Poster #32 - Predicting Language Skills in Preschool: Process and Structural Quality Influences on Language and Literacy Outcomes

• In Event: Poster Session 13

Abstract

Across many studies, language skills in pre-K have been found to predict a range of child outcomes. Beyond the domains of language and literacy, early language skills may also be related to various academic, social, and behavioral outcomes that are critical for school success, such as memory, nonverbal skills, social competence, and self-regulation (Conti-Ramsden & Durkin, 2012; Dickinson et al., 2012; Oxford & Spieker, 2006). There is evidence that such relations in pre-K may persist into later school years (La Paro & Pianta, 2000; NICHD Early Child Research Network, 2005). Therefore, it is crucial to identify classroom factors that may allow preschoolers enrolled in high-quality state pre-K programs to access the resources needed to make gains in language and literacy.

The total sample consisted of N=1169 preschoolers and was diverse in race/ethnicity (45% White, 35.59% African American/Black, 16.42% Hispanic/Latinx, and 2.99% Other). Approximately half of participants were female (51.24%) and low socioeconomic status (SES; 54.41% Low-Income Category 1). Three subtests from the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJ III; Woodcock et al., 2001) were used to assess children’s language skills: Picture Vocabulary, Sound Awareness, and Letter-Word Identification. Classroom quality was observed using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System Pre-K Version (CLASS Pre-K; Pianta et al., 2008) Instructional Support Domain and the proportion of observations that were coded as “whole group.” Multiple regressions were run to account for nesting of children within classrooms and to examine the relation between numerous child/family characteristics (limited language proficiency, SES, disability status (IEP), child sex, months between assessments, and child race), classroom characteristics (type of setting, rurality, teacher education, curriculum, classroom quality, and free choice versus whole group setting) and language outcomes as assessed by the WJ III subtests.

As shown in Table 1, classroom characteristics were predictive of language outcomes. Vocabulary skills improved when there was both more time spent in whole group settings and higher levels of instructional support provided. Sound awareness or phonological awareness skills improved most from fall to spring when the teacher had a bachelor’s degree or more, a language or literacy curriculum was used, and when classroom instructional support was higher. Figure 1 displays the finding that higher levels of instructional support were predictive of greater scores on the Sound Awareness subtest, a result that is supported by the extant literature (Burchinal et al., 2015; Curby et al., 2009). Finally, children enrolled in public school pre-K settings had bigger gains in letter-word identification skills than children whose state pre-K classrooms were in private settings. These findings extend previous research that has shown differences in process quality are related to early language literacy skills to include other structural quality measures, such as teacher education and curriculum. The inclusion of time-use in classrooms is a novel finding updating the results of older studies (Chen et al., 2010; Fuligni et al., 2012). Implications for policy surrounding the design implementation of optimal instructional contexts suggest that structural quality may still be important to consider in supporting children’s early language and literacy skills.

Authors

• Lindsay Ann Gomes, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  Presenting Author

• Kylie Garber, Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD)

• Sandra L Soliday Hong, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill