WorldWideScience

Sample records for project early kindergarten-early

  1. Kentucky's Individualized Kindergartens: A State Network Design for Early Intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bright, B.; Cansler, D. P.

    The KIK (Kentucky Individualized Kindergartens) project, a collaborative project between Kentucky's Department of Education and the Chapel Hill (NC) Training-Outreach project, is designed to serve high risk children. KIK provides early identification of high risk kindergarteners, development of individualized education programs, and implementation…

  2. Early math matters: kindergarten number competence and later mathematics outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jordan, Nancy C; Kaplan, David; Ramineni, Chaitanya; Locuniak, Maria N

    2009-05-01

    Children's number competencies over 6 time points, from the beginning of kindergarten to the middle of 1st grade, were examined in relation to their mathematics achievement over 5 later time points, from the end of 1st grade to the end of 3rd grade. The relation between early number competence and mathematics achievement was strong and significant throughout the study period. A sequential process growth curve model showed that kindergarten number competence predicted rate of growth in mathematics achievement between 1st and 3rd grades as well as achievement level through 3rd grade. Further, rate of growth in early number competence predicted mathematics performance level in 3rd grade. Although low-income children performed more poorly than their middle-income counterparts in mathematics achievement and progressed at a slower rate, their performance and growth were mediated through relatively weak kindergarten number competence. Similarly, the better performance and faster growth of children who entered kindergarten at an older age were explained by kindergarten number competence. The findings show the importance of early number competence for setting children's learning trajectories in elementary school mathematics. Copyright 2009 APA, all rights reserved

  3. Early Math Matters: Kindergarten Number Competence and Later Mathematics Outcomes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jordan, Nancy C.; Kaplan, David; Ramineni, Chaitanya; Locuniak, Maria N.

    2009-01-01

    Children’s number competencies over 6 time points, from the beginning of kindergarten to the middle of 1st grade, were examined in relation to their mathematics achievement over 5 later time points, from the end of 1st grade to the end of 3rd grade. The relation between early number competence and mathematics achievement was strong and significant throughout the study period. A sequential process growth curve model showed that kindergarten number competence predicted rate of growth in mathematics achievement between 1st and 3rd grades as well as achievement level through 3rd grade. Further, rate of growth in early number competence predicted mathematics performance level in 3rd grade. Although low-income children performed more poorly than their middle-income counterparts in mathematics achievement and progressed at a slower rate, their performance and growth were mediated through relatively weak kindergarten number competence. Similarly, the better performance and faster growth of children who entered kindergarten at an older age were explained by kindergarten number competence. The findings show the importance of early number competence for setting children’s learning trajectories in elementary school mathematics. PMID:19413436

  4. Residential Mobility Across Early Childhood and Children's Kindergarten Readiness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mollborn, Stefanie; Lawrence, Elizabeth; Root, Elisabeth Dowling

    2018-04-01

    Understanding residential mobility in early childhood is important for contextualizing family, school, and neighborhood influences on child well-being. We examined the consequences of residential mobility for socioemotional and cognitive kindergarten readiness using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, a nationally representative longitudinal survey that followed U.S. children born in 2001 from infancy to kindergarten. We described individual, household, and neighborhood characteristics associated with residential mobility for children aged 0-5. Our residential mobility indicators examined frequency of moves, nonlinearities in move frequency, quality of moves, comparisons between moving houses and moving neighborhoods, and heterogeneity in the consequences of residential mobility. Nearly three-quarters of children moved by kindergarten start. Mobility did not predict cognitive scores. More moves, particularly at relatively high frequencies, predicted lower kindergarten behavior scores. Moves from socioeconomically advantaged to disadvantaged neighborhoods were especially problematic, whereas moves within a ZIP code were not. The implications of moves were similar across socioeconomic status. The behavior findings largely support an instability perspective that highlights potential disruptions from frequent or problematic moves. Our study contributes to literature emphasizing the importance of contextualizing residential mobility. The high prevalence and distinct implications of early childhood moves support the need for further research.

  5. Strategic Management Process of Islamic Character Development of Early Children in Islamic Kindergarten

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M Najib

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This research is a field research by using a qualitative research approach. The purpose in this research is to find steps in strategic management process for development character of early children in Islamic kindergarten of al-Irsyad Purwokerto, Central java, Indonesia. The results showed that the process of strategic management to develop Islamic character of early children is done through four processes. First, processing of observation environmental to develop Islamic character in Islamic kindergarten. Second, strategic formulation process for development an Islamic character of early children in Islamic kindergarten. Third, implementating strategic process for develop an Islamic character of early children in Islamic kindergarten. Fourth, strategic assesment process for develop an Islamic character of early children in Islamic kindergarten. Penelitian ini adalah penelitian lapangan menggunakan pendekatan penelitian kualitatif. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menemukan langkah-langkah dalam proses manajemen strategik untuk membentuk karakter anak usia dini di Taman Kanak-kanak (TK Islam al-Irsyad Purwokerto, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia. Hasil penelitian mengungkapkan bahwa proses manajemen strategik untuk membentuk karakter anak usia dini di TK Islam dilakukan melalui empat langkah. Pertama, proses pengamatan lingkungan untuk membentuk karakter Islami anak usia dini di TK Islam. Kedua, proses formulasi strategi untuk membentuk karakter anak usia dini di TK Islam. Ketiga, proses penerapan strategi untuk membentuk karakter anak usia dini di TK Islam. Keempat, proses penilaian strategik untuk membentuk karakter anak usia dini di TK Islam.

  6. Early Numerical Competence and Number Line Task Performance in Kindergarteners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fanari, Rachele; Meloni, Carla; Massidda, Davide

    2017-01-01

    This work aims to evaluate the relationship between early numerical competence in kindergarteners and their numerical representations as measured by the number line task (NLT). Thirty-four 5-year-old children participated in the study. Children's early performance on symbolic and non-symbolic numerical tasks was considered to determine which was a…

  7. Mourning Child Grief Support Group Curriculum: Early Childhood Edition, Kindergarten-Grade 2.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehmann, Linda; Jimerson, Shane R.; Gaasch, Ann

    The Mourning Child Early Childhood grief support curriculum is intended for use with early elementary-aged children, specifically children in kindergarten through grade two, who have experienced the death of someone special to them. It is designed for use by professionals who work in schools, hospitals, hospices, mental health agencies, or any…

  8. Family Structure and Childhood Obesity, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study ? Kindergarten Cohort

    OpenAIRE

    Chen, Alex Y.; Escarce, Jos? J.

