Boehm Test of Basic Concepts–3 Preschool

Christina J. Groark, Stephanie K. McCarthy, Afton R. Kirk. (2014). Early Child Development: From Theory to Practice. Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

The Battelle Developmental Inventory – 2nd Edition (BDI-2) is psychoeducational testing instrument used in special education to assess developmental disorders in infants and young children. This paper looks into how the validity, reliability and norms for the BDI-2 were originally developed.

A “high-quality” preschool program is curriculum based with certified teachers and a low child to teacher ratio (Robin, Frede, & Barnett, 2006, p. 1)

In order to respond this question, we must first review the history of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) and Early Childhood Education (ECE). Although ECE has been around since the creation of kindergarten in the 1800’s, the decade of the 1980’s was an important period for ECE. “By the 1980’s, meta-analysis of the well-designed US projects offered compelling evidence on the positive outcomes of [early childhood education and intervention]” (Woodhead, 2007). Therefore, there was much pressure to improve the state of education, including ECE. “The decade of the 1980’s saw numerous calls for widespread school reform, with changes recommended in teacher education, graduation requirements, school structure, and accountability measures” (S. Bredekamp, R.A. Knuth, L.G. Kunesh, and D.D. Shulman, 1992). At this time, there was an increasing concern about the quality of early childhood education for the influx number of families that needed it. This led the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) to “begin planning a national voluntary accreditation system for early childhood programs”(NAEYC, 2014). With this planning came a need for a more specific description with regards to accreditation guidelines. Therefore, NAEYC issued a formal statement defining DAP.

As an educator in the early childhood education field, I have had the opportunity to become aware, experienced, and exposed to At-risk children in the NC Pre-Kindergarten classroom. My goal with this action research paper is to adhere to the benefits and everlasting impact on children whom attend and children who did not attend the NC Pre-Kindergarten program. How does NC Pre-K program ready children for Kindergarten? How does a child that did not attend an NC Pre-K classroom differ from those children that did? What are the goals and standards that are addressed in the NC Pre-K classroom? What, if any, curriculum is used in the classroom? Lastly, what assessments and screening tools are used to measure growth from the beginning of Pre-K to the end of the school year? These are the questions that will give my research guidance and direction to better educate the reader.

A longitudinal study done by Lansford et. al involved the observations of 574 children from the ages 5 to 21. The participants were recruited when they entered kindergarten in 1987 or 1988 at Tennessee and Indiana. The parents of the children were randomly approached and asked if they would take part in the longitudinal study. Detailed interviews concerning the child’s developmental history were conducted with their mothers before they had entered kindergarten. In these interviews, the mothers were

In today's society, early childhood education programs have become an almost expected first step in every child's life. Studies have shown that when children attend they children who attend a preschool program are exposed to numbers, letter, and shapes on a daily basis. They also begin to learn many life skills, like how to socialize, share and separate from their parents. These first steps of learning are so important that now forty states in the U.S. now offer state funded pre-k programs (Kanter, 2016). With some many different preschools and early childhood programs, how do parents know if the programs are being held to a certain standard? The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) is one comprehensive assessment tool available. Using this tool while quietly observing a preschool classroom, will help to define areas of strength as well as areas needing to be strengthened. The scale has thirty five different areas that are divided into six subscales, that will be observed. Each question is yes or no answer to a specific question and example.

Corresponding concerning this article should be addressed to Kirby Magbie, Department of Early Childhood Education, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401. Contact: knmagbie@crimson.ua.edu

The Abbott Preschool Program is administered through New Jersey’s Department of Education and the Department of Human Services. It was designed to provide all of New Jersey’s children an opportunity to succeed. The Abbott Preschool Program Longitudinal Effect Study (APPLES), published in 2013, investigated the impact of the Abbott program on children’s learning through the end of kindergarten. The findings of this study demonstrated that children who attend the Abbott Preschool Program, whether in public schools, private settings or Head Start, improve in language, literacy, and math at least through the end of their kindergarten year.

This test evaluates a child’s problem solving, fine motor, and vocabulary. They also scored well in the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, a measure of receptive vocabulary, where Early Head Start children scored 83.3 compared to the 81.1 score of the control group. Although a mild difference, Early Head Start students were much less likely to score in the at-risk range of developmental functioning.

Berk, L. E. (2012). Infants, Children, and Adolescents (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Between the ages of birth to three, a child is monitored for developmental delays and disabilities. Unfortunately pre-kindergarteners ages three to five, do not undergo identification of at-risk factors. Therefore, preschoolers enter kindergarten not ‘ready to learn’ because the program lack a Response to Intervention (RtI). Rudinoff’s (2011) purpose of “The study began by utilizing the research in the field of early childhood and RTI in order to define an Early Childhood RTI process that seemed appropriate and sound for public school implementation (p 51)”, and create a relationship with local childcare providers. Rudinoff (2011) logically tackled the model by systematically starting with the simple concepts and moving to more complex.

As society progresses, becomes more competitive and fast paced it is important to prepare the coming generations so that they are not left behind. While initial cognitive learning and development begin at home with caregivers as teachers, there comes a point where parental instruction need to be supplemented. Preschool is an informal yet structured social and academic program for children before they begin formal education. Numerous studies conducted over the past few decades have shown that with preschool exposure, children are more adept when they begin primary school. Children who attended preschool were found to be more academically prepared, had better language skills, and better overall behavior than those who did not attend. Long term,

The years before kindergarten are among the most crucial time in a young child’s life to learn. School readiness, a multidimensional concept, has the ability to convey advantages in academic success in school. Children who enter school with early skills in math and reading tend to have more academic success, attain higher levels of education, and have a higher chance of securing employment (1). Their ability to recognize letters, read words in a book, write their own name, and count numbers are all factors that display early literacy and cognitive development, and in the past years, the number of young children with these qualities has increased over time. During the beginning years of a child's life, whether it’s from socioeconomics, ethnicity, daycare, or all of them combined, multiple factors influence a child’s readiness for school.

It is a clear and worthy investment. The question lies in which preschool program is the most effective. Previous reviews of programs have focused on if they contributed to later success, but a few of them compared the programs on their effectiveness. A number of programs showed positive results continuing to the end of kindergarten and beyond, signifying that the preschool involvement had impacts aside from early exposure to academic content. (Johns Hopkins University, 37). Also, several programs had effects on oral language skills, which are emphasized in most preschools.