in the South compared with in other regions. These findings imply that Head Start and pre-K programs should target children who otherwise would receive nonparental non-center-based care. Future research should focus on why the effects of Head Start and pre-K vary between the South and other regions.     

What you say,and how you say it: Preschoolers' growth in vocabulary and communication skills differentially predict kindergarten academic achievement and self‐regulation

The idea that language skills support school readiness, predicting later self‐regulation and academic success, is widely accepted. Although vocabulary is often emphasized in the developmental literature, the ability to use language appropriately in the classroom, or social communication skills, may also be critical. This article examined longitudinal contributions of children's vocabulary and social communication skills, from preschool to kindergarten, to kindergarten academic achievement (reading and math) and self‐regulation (executive functions and learning behaviors). Participants were 164 children (14% Latinx, 30% Black, 56% White; 57% girls) enrolled in Head Start programs. Results revealed that initial levels and growth in vocabulary and communication skills predicted better academic achievement. Social communication skills uniquely predicted self‐regulation, after accounting for vocabulary. We discuss potential mechanisms for these links and recommend that strategies to build social communication skills be incorporated in preschool interventions promoting school readiness.     

Developmental Trajectories of Head Start Children's Reading and Home Environment Scores: Across Ethnicities

ABSTRACT

To investigate the relationship of ethnicity in the development of children in Head Start, this study examined the associations between ethnicities and reading trajectories and whether trajectories of home environment could over time explain their differential associations. Participants (N = 696) were selected from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data. Results indicated some similarities and differences in the results obtained. Study findings suggest including an environmentally sensitive family component in Head Start and suggest an early enrollment policy targeting at-risk populations to maintain long-term Head Start impacts across ethnicities. Future research and follow-up studies should investigate other family components that positively affect long-term development among Black, Hispanic, and White children participating in the Head Start program.     

Preschool and School Readiness of Children of Immigrants*

Objective. In this article, we use data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey—Kindergarten Cohort to analyze the links between preschool attendance and the school readiness of children of immigrants. Methods. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey—Kindergarten Cohort, we estimate multivariate regression models for the effects of preschool on school readiness for children of immigrants and children of natives. Results. We find that children whose mothers were born outside the United States are less likely to be enrolled in school or center‐based preschool programs than other children. We find that preschool attendance raises reading and math scores as much for children of immigrants as it does for other children. Attending preschool also raises the English‐language proficiency of children of immigrants. Although not the main focus of our study, we examined the effects of Head Start, and found that this program improves children's English proficiency, with especially large effects for children of immigrants whose mothers have less than a high school education; in this latter group, Head Start also improved math scores. Conclusions. Given that preschool benefits children of immigrants as much as it does children of natives and given that children of immigrants are less likely to be enrolled, our findings strongly suggest that enrolling more children of immigrants in preschool would help reduce inequality in skills at school entry.     

Behavioral and Cognitive Readiness for School: Cross-domain Associations for Children Attending Head Start

Utilizing a diverse sample of 356 four-year-old children attending Head Start, this study examined the degree to which behavioral aspects of school readiness, including classroom participation, prosocial behavior, and aggression control were related to direct assessments of child cognitive readiness (academic knowledge, executive function skills) at the start of the prekindergarten year. Classroom participation and prosocial behavior each accounted for unique variance in cognitive readiness. Aggressive behavior, in contrast, was not correlated with academic knowledge, and was associated with low levels of executive function skills. In multiple regressions, aggressive behavior paradoxically enhanced the prediction of child cognitive readiness. Profile analyses strengthened the conclusion that the promotion of competencies associated with classroom participation and prosocial behavior may be particularly critical to cognitive readiness in prekindergarten. Implications are discussed for developmental models of school readiness and preschool classroom practice.     

