Preschool Programs Can Boost School Readiness
Preschool Programs Can Boost School Readiness
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学前教育项目可以提高入学准备度
作者：
William T. Gormley;Deborah Phillips;Ted Gayer
学者和决策者都认为早期儿童项目是培养学生入学准备的一个很有前途的途径（1-4）。在美国，这些情绪激发了州政府和联邦政府雄心勃勃的学前教育计划。俄克拉荷马州的学前教育（pre-K）项目引起了人们的关注，因为它是普遍的，基于学校系统，并且比其他任何州的学前教育项目达到了更高的4岁儿童比例。俄克拉何马州资助的学前教育项目渠道向当地学区提供援助，这些学区可以免费开办全日制课程、半天课程或两者兼而有之。联邦政府资助的以贫困儿童或其他有风险的儿童为目标的学前教育项目，以及私人日托中心，如果它们与当地学区建立了“合作”关系，也有资格获得州政府的资助。与其他州相比，俄克拉何马州学前教育项目的标准相对较高，并为合格的教师提供相对较高的薪酬和福利。每一位班主任都必须有学士学位，并且必须有幼儿教育方面的证书。10比1的师生比例和20人的班级规模必须保持不变。塔尔萨县的社区行动项目（CAP），其领先计划为塔尔萨最多的儿童提供服务，有资格获得国家资助。它的教师与塔尔萨公立学校（TPS）的教师达到相同的标准，并获得类似的工资。在这里，我们估计了塔尔萨学前班和学前教育项目中儿童的短期考试成绩。在2006年8月，我们对进入学前班、学前教育项目和幼儿园的塔尔萨学生进行了伍德科克-约翰逊成就测试的三个子测试。这些测试是在课程开始前由那年教孩子的老师进行的。大约78%的学前班学生、69%的学前教育学生和73%的幼儿园学生接受了测试。接受测试的学生几乎反映了学生的整体情况，除了幼儿园的学生，两组学生之间存在一些差异(6)。当孩子接受检测时，父母完成了一份提供人口统计信息的调查。项目参与和学校午餐资格分别确定(7)。我们使用的三个子测试是字母识别测试（一种衡量阅读前技能的测试）；拼写测试（一种测试写作能力的测试）；以及应用问题测试（一种测量学前技能的测试）。这些子测试已被证明特别适用于4至5岁的儿童，并已被其他研究人员用于研究高危儿童和更多样化的儿童群体。入学时或入学前的伍德考克-约翰逊测试分数有助于预测以后的学业成就。教育研究者面临的一个困难的方法论挑战是选择偏差。这里的问题是，父母选择让孩子参加自愿学前教育或学前教育项目的孩子会与不参加的孩子有所不同，而这些差异会影响他们的考试成绩。为了克服这种选择偏差，我们使用了两个独立的回归不连续估计。首先，实验组由参加塔尔萨学前教育项目的1264名幼儿园学生组成，对照组是1492名即将开始该项目的儿童。对于第二次估计，治疗组由327名参加塔尔萨学前教育项目的幼儿园学生组成，对照组是483名即将进入该项目的儿童。这项研究的设计是可能的，因为TPS和塔尔萨学前教育项目严格执行9月1日4岁儿童入学的生日要求。我们的分析在年龄分界点的两边分别估计了年龄和考试成绩之间的连续关系。这是通过将考试成绩与孩子的准确出生日期（在截止资格日期之前或之后出生的天数）、年龄截止指标变量和一个相互作用变量进行回归来实现的，该变量允许俄克拉何马州两个学前教育项目的不同斜率，以帮助孩子在学校取得成功。学前教育项目可以提高入学准备
Early childhood programs have been heralded by both scholars and decisionmakers as a promising avenue for fostering school readiness (1–4). In the United States, these sentiments have fueled ambitious preschool initiatives from both state and federal resources. Oklahoma’s prekindergarten (pre-K) program has generated attention because it is universal, is based in the school system, and reaches a higher percentage of 4year-olds than any other state pre-K program. Oklahoma’s statefunded pre-K program channels aid to local school districts, which are free to run full-day programs, half-day programs, or both. Federally funded Head Start programs, which are targeted to poor or otherwise at-risk children, and private day care centers are also eligible for state funding if they establish “collaborative” relations with their local school district. The Oklahoma pre-K program has relatively high standards compared with those of other states and offers relatively high pay and benefits to well-qualified teachers. Every lead teacher must have a B.A. degree and must be certified in early-childhood education. Student teacher ratios of 10-to-1 and class sizes of 20 must be maintained. The Community Action Project (CAP) of Tulsa County, whose Head Start program serves the largest number of children in Tulsa, is eligible for state funding. Its teachers meet the same standards as their Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) counterparts and receive similar pay (5). Here, we estimate the short-term test score gains for children in Tulsa’s pre-K and Head Start programs. In August 2006, we administered three subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson Achievement Test to incoming Tulsa students entering pre-K and Head Start programs and kindergarten. The tests were administered just before the commencement of classes by the individual who would be teaching the child that year. About 78% of all pre-K entrants, 69% of all Head Start entrants, and 73% of all kindergarten entrants were tested. The tested students closely mirrored the universe of students, except for the kindergarten cohort, where some differences between the two groups were found (6). While the child was being tested, the parent completed a survey to provide demographic information. Program participation and school lunch eligibility were determined separately (7). The three subtests we used were the letterword identification test (a measure of prereading skills); the spelling test (a measure of prewriting skills); and the applied problems test (a measure of premath skills). These subtests have been shown to be especially appropriate for children aged 4 to 5 and have been used by other researchers studying both at-risk and more diverse groups of children. Woodcock-Johnson test scores at or before school entry help to predict later scholastic achievement (8). A difficult methodological challenge that confronts education researchers is selection bias. Here, the concern is that children whose parents choose for them to participate in the voluntary pre-K or Head Start programs will differ from nonparticipants and that these differences will affect test scores. To overcome such selection bias, we have used two separate regressiondiscontinuity estimations. First, the treatment group consisted of 1264 kindergarten students who attended Tulsa’s pre-K program and the comparison group was 1492 children who were about to begin that program. For the second estimation, the treatment group consisted of 327 kindergarten students who attended Tulsa’s Head Start program, and the comparison group was 483 children about to enter that program. This research design is possible because the TPS and the Tulsa Head Start program strictly enforce a 1 September birthday requirement for enrollment in the 4-year-olds’program. Our analysis estimates the continuous relation between age and test score separately on both sides of the age cut-off. This is achieved by regressing test scores against the child’s precise date of birth (the number of days born before or after the cut-off qualification date), an age cutoff indicator variable, and an interaction variable that allows for different slopes on both Preschool programs in Oklahoma help children to succeed in school. Preschool Programs Can Boost School Readiness
影响因子：
4
作者：
Duncan, Greg J.;Claessens, Amy;Duckworth, Kathryn
通讯作者：
Duckworth, Kathryn