SCHOOLING AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: NATURAL EXPERIMENT

这项拟议的研究有四个广泛的目标。首先，使用自然的 实验，被称为学校切断，这项工作试图深入研究 儿童认知变化的性质、时间和幅度 从幼儿园到小学。第二，研究将努力 追溯在学校(和暑假)经历的影响 这与认知技能随年龄增长的变化是平行的(也可能是中介作用)。 研究的时期。第三，研究将进行更深入和更全面的探索 较大的年龄范围--学校分流的可行性和敏感性 理解认知成长的本质和来源的方法。 第四，研究将扩展层次线性模型的适用范围 模型到新的设计和方法。 两组孩子(老幼儿园和小一年级)，他们刚刚 一年级的分数线是“小姐”还是“只选一年级”？这个 各年龄组将在时间顺序年龄和其他相关方面进行密切匹配 背景变量。孩子们将获得一系列识字技能 品味(阅读、数学、语言、记忆和常识) 每年的开始和结束。已取得进展程度的比较 通过老幼儿园和小一年级的孩子，将揭示程度 与此相关的识字技能变化是由与学校教育相关的或 年龄相关的影响。夏季期间的类似比较将 考察与家庭相关的经历的群体差异。同时， 将收集有关课堂活动的详细信息和 试图更直接地考察两者之间的关系 教学活动和识字技能的增长。作为…的副产品 在这里开发的框架中，一些新的发展现象可能 详细说明，包括间接影响、离解影响和延迟 传递效果。拟议研究的结果将产生更多 完整而全面的学龄儿童认知发展图景 孩子们。这些发现将阐明复杂、错综复杂的方式 发育变化可能发生在同一个孩子身上。此外，这项研究 将有助于说明进行扎实的、经验性的 在复杂、多层次、跨部门的框架内进行研究 发展模式。最后，这项研究对 教育政策与实践。调查结果将解决最近的一项 关于在校年龄相对较小的儿童是否 入学面临学术问题的风险。此外，结果将产生 关于儿童正在获得的各种识字技能的宝贵信息 在学校里，重要的识字技能是否被忽视 课程设置。

The proposed research has four broad aims. First, using a natural experiment, termed school cut-off, the work seeks to examine in depth the nature, timing, and magnitude of cognitive changes in children from kindergarten through elementary school. Second the research will endeavor to trace the influences of experiences in school (and during the summer) that parallel (and might mediate) changes in cognitive skills over the age period studied. Third, the research will explore in greater depth and over a longer age range the feasibility and sensitivity of the school cut-off method for understanding the nature and sources of cognitive growth. Fourth, the research will extend the applicability of Hierarchical Linear Models to new designs and methods. Two groups of children (old kindergarten and young first grade) who just miss versus just make athe cut-off for first grade, will be selected. The groups will be closely matched on chronological age and other relevant background variables. Children will receive a battery of literacy skills taste (reading, math, language, memory, and general knowledge) at the beginning and end of each year. Comparisons of the degree of progress made by old kindergarten and young first grade children, will reveal the extent to which changes in literacy skills were produced by schooling-related or age-related influences. Similar comparison during the summer period will examine group differences in family-related experiences. Concurrently, detailed information will be gathered on classroom activities and characteristics in an attempt to examine more directly the relation between instructional activities and growth of literacy skills. As an outgrowth of the framework developed here, a number of novel developmental phenomena may be elaborated including indirect effects, dissociation effects, and delayed transfer effects. Results from the proposed study will yield a more complete and comprehensive picture of cognitive growth in early school-age children. Findings will illuminate the complex, intricate ways that developmental change may proceed in the same child. Further, the study will help to illustrate the feasibility of conducting solid, empirical research within the framework of a complex, multi-level, interfactional model of development. Finally, the research has implications for educational policy and practice. Findings will address a recent controversy regarding whether children who are relatively young at school entry are at risk for academic problems. In addition, results will yield valuable information on the kinds of literacy skills children are acquiring in school and whether important literacy skills are being neglect ed in the curriculum.