Journal of Research in Childhood Education, Vol. 13, No. 2, Spring/Summer 1999.

ACEI publishes two outstanding journals that have separate purposes, but both aim to inform. This biannual column assists that function by informing Childhood Education readers about the practical contents of the Journal of Research in Childhood Education. CE readers are encouraged to read the full articles to gain more information and insight (see JRCE, Vol. 13, No. 2).

* Pathways to Quality in Head Start, Public School, and Private Nonprofit Early Childhood Program - Epstein

This study examines the differences in teacher qualifications, inservice training, program quality, and children's development in three different early childhood settings: Head Start, public school, and private (nonprofit) school. The author found that inservice training was better in Head Start than in the other settings; public schools could point to superior levels of children's development. All of the settings, however, achieved high levels of program quality, which was positively related to teachers' formal education in public schools and to inservice training in Head Start. The author suggests that formal education and inservice training could help achieve high-quality early childhood programs. She advises combining both approaches, raising entry qualifications, and improving staff development activities.

* The Nature of Experiences of 4-year-olds in Two Russian Preschools - Kiger

The author compares two Russian preschools - one traditional and the other experimental. She compares the children's families from both settings, and finds many similarities. Both sets of parents, for example, wanted smaller classes for their children. Neither location offered teachers an extensive background in early childhood education. The experimental preschool, however, did provide inservice training and opportunities for collaboration. The author found that the traditional preschool fell back on a didactic nature of instruction, whereas children at the experimental preschool had ample opportunities to make their own decisions. The experimental preschool included families in the programming process, and offered flexible scheduling, mixed-age groups, and child-initiated learning. The experimental school had more control over issues of management, budget, and curriculum compared to the traditional school, and provided children with a greater variety of experiences. Their teachers also were able to use creativity in program development.

* The Effect of Origami Practice on Size Comparison Strategy Among Young Japanese and American Children - Yuzawa, Bart, Kinne, Sukemune, & Kataoka

The authors discuss how origami practice may help young children acquire knowledge about measurement before entering school, by allowing them to compare everyday objects of different sizes. They compared 46 Japanese children and 48 American children, ages 4 to 6. The American and Japanese children were divided into three treatment groups. One group folded origami paper triangles, superimposing the paper shapes to achieve congruence. The second group folded traditional origami forms, and the third group engaged in conversation with the experimenter. During the pretest and the posttest, children in all three groups were asked to judge the relative sizes of two figures. The researchers found some support for the hypothesis that size comparison strategies can be improved through origami practice. Although the Japanese children benefited more from the origami practice than did the American children, the authors suggest that the former group's experience with origami may have accounted for the difference. Based on this research, the authors suggest that engaging kindergarten children in activities with origami or similar paper work may help them develop a richer knowledge of comparative sizes.

* Come Join the Literacy Club: One Chinese ESL Child's Literacy Experience in a 1st-Grade Classroom - Han & Ernst-Slavit

The authors of this study explore how one Chinese ESL child became an active participant in the literacy events in his 1st-grade class. The child's classroom teacher used a literature-based approach to teaching literacy, using numerous books, small-group reading instruction, and centers to immerse children in print. The nature of literacy learning in this class was also social. The "literacy club" refers to the concept that people learn from each other by "joining the club" of those engaged in literacy. The authors found that this type of literacy learning environment was unintentionally challenging for this one Chinese ESL child especially at the beginning. For example, this child did not know the nature and purpose of journal writing, and did not know how to "invent" spellings. In addition, early difficulties were partly caused by the differences in literacy practices at home and school. The authors suggest that we need to find ways to help limited-English proficient children to become active participants in their new literacy environment.

* Attribution Feedback in the Elementary Classroom - Foote

Attribution theory suggests that students' perceptions of the cause for success or failure are more influential on future task performance than are the actual experiences of success or failure. Judgments of a student's level of ability or effort, as well as teachers' feedback, can have a direct impact on motivation and achievement. This study investigated the types of feedback statements used by 3rd-grade teachers during mathematics instruction, and attempted to devise a coding scheme for identifying attribution feedback. The author found that the teachers in this study rarely provided students with attributionally informative feedback, and suggests that future research should include a well-controlled study in which teachers are trained in these feedback methods. In addition, the author says that such a study should then analyze whether the feedback increases motivation and, if so, whether increased motivation leads to greater academic achievement.

* Developmentally Appropriate Practices As Predictors of Self-Competence Among Preschoolers - Jambunathan, Burts, & Pierce

This study investigated whether the use of developmentally appropriate practices in classrooms is related to the perception of self-competence among preschoolers. The author found that teaching strategies, curriculum goals, motivation, and guidance of social-emotional development were found to be significant predictors of the peer acceptance component of self-competence, but not of other components. Although the findings were derived from a small sample, they do suggest an interesting relationship between the use of more developmentally appropriate practices and preschoolers' perception of self-competence.