    2010-01-01

    Introduction Little is known about the effect of family structure on childhood obesity among US children. This study examines the effect of number of parents and number of siblings on children's body mass index and risk of obesity. Methods We conducted a secondary data analysis of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study ? Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), which consists of a nationally representative cohort of children who entered kindergarten during 1998-1999. Our analyses included 2 cross-sectio...

  9. Early Writing Development: Kindergarten Teachers' Beliefs about Emergent Writing in Qatari Preschool Settings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Maadadi, Fatima; Ihmeideh, Fathi

    2016-01-01

    Writing often begins during the very early years of childhood; however, some children first learn writing when they begin attending school. Teachers' beliefs about early writing development can influence when and how children learn to write. The purpose of this study was to determine kindergarten teachers' beliefs about the development of…

  10. Examining the Impacts of Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy (SEEL): Attention to Teacher Practices and Classroom Effects across the Kindergarten Year

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bingham, Gary E.; Culatta, Barbara; Hall-Kenyon, Kendra M.

    2016-01-01

    This study examined teachers' implementation of an early literacy intervention, Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy (SEEL), on kindergarten children's development of early literacy skills. One hundred forty-nine kindergarten children (102 treatment) across six classrooms participated in this study. Results reveal that children who received SEEL…

  11. Curricular Ethics in Early Childhood Education Programming: A Challenge to the Ontario Kindergarten Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heydon, Rachel M.; Wang, Ping

    2006-01-01

    Through a case study of a key Canadian early childhood education program, The Kindergarten Program (Ontario Ministry of Education and Training, 1998a), we explore the relationship between curricular paradigms and early childhood education (ECE) models, and the opportunities that each creates for enacting ethical teaching and learning…

  12. French Nursery Schools and German Kindergartens: Effects of Individual and Contextual Variables on Early Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tazouti, Youssef; Viriot-Goeldel, Caroline; Matter, Cornelie; Geiger-Jaillet, Anemone; Carol, Rita; Deviterne, Dominique

    2011-01-01

    The present article investigates the effects of individual and contextual variables on children's early learning in French nursery schools and German kindergartens. Our study of 552 children at preschools in France (299 children from French nursery schools) and Germany (253 children from German kindergartens) measured skills that facilitate the…

  13. Comparing Cultural Differences in Two Quality Measures in Chinese Kindergartens: The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised and the Kindergarten Quality Rating System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Bi Ying

    2015-01-01

    This study examined the degrees of congruence between two early childhood evaluation systems on various quality concepts: the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) and Zhejiang's Kindergarten Quality Rating System (KQRS). Analysis of variance and post hoc least significant difference tests were employed to show the extent to…

  14. Which Early Care and Education Centers Participate in Head Start or Public Pre-Kindergarten? National Survey of Early Care & Education. Technical Report. OPRE Report 2015-92a

    Science.gov (United States)

    Administration for Children & Families, 2015

    2015-01-01

    This report draws on newly available data from the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) to describe early care and education (ECE) centers that participate in two prominent publicly-funded ECE initiatives: Head Start and publicly-funded pre-kindergarten. Although a great deal is known about Head Start programs, and there are sources…

  15. The Relations between Early Working Memory Abilities and Later Developing Reading Skills: A Longitudinal Study from Kindergarten to Fifth Grade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nevo, Einat; Bar-Kochva, Irit

    2015-01-01

    This study investigated the relations of early working-memory abilities (phonological and visual-spatial short-term memory [STM] and complex memory and episodic buffer memory) and later developing reading skills. Sixty Hebrew-speaking children were followed from kindergarten through Grade 5. Working memory was tested in kindergarten and reading in…

  16. Findings from a Pre-Kindergarten Classroom: Making the Case for STEM in Early Childhood Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tippett, Christine D.; Milford, Todd M.

    2017-01-01

    Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in early childhood education is an area currently given little attention in the literature, which is unfortunate since young children are natural scientists and engineers. Here, we outline our mixed-methods design-based research investigation of a pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) classroom where two…

  17. Relationships between early literacy and nonlinguistic rhythmic processes in kindergarteners.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozernov-Palchik, Ola; Wolf, Maryanne; Patel, Aniruddh D

    2018-03-01

    A growing number of studies report links between nonlinguistic rhythmic abilities and certain linguistic abilities, particularly phonological skills. The current study investigated the relationship between nonlinguistic rhythmic processing, phonological abilities, and early literacy abilities in kindergarteners. A distinctive aspect of the current work was the exploration of whether processing of different types of rhythmic patterns is differentially related to kindergarteners' phonological and reading-related abilities. Specifically, we examined the processing of metrical versus nonmetrical rhythmic patterns, that is, patterns capable of being subdivided into equal temporal intervals or not (Povel & Essens, 1985). This is an important comparison because most music involves metrical sequences, in which rhythm often has an underlying temporal grid of isochronous units. In contrast, nonmetrical sequences are arguably more typical to speech rhythm, which is temporally structured but does not involve an underlying grid of equal temporal units. A rhythm discrimination app with metrical and nonmetrical patterns was administered to 74 kindergarteners in conjunction with cognitive and preliteracy measures. Findings support a relationship among rhythm perception, phonological awareness, and letter-sound knowledge (an essential precursor of reading). A mediation analysis revealed that the association between rhythm perception and letter-sound knowledge is mediated through phonological awareness. Furthermore, metrical perception accounted for unique variance in letter-sound knowledge above all other language and cognitive measures. These results point to a unique role for temporal regularity processing in the association between musical rhythm and literacy in young children. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Kindergarteners' performance in a sound-symbol paradigm predicts early reading.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horbach, Josefine; Scharke, Wolfgang; Cröll, Jennifer; Heim, Stefan; Günther, Thomas

