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Assessing wellbeing at school entry using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: Professional perspectives
White, Jane, March, 2013
Educational Research, 55(1), 87-98

Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore the views of pre-school education staff about assessing social and emotional wellbeing of children at school entry using the SDQ. The objectives were to examine the opinions of pre-school workers about completing the SDQ and to elicit their thoughts on the value of doing this and their perceptions of the usefulness of the information collected. Method: Pre-school establishments were approached using a purposive sampling strategy in order to achieve a mix of local authority (n=14) and 'partnership' establishments (n=8) as well as different socio-economic areas. Semi-structured interviews (n=25) were conducted with pre-school head teachers (n=14) and child development officers (n=11) in order to explore the process of completing the SDQ along with perceptions of its value. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. Results: In general, staff in pre-school establishments viewed the use of the SDQ positively. It was seen as a chance to highlight the social and emotional development of children rather than just their academic or educational ability. Most felt that the SDQ had not identified anything they did not already know about a child. A minority, nevertheless, suggested that a previously unrecognized potential difficulty was brought to light, most commonly emotional problems. Completing the SDQ was felt to be relatively straightforward even though the staff felt under pressure from competing priorities. Concerns were, however, raised about the potential of labeling a child at an early stage of formal education. (author abstract)

Reports & Papers

Informal numeracy skills: The structure and relations among numbering, relations, and arithmetic operations in preschool
Purpura, David J., February, 2013
American Educational Research Journal, 50(1), 178-209

An examination of both the structure and relationships among three numeracy skill domains--numbering, relations, and arithmetic operations, based on data from 393 children from 45 public and private early care and education centers serving children from families with low to middle socioeconomic statuses living in two counties in northern Florida

Reports & Papers

Measures of preschool children's interest and engagement in literacy activities: Examining gender differences and construct dimensions
Baroody, Alison E., Q2 2013
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28(2), 291-301

An examination of the measurement of the construct of children's literacy interest in the early years, methods of measurement, and gender differences and dimensions across measures, based on data from 167 4- and 5-year-old children enrolled in Head Start

Reports & Papers

Using generalized additive modeling to empirically identify thresholds within the ITERS in relation to toddlers' cognitive development
Setodji, Claude M., April, 2013
Developmental Psychology, 49(4), 632-645

Research linking high-quality child care programs and children's cognitive development has contributed to the growing popularity of child care quality benchmarking efforts such as quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS). Consequently, there has been an increased interest in and a need for approaches to identifying thresholds, or cutpoints, in the child care quality measures used in these benchmarking efforts that differentiate between different levels of children's cognitive functioning. To date, research has provided little guidance to policymakers as to where these thresholds should be set. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) data set, this study explores the use of generalized additive modeling (GAM) as a method of identifying thresholds on the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS) in relation to toddlers' performance on the Mental Development subscale of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (the Bayley Mental Development Scale Short Form--Research Edition, or BMDSF-R). The present findings suggest that simple linear models do not always correctly depict the relationships between ITERS scores and BMDSF-R scores and that GAM derived thresholds were more effective at differentiating among children's performance levels on the BMDSF-R. Additionally, the present findings suggest that there is a minimum threshold on the ITERS that must be exceeded before significant improvements in children's cognitive development can be expected. There may also be a ceiling threshold on the ITERS, such that beyond a certain level, only marginal increases in children's BMDSF-R scores are observed. (author abstract)

Reports & Papers