Caregiver and Teacher Use of Evaluation and the Development of Latino

Preschoolers’ Socio-Emotional Skills

Lauren ScarolaDepartment of Applied

Psychology

Acknowledgements

Dr. Gigliana Melzi

Dr. Adina Schick

The LFIP Research Team

The Undergraduate Department of Applied Psychology Grant for Student Research

Entering Formal Schooling Environments

For preschoolers to adjust successfully to the demands of formal schooling, school readiness skills must be developed.

Unfortunately, 35% of children do not enter kindergarten with the necessary skills.

The largest percentage of children who are at risk for experiencing these difficulties are Latino.

Academic Skills

Non- Academic

SkillsLack of school

readiness skills

Difficulty adapting to

kindergarten

Pattern of school failure

Latino Preschoolers

Latinos are the fastest growing immigrant community in the United States.

Latino children enter kindergarten with less developed academic school readiness skills.

Less is known about non-academic school readiness skills.

High Levels of Regulatory Skills

Emotional & Behavioral Regulation

High levels of behavioral and emotional regulation are crucial for success in kindergarten environments.

• High tolerance for frustration

• Management of behaviors and impulses

• Easy adjustment to new situations

Advanced Learning Behaviors

• Listening attentively

• Following directions

• Patience in classroom activities

Higher Academic Achievement

Low Levels of Regulatory Skills

Emotional & Behavioral Regulation

High levels of behavioral and emotional regulation are crucial for success in kindergarten environments.

• Difficulty focusing

• Defiance

• Poor behavioral controlMaladaptive Learning Behaviors

• Emotional outbursts

• Tantrums

• Calling OutLower Academic Achievement

Socio-Emotional Competence

Behavioral &

Emotional Regulation

Academic Achieveme

nt

Socio-Emotional Competence

Behavioral &

Emotional Regulation

Everyday Conversati

on in Various

Contexts

Socio-Emotional Competen

ce

Academic Achieveme

nt

Everyday conversations occur in numerous contexts including:

Peer interactions

Play groups

Caregiver modeling

Conversations with caregivers

Narratives as a Conversational Context

Narrative sharing has been linked to non- academic aspects of school readiness including:

Self-concept

Understanding of theory of mind

Emotional competence

Evaluation in narratives is particularly important for development of socio-emotional competence.

• Evaluation is a narrator’s provision of subjective information that goes beyond basic referential information and calls attention to details the narrator deems important.

The dog fell out the window with a jar on his head.

The boy watched him from his window.

Referential Information

The silly dog jumped out the window with a jar on his head. “Oh no”!

The boy watched him from his window.

He was worried the dog would get hurt.

Evaluative Information

The Preschool Context

Extant research examining the relation between narrative evaluation and socio-emotional skills has focused on the home context.

Preschools are an important, yet overlooked context for children's development of socio-emotional skills.

Research Objectives & Questions

Narrative Evaluation

Narrative Evaluation

Caregivers

Teachers

Caregivers’ Narrative Evaluation

Teachers’ Narrative Evaluation

Children’sSocio-

Emotional Skills

Children’sSocio-

Emotional Skills

End of first year of Head Start

End of second year of Head Start

The present study examined the relation between caregiver and teacher use of evaluation during a book sharing interaction and children’s socio-emotional skills across the two Head Start years.

Three main questions guided the present study:

Children (N = 40)

40 Latino children (20 girls; 20 boys) their caregivers and Head Start teachers participated in the study.

Children were on average 43 months old (SD = 2.71).

53% of children spoke Spanish and 47% spoke English.

Caregivers (N = 40)

Caregivers ranged in age from 21 to 59 years (M = 29, SD = 7.52).

Caregivers’ age of immigration was 12 years old (SD = 10.53).

45%35 %

8%

12%

Mexico United States

Dominican Republic Other

No Formal SchoolingLess than High SchoolHigh School or GEDMore than High School

27%

43%

20%

10%

Teachers (N = 11)

82%

9%

9%

Latino Black White

Teachers ranged in age from 31 to 71 years (M = 48.83, SD = 10.92).

Teachers’ age of immigration was 7 years old (SD = 11.18).

25% of teachers earned a bachelors level degree and 75% earned a masters level degree or higher.

Head Start instructors worked as lead teacher for an average of 12 years (SD = 7.02).

Caregivers and teachers were asked to share a wordless picture book about a boy, a dog and his frog used in narrative research.Fall 2009 Spring 2010 Spring 2011

Procedure & Measures

Children’s caregivers

Children’s teachers

Fall 2009 Spring 2010 Spring 2011

Procedure & Measures

Children’s non-academic school readiness were assessed by teachers and investigators using two measures.

Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale (PLBS; McDermott, Green, Francis & Sttott, 2002) α = .93

Assessor's Report from The Preschool Self Regulation Assessment (PSRA; Raver et al, 2011) α = .96

Fall 2009 Spring 2010

Procedure & Measures

Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale(PLBS; McDermott, Green, Francis & Sttott, 2002; α = .93)

Assessor's Report from The Preschool Self Regulation Assessment (PSRA; Raver et al, 2011; α = .96)

Children’s non- academic skills were assessed using the same measures as in Spring 2010, with an additional measure of effortful control. Spring 2011

Procedure & Measures

Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale(PLBS; McDermott, Green, Francis & Sttott, 2002;α = .93)

Assessor's Report from The Preschool Self Regulation Assessment (PSRA; Raver et al, 2011; α = .96)

Children’s non- academic skills were assessed using the same measures as in Spring 2010, with an additional measure of effortful control.Spring 2011 The Preschool Self Regulation Assessment:

Snack Delay (PSRA; Raver et al, 2011;α = .93)

Other

Emotion

Intention

Story World Evaluation

Narrative Evaluation

Real World Evaluation

Conjecture

Coding of Narrative Evaluation

Research Question 1:

How do caregivers and teachers use evaluation in their narrations of wordless

picture books?

Caregiver & Teacher Use of Evaluation

Tota

l Use

of E

valu

atio

n

Stor

y W

orld

Eva

luat

ion

Real W

orld

Eva

luat

ion

0

20

40

60

80

100Caregivers Teachers

Inst

ance

s of

Evalu

ati

on

Caregiver & Teacher Use of Evaluation

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Caregivers Teachers

Insta

nces o

f Evalu

ati

on * t(38) = -2.03 p <

.05t(38) = -2.79 p < .05

*

Research Question 2:

How does caregivers’ and teachers’ use of evaluation predict children’s socio-

emotional skills in Year 1?

YR 1: Demographics & Socio-Emotional Outcomes

Child’s Language

Caregiver’sAge of

Immigration

Teacher’sAge of

Immigration

Teacher’s Age

PLBS Motivation -.33* .40* -.33* .08

PLBS Persistence -.35* .44** -.41 .23

PLBS Attitude -.41** .42** -.42** .07

PLBS Total -.39* .47** -.37* .13

Attention Control -.34* .39* .05 .14

Positive Emotion .01 .10 .17 -.32**p < .05, **p < .005

YR 1: Evaluation & Socio-Emotional Outcomes

Caregivers’ Story World Evaluation

Caregivers’ Real World Evaluation

Teachers’ Story World Evaluation

Teachers’ Real World Evaluation

PLBS Motivation

.37* .23 -.13 .01

PLBS Persistence

.27 .12 -.07 -.16

PLBS Attitude .28 .16 .01 -.18

PLBS Total .35* .21 .05 .10

Attention Control

.40* .13 .23 .35*

Positive Emotion

.10 .34 -.02 .05*p < .05

(B = .11, p < .05, ∆R2 = .10), (B = .21, p < .05, ∆R2 = .09)

(B = .19, p < .05, ∆R2 = .13 )(B = .54, p < .05, ∆R2 = .16)

Research Question 3:

How does caregivers’ and teachers’ use of evaluation predict children’s socio-

emotional skills in Year 2?

YR 2: Demographics & Socio-Emotional Outcomes

Child’s Gender

Child’s Language

Caregivers’ Age of

Immigration

People in Home

Teachers’ Age

PLBS Motivation .46** -.34* .33* .18 .27

PLBS Persistence

.40* -.39* .40** .30 .31*

PLBS Attitude .39* -.39** .48** .29 .34*

PLBS Total .43** -.40* .41** .26 .31

Attention Control

.04 .29 -.09 .28 -.48**

Positive Emotion

.11 -.29 .29 -.49** .06

Snack Delay -.04 -.15 .07 .27 .32**p < .05, **p < .005

YR 2: Evaluation & Socio-Emotional Outcomes

Caregivers’ Story World

Evaluation

Caregivers’ Real World Evaluation

Teachers’ Story World

Evaluation

Teachers’ Real World Evaluation

PLBS Motivation

.09 .06 .30 .01

PLBS Persistence

.10 .03 .27 .21

PLBS Attitude .08 -.02 .19 .07

PLBS Total .09 .02 .28 .16

Attention Control

.14 .26 -.11 -.05

Positive Emotion

.20 -.01 .10 .08

Snack Delay .14 -.21 .32* .21*p < .05

(B = .01, p < .05, R2 = .11 )

Summary of Results & Discussion

Teachers used more total and story world evaluation than caregivers.

For the first year of Head Start, caregivers’ story world evaluation was predictive of children’s positive learning behaviors and self regulatory skills.

Supports previous research on narrative sharing between caregiver and child.

For the first year of Head Start, teachers’ real world evaluation was also predictive of children’s self regulatory skills.

Suggests that there is a combined contribution from home and school.

For the second year of Head Start, teachers’ story world evaluation was predictive of children’s self regulatory skills.

Conclusions & Future Directions

The present study served as an important first step in identifying the importance of independent and joint influences of home and school discourse practices on children’s development of non-academic school readiness skills.

Further examination of various home and classroom discourse practices is needed, especially as these relate preschool children’s development of socio-emotional competencies.

Future research should also explore other factors that might be related to Latino children’s non-academic school readiness skills.

Questions?

Thank You!