    2015-11-01

    The current study examined the role of serial processing of newly learned sound-symbol associations in early reading acquisition. A computer-based sound-symbol paradigm (SSP) was administered to 243 children during their last year of kindergarten (T1), and their reading performance was assessed 1 year later in first grade (T2). Results showed that performance on the SSP measured before formal reading instruction was associated with later reading development. At T1, early readers performed significantly better than nonreaders in learning correspondences between sounds and symbols as well as in applying those correspondences in a serial manner. At T2, SSP performance measured at T1 was positively associated with reading performance. Importantly, serial application of newly learned correspondences at T1 explained unique variance in first-grade reading performance in nonreaders over and above other verbal predictors, including phonological awareness, verbal short-term memory, and rapid automatized naming. Consequently, the SSP provides a promising way to study aspects of reading in preliterate children. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Space and materiality in early childhood pedagogy – introductory notes

    OpenAIRE

    Løkken, Gunvor; Moser, Thomas

    2012-01-01

    This issue of Education Inquiry includes a thematic section with five articles about different aspects of the physical environment in Norwegian early childhood education institutions (kindergartens). The contributions represent five out of nine sub-projects in a research project entitled Kindergarten space – materiality, learning and meaning making – The importance of space for kindergarten’s pedagogical activities conducted at Vestfold University College (VUC) funded by the Norwegian Researc...

  20. Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K:2011). User's Manual for the ECLS-K:2011 Kindergarten Data File and Electronic Codebook, Public Version. NCES 2015-074

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tourangeau, Karen; Nord, Christine; Lê, Thanh; Sorongon, Alberto G.; Hagedorn, Mary C.; Daly, Peggy; Najarian, Michelle

    2015-01-01

    This manual provides guidance and documentation for users of the kindergarten (or base year) data of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K:2011). It begins with an overview of the ECLS-K:2011. Subsequent chapters provide details on the study data collection instruments and methods; the direct and indirect…

  1. Developing the quality of early childhood mentoring institutions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sri Hartini

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The study was to uncover the concept of quality improvement, the supporting and the inhibiting factors within the quality improve and the quality improvement in the early childhood mentoring institutions/kindergarten. The study was a qualitative research. The subjects in the study were kindergarten principals, kindergarten teachers and parents. The data were gathered by means of observation, interview and documentation. For the data analysis, the researcher selected the qualitative descriptive data analysis method. The results of the study were as follows. First, the concept of educational quality improvement in the early childhood mentoring institutions/ kindergarten has been improveed from the vision, the mission and the objectives and the concept includes the aspects of planning, process and output which has synergy from one to another. The planning has been formulated in the curriculum, the syllabus and the daily activity plan. Second, the approach, the strategy and the technique of quality improvement has maximized the well-qualified schools’ resources, have been supported by the sufficient facilities and have been funded by the sufficient budget. Third, the supporting factors within the quality improvement of early childhood mentoring institutions/kindergarten have been the increasing awareness within the society toward the significance of early childhood mentoring institutions, the massive socialization conducted by the Office of Education through the provision of training programs in relation to the early childhood mentoring institution/kindergarten management and the human resources empowerment toward developing the quality of early childhood mentoring institutions. Fourth, the inhibiting factors within the quality improvement of early childhood mentoring institutions have been the lack of society care and participation, the less quality human resources that early childhood mentoring institutions have, the fund limitation, the

  2. Can Alternative Education Increase Children's Early School Engagement? A Longitudinal Study from Kindergarten to Third Grade

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Bilde, Jerissa; Van Damme, Jan; Lamote, Carl; De Fraine, Bieke

    2013-01-01

    The current study examines the impact of alternative education on children's early school engagement in terms of school enjoyment and independent participation. A sample of 2,776 children from traditional (e.g., mainstream) and alternative (Freinet and Waldorf) Flemish schools was followed from their 3rd year of kindergarten until 3rd grade. The…

  3. Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K:2011). User's Manual for the ECLS-K:2011 Kindergarten-First Grade Data File and Electronic Codebook, Public Version. NCES 2015-078

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tourangeau, Karen; Nord, Christine; Lê, Thanh; Wallner-Allen, Kathleen; Hagedorn, Mary C.; Leggitt, John; Najarian, Michelle

    2015-01-01

    This manual provides guidance and documentation for users of the longitudinal kindergarten-first grade (K-1) data file of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K:2011). It mainly provides information specific to the first-grade rounds of data collection. Data for the ECLS-K:2011 are released in both a…

  4. Early Social-Emotional Functioning and Public Health: The Relationship Between Kindergarten Social Competence and Future Wellness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Damon E; Greenberg, Mark; Crowley, Max

    2015-11-01

    We examined whether kindergarten teachers' ratings of children's prosocial skills, an indicator of noncognitive ability at school entry, predict key adolescent and adult outcomes. Our goal was to determine unique associations over and above other important child, family, and contextual characteristics. Data came from the Fast Track study of low-socioeconomic status neighborhoods in 3 cities and 1 rural setting. We assessed associations between measured outcomes in kindergarten and outcomes 13 to 19 years later (1991-2000). Models included numerous control variables representing characteristics of the child, family, and context, enabling us to explore the unique contributions among predictors. We found statistically significant associations between measured social-emotional skills in kindergarten and key young adult outcomes across multiple domains of education, employment, criminal activity, substance use, and mental health. A kindergarten measure of social-emotional skills may be useful for assessing whether children are at risk for deficits in noncognitive skills later in life and, thus, help identify those in need of early intervention. These results demonstrate the relevance of noncognitive skills in development for personal and public health outcomes.

  5. KidSmart© in Early Childhood Learning Practices

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersson, Eva; Borum, Nanna

    2014-01-01

    This paper reports on a study exploring the outcomes from young children’s play with digital technology in formal and semi-formal learning practices. The study is part of a bigger project being conducted by IBM KidSmart Early Learning Program, Denmark, the Danish Agency of Culture, 13 kindergartens...

  6. ICTs in Kindergarten

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Athanasios Drigas

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Recent development in the role of kindergarten in children's progress includes the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs. ICT nowadays is recognized as a tool that can foster the knowledge and the experiences for this crucial age and the support of specific areas in kindergarten according to the educational perspective is thought significant. In this paper we present a brief overview of the most representative studies of the last decade (2003-2013 which concentrates on the skills that are examined in kindergarten (early literacy ,early mathematics, cognitive, social-emotional, motor, creativity and are supported by ICTs. The effectiveness of ICT in special education and gifted children in the regular kindergarten is examined. The attitudes of kindergarten teachers towards ICTs are presented.