Heterogeneity in Parent‐reported Social Skill Development in Early Elementary School Children

Despite known risks associated with aberrant social skill development, there has been a relative dearth of literature on typical developmental changes in social skills over time. In this study, we examine systematic changes in social skills from kindergarten (typical age of 5–6 years) to third grade (typical age of 8–9 years), and focus on systematic heterogeneity across these developmental trajectories. Data came from the National Head Start—Public School Early Childhood Transition Demonstration Project (N = 6964). Mixture models provide evidence for multiple classes of individuals representing heterogeneity in the development of social skills. Classes were defined as a majority class (whose trajectories remained relatively stable over time), an increasing class (whose trajectories increased at a faster rate than the majority class), and a decreasing class (whose trajectories decreased at a faster rate than the majority class). Developmental trends accounted for a substantial proportion of the variance in social skill components. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.     

Parenting and children’s negative emotionality,self‐regulation,and academic skills: The moderating role of fathers’ residency

We examined whether fathers’ residency modified the associations among mothers’ supportiveness, father involvement, children’s negative emotionality during toddlerhood and children’s academic skills in pre‐kindergarten via children’s self‐regulation. Participants were 2,291 mothers (M_age = 23.24 years) and children (M_age = 14.99 months at Wave 1; 50.7% girls) in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project. Results revealed distinctive associations by fathers’ residency: self‐regulation mediated the association between mothers’ supportiveness and academic skills only in resident‐father‐families. Self‐regulation mediated the association between negative emotionality and academic skills only in nonresident‐father‐families. The findings highlight the family processes of mothers, fathers, and children in low‐income family contexts that contribute to children’s academic skills, and how those family processes may vary by fathers’ residency status.     

Learning‐related Social Skills as a Mediator between Teacher Instruction and Child Achievement in Head Start

Using a subsample of the Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2006, this study examined the associations between the amount of teacher instruction in 292 Head Start classrooms with changes in young children's (n = 936) early academic achievement and learning‐related social skills from ages three to five. In general, during the early years, children exhibited relatively stable academic and learning‐related social skills. Although the amount of teacher instruction did not predict children's short‐term academic growth directly, it did predict it indirectly through improvements in learning‐related social skills, with benefits lasting through the end of kindergarten. These findings demonstrate that gains in children's learning‐related social skills may be necessary before academic gains can be realized.     

Supporting Family Carers Through Telephone-Mediated Group Programs: Opportunities For Gerontological Social Workers

ABSTRACT

Telephone-mediated group programs are an important but under-utilized medium for reaching frail or disabled older persons' family carers who are in need of support. The primary purpose and style of group programs can range across a broad spectrum–encompassing educational, supportive and therapeutic types. Gerontological social workers are the members of the multidisciplinary care team whose training, experience and supervision makes them most suitable for facilitating this broad range of group types. Drawing on the experience of training a number of group facilitators, this article provides suggestions for social workers contemplating the use of telephone-mediated groups and highlights groupwork skills peculiar to conducting group programs via the telephone.     

Dimensions of Parenting Associated with Child Prekindergarten Emotion Regulation and Attention Control in Low‐income Families

Delays in emotion regulation and attention control are common among children growing up in poverty, and they contribute to significant socioeconomic gaps in school readiness and later school attainment. In this study, the emotion regulation and attention control skills of 210 prekindergarten Head Start participants were assessed (M age = 4.80 years old). Home interviews and videotaped parent–child interactions were used to evaluate three aspects of parenting (e.g., warm‐sensitive, directive‐critical, and parenting stress). Structural equation models documented significant, unique associations linking directive‐critical parenting and parenting stress with poor child emotion regulation skills. Directive‐critical parenting was also uniquely associated with low levels of child attention control. Warm‐sensitive parenting was not uniquely related to either emotion regulation or attention control at this age. The findings suggest that, by prekindergarten, parent stress management and reduced directiveness emerge as the primary correlates of child emotion regulation and attention control whereas warm‐sensitive parenting plays a diminished role.     

Family Relations and the Adjustment of Young Children of Mexican Descent: Do Family Cultural Values Moderate These Associations?

This study examined the role of family cultural values as moderators of the association between family relations and the adjustment of young children. Fifty‐five families of Mexican descent with young children enrolled in Head Start programs in the Southwest participated. Mothers provided information about closeness of the mother–child relationship, warmth in the sibling relationship, child behavior problems, and familism and simpatía, or two cultural values associated with families of Mexican origin. The children's preschool teachers provided information about child emotional adjustment and social functioning with peers six months later. Familism was found to act as a moderator, whereby warmth and closeness in family relationships coupled with the endorsement of a family cultural value that complements these relationship characteristics was associated with more optimal functioning in preschool classrooms. Results demonstrate the need to evaluate family cultural values or beliefs systems in conjunction with qualities of family relationships as determinants of children's developmental outcomes. Specifically, familism emerged as a family characteristic capable of promoting young children's adjustment within and beyond the family context.     

Assessing low‐income African‐American pre‐schoolers' behaviour problems in relationship to community violence,inter‐partner conflict,parenting, informal social support and social skills

This study examined the relations among community violence exposure, inter‐partner conflict and informal social support and the behaviour problems of pre‐schoolers, and explored how mothers' parenting skills and children's social skills may mediate the child outcomes associated with such exposure. Participants were 185 African‐American mothers and female caregivers of Head Start children who completed study measures in a structured interview. Path analyses revealed that greater inter‐partner conflict was associated with more internalizing and externalizing child behaviour problems. Positive parenting was associated with fewer internalizing and externalizing behaviours. Higher levels of child social skills were associated with fewer internalizing and externalizing behaviour problems. Child social skills fully mediated the relationship between community violence and externalizing behaviours as well as between informal support and externalizing behaviours. Social skills partially mediated the relationships between positive parenting and externalizing behaviours. No mediating effect was found on the relationships between inter‐partner conflict and child behaviour problems. Implications of the findings for intervention and future research are discussed.     

Impact of child care arrangements on Australian children's cognitive outcome: moderation effects of parental factors

This study examines the effects of child care arrangements on children's cognitive outcomes. It is a secondary analysis, using data on 5107 children born in 2004 and their families from Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Data were collected in 2004 (Wave One), in 2006 (Wave Two) and in 2008 (Wave Three). This study asks (i) Do children receiving non‐parental child care have different cognitive developmental outcomes at ages 4–5, compared with those who never had non‐parental child care during the first 3 years of life? Do parental factors affect these associations?; and (ii) among children with non‐parental child care, do child care characteristics such as types of care, quantity, entry age and stability of child care affect child outcomes? Do parental factors affect child outcomes? The study's findings suggest that children in non‐parental child care had higher Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test scores at age 5. Among children in non‐parental child care arrangements, quantity and entry age of non‐parental child care affected children's cognitive developmental outcomes. Along with child care arrangements, parental mental health was associated with children's cognitive outcomes.     

Kinship Foster Care and Its Impact on Grandmother Caregivers

Summary

Kinship foster care programs are designed to address the needs of relatives, usually grandparents, who have taken in children who have been removed from their homes voluntarily, or following a substantiated report of neglect and/or abuse. The author reviews the history of kinship foster care nationally and examines related research. Reported are findings on a survey of kinship foster care programs nationwide and from qualitative interviews with nine grandmothers from New York City who were kinship foster care providers. Particular attention was paid in these surveys to the impact of kinship foster care on families caring for children with disabilities.     

Emotion Understanding in English- and Spanish-speaking Preschoolers Enrolled in Head Start

Research assessing children's emotion understanding has increased over the past several years. Despite the proliferation of research, there have been few studies conducted examining the development of emotion understanding in children from diverse backgrounds. Further, there has been no research conducted examining the psychometric properties of emotion understanding measures when used with children from diverse backgrounds. A total of 597 preschool children from low‐income families enrolled in Head Start (248 Spanish‐speaking and 349 English‐speaking) were given an emotion understanding assessment in their native language at two sessions separated by six months. All children showed significant growth in emotion understanding abilities from time 1 to time 2, with English‐speaking children generally outperforming Spanish‐speaking children. The psychometric performance of the measure was analyzed for both English and Spanish samples and for English‐speaking children at different levels of language ability.     

