Teacher (Mis)perceptions of English Learning Preschoolers’ Letter and Numeral Knowledge

• In Event: Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: PS 14 Topic - School Readiness/Childcare

Abstract

In the present study, we explore teacher perceptions of their 4-year-old preschoolers' school readiness skills among native English-speaking monolingual children and English-learning children and compare these perceptions to actual scores. We also explore how child demographic characteristics correlate with teacher perceptions. Very limited research exists exploring how language learning may impact teacher perceptions of children’s academic skills. Ready and Wright (2011) explored language learning as a factor among kindergartener teachers' perception of students' language and literacy skills. They found teachers systematically underestimated the literacy skills of English-learning Asian children, both English-learning and English-speaking Hispanic children, as well as children from lower-SES backgrounds and Black children. Other studies (Alvidrez & Weinstein, 1999; Baker et al., 2015) suggest preschool teacher perceptions of student ability are associated with short- and long-term academic achievement and may differ based on child’s age.

Participants included 387 4-year-old preschoolers (M = 4.49 years; SD = .31; Min = 3.92; Max = 5.15; center at 4.0 years for analyses) recruited from early education centers in Miami, FL and one of their teachers. There were nearly equal numbers of boys (52%) and girls (48%), and race/ethnicity was representative of the local population (59% identified as Hispanic/Latino/a; 38% identified as White; 12% identified as Black/African American). Twenty-eight percent of the participants in the sample were native Spanish speakers learning English. All participants attended one of 30 classrooms in 12 state licensed "voluntary pre-kindergarten" (VPK) early education centers. All but two centers expressly indicated that both English and Spanish were officially supported and spoken by center teachers and staff.

Teachers completed a “perceptions of school readiness" survey for each child prior to children completing the school readiness assessment. The teacher perceptions of school readiness survey instructed teachers to rate children on a 5-point scale on the following school readiness skills compared to other children the same age: (a) counting skills, (b) number naming and identification skills, (c) letter naming and identification skills, (d) vocabulary, and (e) early literacy skills and book knowledge. After teachers completed the survey, children were given the school readiness assessment measuring letter and numeral knowledge. Teachers sat with children individually while they completed the measure on a touch-screen computer to open the program, read instructions verbatim, and try to ensure children’s selections were registered on the touch screen. The assessment consisted of 21 items and will be described fully in the presentation. Descriptive statistics of study variables are displayed in Table 1.

Bivariate associations are presented in Table 2. As shown, findings indicated (a) children's letter and numeral knowledge did not significantly vary by children's English learning status or race/ethnicity; (b) teacher perception of children's letter and numeral knowledge is positively associated with children's actual scores; and (c) teachers rated English learning children significantly lower than native English monolingual children on letter knowledge, numeral knowledge, and combined. These findings suggest teachers have misperceptions of English learning children’s knowledge. Additional analyses, discussion, and implications of these findings will be provided.

Authors

• Louis Manfra, University of Missouri - Columbia
  Presenting Author

• James A. Larsen, University of Tennessee - Knoxville
  Non-Presenting Author

• Danielle Turley, California State University - Stanislaus
  Non-Presenting Author