  7. Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy: Examining the Effects of Paraeducator Implemented Early Literacy Instruction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bingham, Gary E.; Hall-Kenyon, Kendra M.; Culatta, Barbara

    2010-01-01

    This study examined the effect of explicit and engaging supplemental early literacy instruction on at-risk kindergarten children's literacy development. Sixty-three kindergarten-aged children who had been ranked in the lowest 20th percentile on basic literacy skills participated in this study (38 treatment). Results reveal that children who…

  8. A kindergarten experiment in linguistic e-learning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Valente, Andrea; Marchetti, Emanuela

    2006-01-01

    As part of the BlaSq project, we are developing a set of linguistic games to be used in kindergartens. The first of these games is Crazipes, that we are currently testing in a Danish kindergarten, with the support of the local teachers. Here we discuss the architecture of the game, its potentials...... as a linguistic e-learning tool, together with the design and methodology adopted for the study. Some early results are also discussed.......As part of the BlaSq project, we are developing a set of linguistic games to be used in kindergartens. The first of these games is Crazipes, that we are currently testing in a Danish kindergarten, with the support of the local teachers. Here we discuss the architecture of the game, its potentials...

  9. The Brookline Early Education Project: a 25-year follow-up study of a family-centered early health and development intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palfrey, Judith S; Hauser-Cram, Penny; Bronson, Martha B; Warfield, Marji Erickson; Sirin, Selcuk; Chan, Eugenia

    2005-07-01

    Clinicians, scientists, and policy makers are increasingly taking interest in the long-term outcomes of early intervention programs undertaken during the 1960s and 1970s, which were intended to improve young children's health and educational prospects. The Brookline Early Education Project (BEEP) was an innovative, community-based program that provided health and developmental services for children and their families from 3 months before birth until entry into kindergarten. It was open to all families in the town of Brookline and to families from neighboring Boston, to include a mixture of families from suburban and urban communities. The goal of the project, which was administered by the Brookline Public Schools, was to ensure that children would enter kindergarten healthy and ready to learn. Outcome studies of BEEP and comparison children during kindergarten and second grade demonstrated the program's effectiveness during the early school years. The goal of this follow-up study was to test the hypotheses that BEEP participants, in comparison with their peers, would have higher levels of educational attainment, higher incomes, and more positive health behaviors, mental health, and health efficacy during the young adult period. Participants were young adults who were enrolled in the BEEP project from 1973 to 1978. Comparison subjects were young adults in Boston and Brookline who did not participate in BEEP but were matched to the BEEP group with respect to age, ethnicity, mother's educational level, and neighborhood (during youth). A total of 169 children were enrolled originally in BEEP and monitored through second grade. The follow-up sample included a total of 120 young adults who had participated in BEEP as children. The sample differed from the original BEEP sample in having a slightly larger proportion of college-educated mothers and a slightly smaller proportion of urban families but otherwise resembled the original BEEP sample. The demographic features of

  10. A kindergarten experiment in linguistic e-learning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Valente, Andrea; Marchetti, Emanuela

    2006-01-01

    As part of the BlaSq project, we are developing a set of linguistic games to be used in kindergartens. The first of these games is Crazipes, that we are currently testing in a Danish kindergarten, with the support of the local teachers. Here we discuss the architecture of the game, its potentials...... as a linguistic e-learning tool, together with the design and methodology adopted for the study. Some early results are also discussed....

  11. Implementation and Evaluation of an Early Foreign Language Learning Project in Kindergarten

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griva, Eleni; Sivropoulou, Rena

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of present paper was twofold. Firstly, it aimed at outlining the rationale for and the process of introducing an English language learning intervention to kindergarten children in a playful and supportive environment. It focused on developing children's oral skills through participating in creative child-appropriate activities and…

  12. Comparing Longitudinal Profile Patterns of Mathematics and Reading in Early Child Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten: The Profile Analysis via Multidimensional Scaling (PAMS) Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Se-Kang

    2010-01-01

    The aim of the study is to compare longitudinal patterns from Mathematics and Reading data from the direct child assessment of Early Child Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten (ECLS-K, US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics 2006), utilizing Profile Analysis via Multidimensional Scaling (PAMS). PAMS has been used initially…

  13. Accounting Early for Life Long Learning: The AcE Project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    University Coll. Worcester (England). Centre for Research in Early Childhood Education.

    Building upon the work of the Effective Early Learning (EEL) Project in raising the quality of early learning for young children in the United Kingdom, the 3-year Accounting Early for Life Long Learning Project (AcE Project) focuses on enhancing in 3- to 6-year-olds those attitudes and dispositions that are important to life-long learning. This…

  14. FAA Loran early implementation project

    Science.gov (United States)

    1990-03-01

    The Early Implementation Project (EIP), established by FAA Administrator Admiral : Donald C. Engen, was the initial step in the process of Loran integration into the : National Airsace System (NAS). The EIP was designed to give the FAA and the Loran ...

  15. Improving Early Numeracy of Young Children with Special Education Needs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Luit, Johannes E. H.; Schopman, Esther A.

    2000-01-01

    Sixty-two students from special needs kindergartens were given early mathematics intervention. The early numeracy program was developed for children with disabilities and early numeracy difficulties by basing instruction on perceptual gestalt theory. Children performed better at posttest than controls but failed to transfer their knowledge to…

  16. A journey towards mathematics. Effects of remedial education on early numeracy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Toll, S.W.M.

    2013-01-01

    Mathematical proficiency is one of the most important core targets in primary education. Early numeracy in kindergarten is one of the key targets for early identification of children at-risk for math learning difficulties. For most children, learning early numeracy skills is a natural process that

  17. Deconstructing Teacher Quality in Urban Early Childhood Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, Jemimah L.; Butler, Bettie Ray; Dolzhenko, Inna N.; Ardrey, Tameka N.

