Head Start (Head Start REDI - Research-based Developme*

描述(由申请人提供)： 该项目包括实施和评估一项以发展为基础的干预方案，将其纳入现有的Head Start方案，以促进社会经济上处于不利地位的儿童的入学准备。40个Head Start教室将被随机分配到丰富的干预Head Start(Head Start REDI-以研究为基础的发展性知识)或“惯常做法”Head Start。采用纵向研究设计，每年对320名儿童进行为期四年的评估(3岁前测试；4岁后测试；S和6岁分别在幼儿园结束和一年级结束时进行后续评估)。参加20个Head Start-REDI班级的160名儿童的发展轨迹和早期小学适应情况将与参加20个“常规”Head Start班级的160名儿童的发展轨迹和早期适应进行比较。丰富干预将利用简短的课程、“亲身实践”的扩展活动和具体的教学策略，经验上与促进：1)语言发展和新兴识字技能，以及2)社交-情感能力。我们会向家长提供带回家的资料，以加强家长对家庭技能发展的支援，并促进家长与教师的参与。对儿童结果的评估将包括对儿童社会情感能力、口语技能、紧急识字技能、认知能力和行为问题的多方法、多信息测量。将对教学过程进行衡量，以评估计划的保真度以及与儿童结果的关系。分析将评估：1)干预对儿童技能发展和后来的学校适应和成绩的影响；2)教学实践(干预忠诚度和一般教学策略)与儿童技能发展和学校适应之间的关系；3)儿童特征对干预效果的潜在缓和；4)学龄前儿童语言/识字技能和社会情感能力的获得对学校适应的潜在中介作用；以及5)家长带回家材料的使用和影响。此外，拟议的项目将包括旨在促进干预措施的可持续性和传播的活动。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project consists of the implementation and evaluation of a developmentally based intervention program integrated into existing Head Start programs in order to promote the school readiness of socioeconomically disadvantaged children. Forty Head Start classrooms will be randomly assigned to the enriched intervention Head Start (Head Start REDI - Research-based Developmentally Informed) or to "usual practice" Head Start. Using a longitudinal study design, a sample of 320 children will be assessed annually over a four-year period (pre-test at age 3; post-test at age 4; follow-up assessments at age S and age 6, at the end of kindergarten and first-grade, respectively). The developmental trajectories and early elementary school adjustment of 160 children attending 20 Head Start-REDI classrooms will be compared to those of 160 children attending 20 "usual practice" Head Start classrooms. The enrichment intervention will utilize brief lessons, "hands on" extension activities, and specific teaching strategies linked empirically with the promotion of: 1) language development and emergent literacy skills, and 2) social-emotional competencies. Take-home materials will be provided to parents to enhance support for skill development at home and to foster parent-teacher involvement. Assessments of child outcomes will include multi-method, multi-informant measures of child social-emotional competencies, oral language skills, emergent literacy skills, cognitive abilities, and behavior problems. Teaching processes will be measured to assess program fidelity and relation to child outcomes. Analyses will assess: 1) the impact of intervention on child skill development and later school adjustment and achievement, 2) the relation between teaching practices (intervention fidelity and general teaching strategies) and child skill development and school adjustment, 3) the potential moderation of intervention effects by child characteristics, 4) the potential mediation of school adjustment by preschool gains in child language/literacy skills and social-emotional competencies, and 5) the use and impact of parent take-home materials. In addition, the proposed project will include activities designed to promote the sustainability and dissemination of the intervention.