Poster #67 - Head Start Family Engagement in Informal Science: Links to School Readiness and Science-Process Skills

• In Event: Poster Session 05

Abstract

Informal learning settings, such as museums, can play a critical role in supporting early STEM for underrepresented families with young children (Haden, 2010; Pattison & Dierking 2019) . Successful community partnerships between informal learning settings and programs such as Head Start are one way to encourage inclusivity and accessibility for families from diverse backgrounds and socio-economic status. For many preschool aged children STEM learning most often happens in informal settings in which they can interact with hands-on activities and have important conversations with their caregivers (Borun, 2002, Eberbach & Crowley, 2017; Callanan & Braswell, 2006; Haden, 2010; Hirsh-Pasek et al., 2015; Jant et al., 2014; Leinhardt et al., 2002). Despite being naturally curious, children can benefit from guidance and structure to transform curiosity into rich scientific inquiry (Benjamin, Haden, Wilkerson, 2010; Gelman, 2009; Haden, Jant, et al., 2014; Hoff, 2003). In this project we were interested in how best to support those early informal science experiences for children and families enrolled in Head Start. Moreover, we sought to gain information on how to support families in a way that would increase children’s skill at making connections between museum experiences to related STEM tasks in the classroom and school readiness scores in STEM areas.

In this study, Head Start families visited a science center for monthly Family Engagement Nights during the school year. These events were held after regular hours and provided families with a meal and the opportunity to engage in any exhibit as well as the four specially designed hands-on activities related to current classroom curriculum. Pilot work with a sample of 149 children has demonstrated that there was a significant increase from pre- (before family night programing began) to post-test (after implementation of family night) in school readiness and STEM skills that were explicitly targeted by activities during Head Start Family Engagement Nights, Fs > 94.90, ps < .001, η² s > .39. The data analyses to be presented will evaluate the correlation between Family Night attendance and children’s school readiness scores. Moreover, at the Family Night Event children were asked immediate free- and cued- recall questions regarding what they did and learned. In the week following their museum visits, children were visited at their Head Start classroom to play a science game, a virtual “sink or float” task. We measured perseverance and accuracy in the task. At the end of the task, children were asked a series of free and cued open-ended questions to evaluate their memory for the science center visit and to gain insight into their decision-making process during the “sink or float” game. Children’s school readiness was assessed using CORadvantage at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. Data will be presented on growth in STEM-related school readiness areas and possible links to museum visitation habits, immediate and delayed recall, and children’s transfer of knowledge will be discussed.

Authors

• Kaitlyn Revell, Western Kentucky University
  Presenting Author

• Keegan Cundiff, Western Kentucky University

• Erin Jant, Western Kentucky University

• Victoria Varlack, Princeton University

• Julia Temple, Cornell University

• Imani Telesford, Cornell University

• Michelle Kortenaar, Sciencenter

• Karen Via, Maryland Science Center