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to deconstruct the extant scholarship on quality in early childhood education and to emphasize the importance of extending the literature to explore the potential influence that a teachers' educational background may have on kindergarten readiness for African American children in urban early learning settings.…

  18. Item-Level and Construct Evaluation of Early Numeracy Curriculum-Based Measures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Young-Sun; Lembke, Erica; Moore, Douglas; Ginsburg, Herbert P.; Pappas, Sandra

    2012-01-01

    The present study examined the technical adequacy of curriculum-based measures (CBMs) of early numeracy. Six 1-min early mathematics tasks were administered to 137 kindergarten and first-grade students, along with an omnibus test of early mathematics. The CBM measures included Count Out Loud, Quantity Discrimination, Number Identification, Missing…

  19. Influence of current input-output and age of first exposure on phonological acquisition in early bilingual Spanish-English-speaking kindergarteners.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruiz-Felter, Roxanna; Cooperson, Solaman J; Bedore, Lisa M; Peña, Elizabeth D

    2016-07-01

    Although some investigations of phonological development have found that segmental accuracy is comparable in monolingual children and their bilingual peers, there is evidence that language use affects segmental accuracy in both languages. To investigate the influence of age of first exposure to English and the amount of current input-output on phonological accuracy in English and Spanish in early bilingual Spanish-English kindergarteners. Also whether parent and teacher ratings of the children's intelligibility are correlated with phonological accuracy and the amount of experience with each language. Data for 91 kindergarteners (mean age = 5;6 years) were selected from a larger dataset focusing on Spanish-English bilingual language development. All children were from Central Texas, spoke a Mexican Spanish dialect and were learning American English. Children completed a single-word phonological assessment with separate forms for English and Spanish. The assessment was analyzed for segmental accuracy: percentage of consonants and vowels correct and percentage of early-, middle- and late-developing (EML) sounds correct were calculated. Children were more accurate on vowel production than consonant production and showed a decrease in accuracy from early to middle to late sounds. The amount of current input-output explained more of the variance in phonological accuracy than age of first English exposure. Although greater current input-output of a language was associated with greater accuracy in that language, English-dominant children were only significantly more accurate in English than Spanish on late sounds, whereas Spanish-dominant children were only significantly more accurate in Spanish than English on early sounds. Higher parent and teacher ratings of intelligibility in Spanish were correlated with greater consonant accuracy in Spanish, but the same did not hold for English. Higher intelligibility ratings in English were correlated with greater current English

  20. Remedial early numeracy education : Can children identified as having a language deficiency benefit?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van Luit, Johannes E H; Toll, Sylke W M

    2015-01-01

    Background Growing attention has been paid to the possibility of supporting early numeracy in at-risk kindergartners. Furthermore, it is assumed that language proficiency is an important prerequisite in early maths skills. Aims To examine whether remedial early numeracy education in kindergarten,

  1. 78 FR 44553 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Early Childhood Longitudinal Study...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-07-24

    ...) of the U.S. Department of Education (ED), is a survey that focuses on children's early school... child assessments. Like its sister study, the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of..., early learning, and school progress, drawing together information from multiple sources to provide rich...

  2. Critical path analysis in early stage of nuclear power project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xie Ahai

    2009-01-01

    The technical program and contract model as well as project management system and preliminary design defined in the early stage of nuclear power project are the key condition impact on the quality, schedule and cost of the nuclear power project. This paper, taking the CPR1000 coastal nuclear power station as an example, analyzes the critical path in the early stage of nuclear power project for five fields, i.e. licensing, design and procurement, site preparation, tender of construction contracts and construction preparation, and organization. (authors)

  3. Qualities of Early Childhood Teachers: Reflections from Teachers and Administrators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weitman, Catheryn J.; Humphries, Janie H.

    Data were collected from elementary school principals and kindergarten teachers in Texas and Louisiana in an effort to identify qualities that are thought to be important for kindergarten teachers. A questionnaire listing 462 qualities of early childhood teachers was compiled from literature reviews. Subjects were asked to check a maximum of 50…

  4. Nueva investigacion sobre kindergarten de dia completo (Recent Research on All-Day Kindergarten). ERIC Digest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Patricia

    Noting that much of the early research on the effects of all-day kindergarten had serious problems with internal and external validity due to inadequate methodological standards, this Spanish-language digest reviews research conducted in the 1990s. The digest discusses the academic, social, and behavioral effects of all-day kindergarten, as well…

  5. Multimedia support of early literacy learning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Segers, P.C.J.; Verhoeven, L.T.W.

    2002-01-01

    In the present article, the development of a child-friendly computer software program to enhance the early literacy skills of kindergarteners in the Netherlands is described. The ergonomic aspects of designing software for young children are described along with the content of the program in

  6. Early Childhood Inclusion in Croatia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ljubešic, Marta; Šimleša, Sanja

    2016-01-01

    This article explains early childhood inclusion in Croatia from its beginnings up to challenges in current policy and practice. The first preschool education for children with disabilities dates back to the 1980s and was provided in special institutions. In the last 10 years, mainstream kindergartens have been enrolling children with disabilities…

  7. Mediated Pathways from Maternal Depression and Early Parenting to Children's Executive Function and Externalizing Behaviour Problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Claire; Kuhn, Laura

    2018-01-01

    Structural equation models were used to examine pathways from maternal depression and early parenting to children's executive function (EF) and externalizing behaviours in the first nationally representative study to obtain direct assessments of children's kindergarten EF skills (i.e., the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of…

  8. Kindergarten risk factors, cognitive factors, and teacher judgments as predictors of early reading in Dutch.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gijsel, Martine A R; Bosman, Anna M T; Verhoeven, Ludo

    2006-01-01

    This study focused on the predictive value of risk factors, cognitive factors, and teachers' judgments in a sample of 462 kindergartners for their early reading skills and reading failure at the beginning of Grade 1. With respect to risk factors, enrollment in speech-language therapy, history of dyslexia or speech-language problems in the family, and the role of gender were considered. None of these risk factors were significantly related to reading performance. Cognitive factors in this study included letter knowledge, rapid naming ability, and nonword repetition skills. Of these skills, letter knowledge seemed to have the highest correlation with reading. Kindergarten teachers' judgments, including a task assignment scale and teachers' predictions, demonstrated a significant relationship with reading. Finally, to judge whether these predictors could identify reading disabilities, the discriminatory power of all predictors was assessed and appeared to be insufficient. Implications for screening purposes are discussed.

  9. Addressing False Positives in Early Reading Assessment Using Intervention Response Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    McAlenney, Athena Lentini; Coyne, Michael D.

