Children who start kindergarten equipped with key math, language, literacy, and social skills are considered ‘kindergarten ready’ and tend to have positive academic trajectories into their future (e.g. McClelland, Acock, Piccinin, Rhea, & Stallings, 2013). Studies of kindergarten readiness have typically focused on urban and suburban children, despite evidence that …
[Read more...]Research Briefs
The following research briefs are based on academic papers published by CCEC researchers, faculty associates and affiliates in a wide range of top academic journals. They highlight timely research summaries of selected articles of interest to scholars, practitioners and policy makers.
Difficulty separating thought from reality tied to harsher parental discipline and lower child vocabulary
By the age of five, most children develop false belief understanding. In other words, they understand that people’s thoughts, feelings and beliefs can differ from reality, and that people sometimes act upon mistaken beliefs (Wellman, Cross, & Watson, 2001). Generally, children from lower-income families have lower false belief understanding (e.g. …
[Read more...]Do rural preschoolers choose playmates based on shared learning skills and behaviors?
Who preschoolers choose to interact with most frequently can have a significant impact on their development of social and emotional skills, and emergent language and literacy skills (Barnett et al., 2008). Previous research in urban and suburban settings has suggested that preschoolers choose playmates based on shared characteristics, such as …
[Read more...]Are home literacy experiences of young children with disabilities different than their peers?
Young children with developmental disabilities often demonstrate delays in learning important early literacy skills, and as a result are often at a higher risk for future reading problems (Cabell, Justice, Zucker, & McGinty, 2009). Previous research has suggested that these delays in early literacy skills may reflect limited early learning opportunities in the home literacy environment (Light & Smith, 1993). This study asks: 1) To what extent are there are differences in the home-literacy experiences of children with and without disabilities? and 2) How are these experiences related to children’s early literacy skills?
[Read more...]What is the connection between educator background and the amount of language and literacy instruction in preschool classrooms?
Early childhood educators play a critical role in providing the language and literacy instruction that young children need in order to develop key skills for later school success (National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2009; National Early Literacy Panel, 2008). However, research indicates that, in general, the quantity and quality of language and literacy instruction in early childhood classrooms is low (Justice et al., 2008; Pelatti et al., 2014). In this study, we sought to understand how educators’ backgrounds may be linked to the amount of language and literacy instruction they provide. These background factors included educators’ 1) knowledge about the structure of language and how to teach language and literacy to children, 2) beliefs about language and literacy instruction, 3) educational attainment, and 4) years of prior teaching experience.
[Read more...]