How Does an Academically-Oriented Kindergarten Classroom Impact Children's Outcomes?

 描述(由申请人提供)：在学校问责政策的背景下，标准、评估和与考试成绩相关的高风险后果提升了学业准备和表现的重要性，幼儿园课堂已变得越来越注重学术。幼儿园对学术的日益重视引发了许多担忧。首先，先前的研究表明，尽管幼儿园在所有收入水平都变得越来越注重学术，但对于高收入儿童来说尤其如此。在某种程度上，以学业为导向的课程与提高成绩有关，那么在较贫穷和较富裕的幼儿园儿童之间观察到的入学准备差距可能不会得到缓解。其次，人们担心，对学业的高度关注会给孩子们带来压力，并可能对他们的社交情绪结果产生负面影响。尽管儿童权益倡导团体发表了许多出版物，表示他们担心转移到学术幼儿园课堂会破坏“整个儿童”的发展，但现阶段的证据主要是轶事。本研究的目的是探讨以学业为导向的幼儿园课程对低收入和高收入儿童之间的成绩差距以及对儿童的社会情绪结果的影响。使用具有全国代表性的2010年幼儿园幼儿纵向研究(ECLS-K：2011)的数据，我们将回答以下研究问题：1)幼儿园课堂在多大程度上侧重于学术内容？教学时间/内容覆盖率与FRPL学生在学校的百分比之间是否存在关系？2)接触以学术为导向的幼儿园课堂是否与更高的成绩相关？这是否缩小了较贫穷和较富裕儿童之间的成就差距？这些影响与NCLB报告的其他亚群(即来自主要种族/民族的学生、有特殊需要的学生和英语学习者(ELL))是否有所不同？3)以学业为导向的幼儿园课堂与儿童的社会情感结果之间是否存在关系？4)以学业为导向的幼儿园课程对一年级儿童的学业和社会情感结果有何影响？

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Against a backdrop of school accountability policies in which standards, assessments, and high-stakes consequences attached to test scores have elevated the importance of academic preparation and performance, the kindergarten classroom has become increasingly academics-focused. The growing emphasis on academics at kindergarten has fostered a number of concerns. First, prior research suggests that although kindergarten has become increasingly academics-focused at all income levels, this is especially true for upper-income children. To the extent that an academically-oriented curriculum is associated with improved achievement, then the school readiness gaps that have been observed between poorer and wealthier kindergartners may not be mitigated. Second, there is concern that a heightened focus on academics is stressful for children and may negatively impact their social-emotional outcomes. Despite the numerous publications put forth by child advocacy groups regarding their concerns that the move to an academic kindergarten classroom undermines the development of the "whole child," the evidence at this stage is primarily anecdotal. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact an academically-oriented kindergarten curriculum may have on the achievement gap between lower- and upper-income children and on children's social-emotional outcomes. Using data from the nationally-representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of Kindergarteners in 2010 (ECLS-K: 2011), we will address the following research questions: 1) To what extent are kindergarten classrooms focusing on academic content? Is there a relationship between instructional time/content coverage and percent of FRPL students in the school? 2) Is exposure to an academically-oriented kindergarten classroom associated with higher achievement? Does it narrow the achievement gap between poorer and wealthier children? Do these effects differ by the other NCLB reporting subgroups (i.e., students from major racial/ethnic groups, students with special needs, and English Language Learners (ELL))? 3) Is there a relationship between an academically-oriented kindergarten classroom and children's socio- emotional outcomes? 4) What is the impact of an academically-oriented kindergarten curriculum on children's academic and social- emotional outcomes measured at first grade?