    2015-01-01

    The current study examined a solution to high false positive reading risk classification rates in early kindergarten by investigating a method of identifying students with possible false positive risk classifications and returning them to general classroom instruction. Researchers assessed kindergarten students (N = 105) identified as at risk who…

  10. Early Identification of Reading Comprehension Difficulties

    Science.gov (United States)

    Catts, Hugh W.; Nielsen, Diane Corcoran; Bridges, Mindy Sittner; Liu, Yi-Syuan

    2016-01-01

    Most research on early identification of reading disabilities has focused on word reading problems and little attention has been given to reading comprehension difficulties. In this study, we investigated whether measures of language ability and/or response to language intervention in kindergarten uniquely predicted reading comprehension…

  11. 77 FR 52702 - Notice of Submission for OMB Review; Institute of Education Sciences; Early Childhood...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-08-30

    ... child development, early learning, and school progress, drawing together information from multiple... child development, early learning, and school progress, drawing together information from multiple... children's early school experiences beginning with kindergarten and continuing through the fifth grade. It...

  12. Early warnings : a phenomenon in project management

    OpenAIRE

    Nikander, Ilmari O.

    2002-01-01

    The emergence of Concurrent Engineering has caused growing demands on project management. The classic project management methods are often slow: problems may already exist when those methods are applied. The objective of the present study is to improve the opportunities of those responsible for a project's operational management to receive advance information about potential problems and final results through early warnings typical of the theory of weak signals by Igor Ansoff. The researc...

  13. The Food Early Warning System Project in Somalia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leblanc, M.

    1992-01-01

    Full Text Available The article describes shortly the objectives of a Food Early Warning System (FEWS project, as well as its organisation. The specifie case of Somalia, where the project had to evolve in increasingly difficult situations, and the solutions used so as to preserve the output, are described.

  14. Foundations of Mathematics Achievement: Instructional Practices and Diverse Kindergarten Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bottia, Martha Cecilia; Moller, Stephanie; Mickelson, Roslyn Arlin; Stearns, Elizabeth

    2014-01-01

    Analyzing Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey--Kindergarten (ECLS-K) data, we examine how exposure to instructional practices influences math test scores at the end of kindergarten for children from different racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, and for children with different levels of math skills at kindergarten entry. We also analyze…

  15. Project of intercultural education in kindergarten

    OpenAIRE

    Erman, Mojca

    2015-01-01

    Third year students have been performing in winter semester a project called intercultural education in language and ethnically heterogeneous classes. Project was performed in kindergarten Šentvid, unit Sapramiška. The purpose of this project was to raise awareness of children about acceptation or not acceptation of difference, to promote awareness of their own diversity with social games and to strengthen the ethical judgment using an inductive approach (Kroflič, 2007). I have followed and e...

  16. The Effects of Head Start on Children's Kindergarten Retention, Reading and Math Achievement in Fall Kindergarten--An Application of Propensity Score Method and Sensitivity Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Nianbo

    2009-01-01

    Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K), this paper applied optimal propensity score matching method to evaluate the effects of Head Start on children's kindergarten retention, reading and math achievement in fall kindergarten comparing with center-based care. Both parametric and nonparametric…

  17. Early-Years Absenteeism Seen as Critical

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sparks, Sarah D.

    2010-01-01

    While efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism typically focus on adolescents, experts say that the early grades are the place to start. Statistics show that rates of absenteeism in kindergarten and 1st grade can rival those in high school. An average of one in 10 pupils in grades K-12 nationwide is considered chronically absent, defined as missing…

  18. Early literacy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Anders Skriver

    2012-01-01

    This paper discusses findings from the Danish contribution to the EASE project, a European research project running from 2008 to 2010 on early literacy in relation to the transition from childcare to school. It explores a holistic, inclusive approach to early literacy that resists a narrow...... and schools. The paper also draws on Gee’s (2001, 2003, 2004, 2008) sociocultural approach to literacy, and Honneth’s (2003, 2006) concept of recognition. Emphasizing participation and recognition as key elements, it claims that stakeholders in early liter- acy must pay attention to how diverse early literacy...... opportunities empower children, especially when these opportunities are employed in a project-based learning environ- ment in which each child is able to contribute to the shared literacy events....

  19. The Role of Computer Technology in Supporting Children's Learning in Jordanian Early Years Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alkhawaldeh, Mustafa; Hyassat, Mizyed; Al-Zboon, Eman; Ahmad, Jamal

    2017-01-01

    The current research investigated early years teachers' perspectives regarding the role of computer technology in supporting children's learning in Jordanian kindergartens. Thirty semistructured interviews were conducted with preschool teachers. The sample of kindergartens in this study was purposefully selected from the targeted population of…

  20. Quality Early Education and Child Care From Birth to Kindergarten.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donoghue, Elaine A

    2017-08-01

    High-quality early education and child care for young children improves physical and cognitive outcomes for the children and can result in enhanced school readiness. Preschool education can be viewed as an investment (especially for at-risk children), and studies show a positive return on that investment. Barriers to high-quality early childhood education include inadequate funding and staff education as well as variable regulation and enforcement. Steps that have been taken to improve the quality of early education and child care include creating multidisciplinary, evidence-based child care practice standards; establishing state quality rating and improvement systems; improving federal and state regulations; providing child care health consultation; as well as initiating other innovative partnerships. Pediatricians have a role in promoting quality early education and child care for all children not only in the medical home but also at the community, state, and national levels. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

  1. Preschool Predictors of Kindergarten Language Outcomes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anne Walk

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the present study is to explore a variety of cognitive and social variables which are most relevant to children’s linguistic success in an educational setting. The study examines kindergarten English language outcomes in classrooms containing monolingual English speaking children and bilingual children who speak English and one other language. Data from the National Center for Early Development and Learning Multistate Study of Pre-Kindergarten (2001-2003 regarding classroom and student characteristics were used for bilingual (N = 120 and monolingual (N = 534 children. Hierarchical regression analysis (Study 1 and path analysis (Study 2 were conducted to determine the cognitive and social variables present in preschool that are most predictive of English skills in kindergarten. The results of the studies demonstrate that social variables were important for both monolingual and bilingual children. Personality variables were more predictive for monolingual children, whereas teacher relationship variables were more important for bilingual children. Simple and routine adult interaction was predictive of English skills in both groups, which may indicate the importance of implicit learning over explicit instruction in early language acquisition. The present studies found different predictors of English language skills for monolingual and bilingual kindergarteners.

