This study aimed to test a 5-wave sequential mediation model linking maternal mind-mindedness during infancy to children's school readiness in kindergarten through a serial mediation involving child language and effortful control in toddlerhood and the preschool years. Among a sample of 204 mother-child dyads, we assessed maternal mind-mindedness…

Twelve culturally disadvantaged 4-year-olds of borderline normal intelligence were subjects of this study. Its primary purpose was to test further the cognitive learning theory previously developed, as well as the reinforcement system, the facilities, and the experimental-longitudinal methods of research. The study did not include a control group…

Studying the validity of the Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning (DIAL), 53 kindergartners took the DIAL before school entrance and then had their Slosson Intelligence Test scores and Metropolitan Readiness Tests monitored for the school year. Preschool screening programs and their relation to the DIAL are discussed. (CE)

This study explored the relationship between symbolic representation in dramatic play and art and cognitive and reading readiness levels of kindergarten children. Results indicated children at different cognitive levels performed significantly differently on the Metropolitan Reading Readiness Test and spent significantly different amounts of time…

This report presents the results of a study from July 1965 to July 1969 on the effects of year-long prekindergarten programs for disadvantaged children involving eight school districts in New York State and approximately 1,800 children. The study focused on factors which the schools considered important and major objectives of their programs.…

Twenty-four children attended a special half-day class when not attending regular kindergarten, and 12 of their mothers participated in a home counseling program. Children whose mothers were counseled achieved significantly higher on the Metropolitan Reading Test, and their mothers showed a significantly greater gain on the Cognitive Home…

This study investigated the relative effects of kindergarten experience for boys and girls, based on considerable evidence that there is a developmental difference between the sexes around 5. Emphasis is in the areas of language and readiness skills, which are traditionally not evaluated until the end of kindergarten. Groups of 93 boys and 89…

This report reviews and evaluates the tradition of assessing early literacy with formal tests. It begins with a historical account of the readiness movement, focusing on the development of formal measures of early literacy and tracing the development of the movement into the 1980s. Next, the paper analyzes in depth tests that are currently…

A battery of cognitive, personal, and demographic tests were given to 216 children from Title I (of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) schools, with and without previous school experience, and to 31 children from non-Title I schools. The effects of prekindergarten experience upon subsequent school experience were evaluated. The Title-I…

The effect of month of birth on skill development in language, reading, and mathematics was examined separately for kindergarten and first grade children. The study looked at the strength of the relationship at the beginning and end of the school year and as a function of the type of program in which the child was enrolled. One hundred and…

The Westinghouse Learning Corporation and Ohio University carried out a study on the impact of Head Start for the Office of Economic Opportunity. The main inquiry of the study concerned the difference between Head Start first, second, and third graders and non-Head Start first, second, and third graders in intellectual and social-personal…

Whether physical activity and verbal communication would affect kindergarten students' scores on the Metropolitan Readiness Tests (MRT) was investigated. Twenty subjects were administered Level I of the MRT when they entered kindergarten. For 5 days per week for 4 weeks, the 10 subjects in the experimental group worked at constructive play tasks…

THIS STUDY REPORTS THE FIRST PHASE OF A 5-YEAR LONGITUDINAL INVESTIGATION OF THE COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF A HIGHLY STRUCTURED PRESCHOOL PROGRAM AND A TRADITIONAL NURSERY SCHOOL PROGRAM IN AMELIORATING THE LEARNING DEFECTS OF CULTURALLY DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN. THE HIGHLY STRUCTURED PROGRAM IS INTENDED TO OVERCOME PARTICULAR WEAKNESSES OF…

This progress report of the Riverside Unified School District comprises a summary of the effect of integration on the achievement of elementary pupils. Little change is considered to have occurred in the achievement of these students following integration. However, the achievement of many minority pupils, it is held, may eventually improve through…

This report investigates perceptual functioning in the kindergarten first-grade period for slow- and average-maturing children. Two sets of auditory and visual tasks were devised: (1) identifying the first of an ordered pair of lights or tones when speed of presentation was a factor, and (2) categorizing each stimulus signal either by a uni- or…