* Emergent Metacognition: A Study of Preschoolers' Literate Behavior - Fang & Cox

This study examines preschool children's self-management as they engaged in constructing an "autonomous" text for others to read. The researchers investigated three questions: 1) Can evidence of metacognition be observed in preschoolers' utterances during dictation? 2) If so, what is the relationship between children's metacognition and their reading ability? and 3) What is the relationship between children's metacognition and the quality of the autonomous texts they produced? The authors found that preschoolers did, indeed, exercise control over their own thought processes. They were capable of using their speech to coordinate or regulate literacy events. The findings suggest that metacognition and emergent reading ability may be related. This study also found positive correlation between self-management and the quality of dictated texts. Children produced better quality texts when they were cognitively active in strategic planning before dictation, in on-line monitoring during composing/dictating, and in regulating their own or the scribe's behavior to address the reader's/audience's needs.

* Maternal Strategy Use and Preschool Categorization Abilities - Harris, Krupinski, & Johnson

The authors investigated mothers' strategies when teaching their preschool children about categorical relationships. They also looked at the verbal behavior of the preschool children and the relationship between the maternal strategies and the preschoolers' verbalizations during the interaction. Mothers were instructed to teach their children the names of 13 pairs of animals, as well as how to group them. The authors found that the mothers varied their strategies, according to the type of information being taught. Sometimes they asked labeling and perceptual questions, at others they asked questions about similarities and differences between the grouped animals. The mothers' use of perceptual questions was positively related to the preschoolers' verbal responses, but negatively related to their independent elaborations. During the clustering phase, the mothers' contrasting information questions were positively linked to the preschoolers' verbal responses and negatively linked to their independent elaborations. Based on their findings, the authors suggest that preschool children, with adult guidance and structure, can begin to develop rudimentary classification skills far earlier than expected. Parents' verbal strategies foster children's understanding of class inclusion relationships.

* When Mother Says To Do One Thing and Teacher Says To Do Another: Preschoolers' Responses to Mother-Teacher Differences - Chen & Ispa

This study asked preschoolers to respond to hypothetical scenarios in which their mothers and their preschool teachers issued opposing commands. The authors investigated how children's decisions and feelings regarding differences in their mothers' and teachers' commands were related to emotional security, dependency, sex, age, length of time in the care of the current teacher, and location (home care versus child care center). Only age and length of time in the current teacher's care were correlated with children's decisions to obey their teachers over their mothers. However, the association between length of time with a particular teacher and preference for teacher's over mother's request did not carry over into the home interview. The results also suggest that the quality of the mother-child relationship may be implicated in the children's decisions when mother-teacher instructions conflict. A secure mother-child relationship may be at the foundation of children's willingness to adapt to teachers' demands. In addition, few children found the dilemmas upsetting. The authors note that children may react more negatively to real-life differences between their mothers and teachers than to hypothetical differences, and that children with less fortunate life circumstances might have responded differently to this procedure.

* Early Intervention Needs of Children At Risk Due to Prenatal Drug Exposure: A Survey of Early Childhood Educators - Kim, Sugai, & Kim

This study surveyed preschool educators in order to examine their perceptions about the learning and behavioral problems of children who were prenatally exposed to drugs, as well as about intervention strategies and other issues related to educating these children. The authors found that although the preschool educators indicated they needed more information and training in educating children with prenatal drug exposure, they also believed that they already were using effective intervention strategies. The respondents cited children's limited attention span as the most serious learning problem. To be effective with these children, teachers must have consistent attitudes, provide clear directions, build warm and strong relationships, and provide stable instructional environments. They indicated that early intervention is a "must." Parents of these children were reported as generally helpful and concerned about their children's education. The respondents also believe that educators can provide systematic support for these children to help them cope and become successful members of society.

& Characteristics of Teachers Who Talk the DAP Talk and Walk the DAP Walk - McMullen

Previous studies have found a discrepancy between teachers' self-reported beliefs about developmentally appropriate practice and their actual classroom practices. In this study, however, the author found that the DAP beliefs overall were strongly correlated with practices. In addition, teachers with high personal teaching efficacy and internal locus of control were significantly related to high DAP belief and predictive of DAP practices. Teachers with high self-efficacy believe that education can positively affect learning outcomes, and they also are more willing to implement innovative programs. The author also found that teachers who either had an academic background in early childhood education or child development, or who had experience working in a preschool, were found to be significantly more developmentally appropriate in their actual classroom practices than those who had an elementary education degree and no preschool experience. The author found the relationship between DAP beliefs and practices encouraging because these are factors that may be influenced through teacher education and professional development.