  2. Implementing Effective Mission Systems Engineering Practices During Early Project Formulation Phases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moton, Tryshanda

    2016-01-01

    Developing and implementing a plan for a NASA space mission can be a complicated process. The needs, goals, and objectives of any proposed mission or technology must be assessed early in the Project Life Cycle. The key to successful development of a space mission or flight project is the inclusion of systems engineering in early project formulation, namely during Pre-phase A, Phase A, and Phase B of the NASA Project Life Cycle. When a space mission or new technology is in pre-development, or "pre-Formulation", feasibility must be determined based on cost, schedule, and risk. Inclusion of system engineering during project formulation is key because in addition to assessing feasibility, design concepts are developed and alternatives to design concepts are evaluated. Lack of systems engineering involvement early in the project formulation can result in increased risks later in the implementation and operations phases of the project. One proven method for effective systems engineering practice during the pre-Formulation Phase is the use of a mission conceptual design or technology development laboratory, such as the Mission Design Lab (MDL) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). This paper will review the engineering process practiced routinely in the MDL for successful mission or project development during the pre-Formulation Phase.

  3. Proposal of the childcare conference using TEM.:Kindergarten teachers pay his attention to the emotion sharing process and its strategy.

    OpenAIRE

    香曽我部, 琢

    2014-01-01

    In this study, kindergarten teachers perform the early childhood education conference quoting TEM(Trajectory Equifinality Model) in order to share the emotion, and kindergarten teachers clarify the process of sharing the emotion based on the language data to examine the meaning. Specifically, the methods of new early childhood education conference are shown to kindergarten teachers and the language data in the early childhood education conference performed is analyzed by focusing on sharing o...

  4. The human early-life exposome (HELIX): project rationale and design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vrijheid, Martine; Slama, Rémy; Robinson, Oliver; Chatzi, Leda; Coen, Muireann; van den Hazel, Peter; Thomsen, Cathrine; Wright, John; Athersuch, Toby J; Avellana, Narcis; Basagaña, Xavier; Brochot, Celine; Bucchini, Luca; Bustamante, Mariona; Carracedo, Angel; Casas, Maribel; Estivill, Xavier; Fairley, Lesley; van Gent, Diana; Gonzalez, Juan R; Granum, Berit; Gražulevičienė, Regina; Gutzkow, Kristine B; Julvez, Jordi; Keun, Hector C; Kogevinas, Manolis; McEachan, Rosemary R C; Meltzer, Helle Margrete; Sabidó, Eduard; Schwarze, Per E; Siroux, Valérie; Sunyer, Jordi; Want, Elizabeth J; Zeman, Florence; Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J

    2014-06-01

    Developmental periods in early life may be particularly vulnerable to impacts of environmental exposures. Human research on this topic has generally focused on single exposure-health effect relationships. The "exposome" concept encompasses the totality of exposures from conception onward, complementing the genome. The Human Early-Life Exposome (HELIX) project is a new collaborative research project that aims to implement novel exposure assessment and biomarker methods to characterize early-life exposure to multiple environmental factors and associate these with omics biomarkers and child health outcomes, thus characterizing the "early-life exposome." Here we describe the general design of the project. In six existing birth cohort studies in Europe, HELIX will estimate prenatal and postnatal exposure to a broad range of chemical and physical exposures. Exposure models will be developed for the full cohorts totaling 32,000 mother-child pairs, and biomarkers will be measured in a subset of 1,200 mother-child pairs. Nested repeat-sampling panel studies (n = 150) will collect data on biomarker variability, use smartphones to assess mobility and physical activity, and perform personal exposure monitoring. Omics techniques will determine molecular profiles (metabolome, proteome, transcriptome, epigenome) associated with exposures. Statistical methods for multiple exposures will provide exposure-response estimates for fetal and child growth, obesity, neurodevelopment, and respiratory outcomes. A health impact assessment exercise will evaluate risks and benefits of combined exposures. HELIX is one of the first attempts to describe the early-life exposome of European populations and unravel its relation to omics markers and health in childhood. As proof of concept, it will form an important first step toward the life-course exposome.

  5. Early Language and Reading Development of Bilingual Preschoolers From Low-Income Families.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hammer, Carol Scheffner; Miccio, Adele W

    2006-01-01

    Learning to read is a complex process and a number of factors affect a child's success in beginning reading. This complexity increases when a child's home language differs from that of the school and when the child comes from a home with limited economic resources. This article discusses factors that have been shown to contribute to children's success in early reading, namely-phonological awareness, letter-word identification, oral language, and the home literacy environment. Preliminary evidence suggests that bilingual children from low-income backgrounds initially perform poorly on phonological awareness and letter identification tasks, but appear to acquire these abilities quickly in kindergarten once these abilities are emphasized in early reading instruction. In addition, the findings show that bilingual preschoolers' receptive language abilities in English and Spanish positively impact their early letter-word identification abilities at the end of kindergarten. A positive relationship between bilingual preschoolers' home literacy environment and early reading outcomes has not been found to date. Educational implications for serving young, bilingual children from programs such as Head Start are discussed.

  6. Is Kindergarten the New First Grade?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daphna Bassok

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Recent accounts suggest that accountability pressures have trickled down into the early elementary grades and that kindergarten today is characterized by a heightened focus on academic skills and a reduction in opportunities for play. This paper compares public school kindergarten classrooms between 1998 and 2010 using two large, nationally representative data sets. We show substantial changes in each of the five dimensions considered: kindergarten teachers’ beliefs about school readiness, time spent on academic and nonacademic content, classroom organization, pedagogical approach, and use of standardized assessments. Kindergarten teachers in the later period held far higher academic expectations for children both prior to kindergarten entry and during the kindergarten year. They devoted more time to advanced literacy and math content, teacher-directed instruction, and assessment and substantially less time to art, music, science, and child-selected activities.

  7. Making the Case for Early Identification and Intervention for Young Children at Risk for Learning Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steele, Marcee M.