Emotion Knowledge,Loneliness, Negative Social Experiences,and Internalizing Symptoms Among Low‐income Preschoolers

Children with poor emotion knowledge (EK) skills are at risk for externalizing problems; less is known about early internalizing behavior. We examined multiple facets of EK and social‐emotional experiences relevant for internalizing difficulties, including loneliness, victimization, and peer rejection, in Head Start preschoolers (N = 134; M = 60 months). Results based on multiple informants suggest that facets of EK are differentially related to negative social‐emotional experiences and internalizing behavior and that sex plays a moderating role. Behavioral EK was associated with self‐reported loneliness, victimization/rejection, and parent‐reported internalizing symptoms. Emotion recognition and expressive EK were related to self‐reported loneliness, and emotion situation knowledge was related to parent‐reported internalizing symptoms and negative peer nominations. Sex moderated many of these associations, suggesting that EK may operate differently for girls vs. boys in the preschool social context. Results are discussed with regard to the role of EK for social development and intervention implications.     

Social Group Work for Young Offenders with Learning Disabilities

ABSTRACT

Despite the high incidence of learning disabilities among young offenders, research suggests that young offenders with learning disabilities do not receive interventions that address their learning disabilities. Group treatment approaches for young offenders typically utilize a cognitive-behavioral orientation. Cognitive behavioral techniques have been found to be effective with the young offender population by targeting their faulty thinking. However, cognitive behavioral treatment is less effective with youth who have academic delays. Individuals with learning disabilities may have difficulties with the cognitive tasks used in cognitive behavioral treatment. This paper describes a treatment group, with illustrations, adapted for young offenders with learning disabilities, combining cognitive-behavioral and mutual-aid principles.     

Veterans’ Use of Programs and Services as They Transition to Civilian Life: Baseline Assessment for the Veteran Metrics Initiative

Abstract

A substantial minority of veterans struggle as they reintegrate into civilian life, reporting problems with vocational attainment, legal/financial/housing challenges, physical and mental health conditions, and social/interpersonal issues. While there are thousands of programs and services offered to veterans, little is known about which ones they use. In the current exploratory study, veterans separated from active duty in the prior three-months (48,965) were invited to complete a survey. Two primary questions were addressed: What programs/services did veterans use to assist in their reintegration to civilian life? What specific components/attributes of those programs did veterans report using? A total of 9566 veterans completed the survey. Approximately, two-thirds of veterans used at least one program to enhance their well-being, while one-third reported using multiple programs across multiple domains. Veterans primarily sought assistance for employment and educational advancement. Fewer veterans sought assistance for legal/financial/housing, health, and social functioning challenges. Social service providers and policy makers should be aware of the resources veterans use as they reintegrate into civilian life. Future research should examine factors that predict the use and nonuse of veteran reintegration programs, how use changes over time, and what factors predict program/service use, particularly among veterans at risk for poor transition outcomes.     

Bilingual Education Programs: A Cross-National Perspective

We examine alternative forms of bilingual education that have significant implications for intergroup relationships and the reduction of prejudice in two different national settings: Canada and the United States. The Canadian programs are intended for English-speaking students from the culturally dominant group, whereas the U.S. programs we discuss are intended for language minority and language majority students. Both aim to promote proficiency in English and another language. These programs provide many of the conditions that are argued to be essential for the reduction of prejudice and discrimination. They also provide students with the communication skills and cultural awareness that facilitates intergroup contact. The history and current structure of these programs along with salient educational practices are reviewed, and research relevant to changes in intergroup behavior and attitudes is discussed.