    2004-01-01

    The early identification of children with learning disabilities (LD) is difficult but can be accomplished. Observation of key behaviors which are indicators of LD by preschool and kindergarten teachers can assist in this process. This early identification facilitates the use of intervention strategies to provide a positive early experience for…

  8. Early phonological skills as a predictor of reading acquisition: a follow-up study from kindergarten to the middle of grade 2.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sprugevica, Ieva; Høien, Torleiv

    2003-04-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the power of early measures of phonological skills (phonemic awareness, rapid naming, short-term memory) in predicting later reading skills at various points of time. About 70 children were followed from the end of kindergarten to the middle of grade 2. Correlation analyses were performed as well as a linear growth curve analyses. In the traditional regression analysis, phonemic awareness in kindergarten explained about 27% of the variance in word reading six months later and about 9.5% of the variance at the end of grade 1. Even when prior level of reading skill was included in the predictive equation, a significant amount of variance was still explained by phonemic awareness. The other predictor variables did not explain any variance in word reading, and phonemic awareness did not predict any variance in reading skills in grade 2. When using sentence reading as the dependent variable, phonemic awareness explained about 16% of unique variance after six months, and about 13% of the variance in the middle of grade 2. Similarly, when employing growth curve analysis, phonemic awareness was the only phonological factor that accounted for significant variance in the word reading slope, explaining about 25% of its variance, whereas naming and short-term memory did not explain any unique variance. The lack of predictive power of phonemic awareness on the sentence b-slope is assumed to be caused by unreliable sentence scores in kindergarten.

  9. Kindergarten Attendance and Readiness for Baltimore's Class of 2027. Policy Brief

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grigg, Jeffrey; Connolly, Faith; D'Souza, Stephanie; Mitchell, Charlie

    2016-01-01

    This brief examines kindergarten readiness and attendance in kindergarten for children enrolled in publicly provided early education programs as well as similar children who entered kindergarten without enrolling in these programs. Key findings detail the effects for children if they were enrolled for at least 90 calendar days as a three- or…

  10. Early cost estimating for road construction projects using multiple regression techniques

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ibrahim Mahamid

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study is to develop early cost estimating models for road construction projects using multiple regression techniques, based on 131 sets of data collected in the West Bank in Palestine. As the cost estimates are required at early stages of a project, considerations were given to the fact that the input data for the required regression model could be easily extracted from sketches or scope definition of the project. 11 regression models are developed to estimate the total cost of road construction project in US dollar; 5 of them include bid quantities as input variables and 6 include road length and road width. The coefficient of determination r2 for the developed models is ranging from 0.92 to 0.98 which indicate that the predicted values from a forecast models fit with the real-life data. The values of the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE of the developed regression models are ranging from 13% to 31%, the results compare favorably with past researches which have shown that the estimate accuracy in the early stages of a project is between ±25% and ±50%.

  11. Early Childhood Predictors of Post-Kindergarten Executive Function: Behavior, Parent Report, and Psychophysiology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cuevas, Kimberly; Hubble, Morgan; Bell, Martha Ann

    2012-01-01

    Research Findings: This study examined whether children's executive functions before kindergarten would predict variance in executive functions after kindergarten. We obtained behavioral (working memory task performance), parent-reported (temperament-based inhibitory control), and psychophysiological (working memory-related changes in heart rate…

  12. Radon concentrations in Norwegian kindergartens: survey planning and preliminary results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Birovljev, A.; Strand, T.; Heiberg, A.

    1998-01-01

    An extensive radon survey in Norwegian kindergartens and schools was started in early 1997; so far 2481 kindergartens were examined. Preliminary results of the first phase of the survey are presented in tabular and graphic form including, among others, the dependence of average radon concentration on the construction year of the kindergartens and on the age of the buildings. (A.K.)

  13. Preschool Participation and BMI at Kindergarten Entry: The Case for Early Behavioral Intervention

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meghan E. McGrady

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Preschool years (ages 3–5 are a critical period in growth and development. Emerging studies suggest that preschool attendance may be linked to future weight, and perhaps obesity. This study examined relationships between public preschool attendance, demographic variables, and weight at kindergarten entry. Participants included 2,400 children entering kindergarten in 2006. Height and weight were used to calculate a child's BMI category based on CDC norms. At kindergarten entry, 17% of participants were overweight, and 18% were obese. Children attending a public preschool were at an increased risk for overweight (OR=1.06 and obesity (OR=1.34 at kindergarten entry, χ2(2=6.81, P=.03 relative to children who did not attend preschool. No significant trends relationships between demographics and weight status were found, but demographic variables are summarized descriptively. Policy and clinical implications are provided.

  14. Cluster (school) RCT of ParentCorps: impact on kindergarten academic achievement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brotman, Laurie Miller; Dawson-McClure, Spring; Calzada, Esther J; Huang, Keng-Yen; Kamboukos, Dimitra; Palamar, Joseph J; Petkova, Eva

    2013-05-01

    To evaluate the impact of an early childhood, family-centered, school-based intervention on children's kindergarten academic achievement. This was a cluster (school) randomized controlled trial with assessments from pre-kindergarten (pre-k) entry through the end of kindergarten. The setting was 10 public elementary schools with 26 pre-k classes in 2 school districts in urban disadvantaged neighborhoods serving a largely black, low-income population. Participants were 1050 black and Latino, low-income children (age 4; 88% of pre-k population) enrolled in 10 schools over 4 years. Universal intervention aimed to promote self-regulation and early learning by strengthening positive behavior support and effective behavior management at home and school, and increasing parent involvement in education. Intervention included after-school group sessions for families of pre-k students (13 2-hour sessions; co-led by pre-k teachers) and professional development for pre-k and kindergarten teachers. The outcome measures were standardized test scores of kindergarten reading, writing, and math achievement by independent evaluators masked to intervention condition (primary outcome); developmental trajectories of teacher-rated academic performance from pre-k through kindergarten (secondary outcome). Relative to children in control schools, children in intervention schools had higher kindergarten achievement test scores (Cohen's d = 0.18, mean difference = 2.64, SE = 0.90, P = .03) and higher teacher-rated academic performance (Cohen's d = 0.25, mean difference = 5.65, SE = 2.34, P = .01). Early childhood population-level intervention that enhances both home and school environments shows promise to advance academic achievement among minority children from disadvantaged, urban neighborhoods.

  15. Artful Dodgers: An Arts Education Research Project in Early Education Settings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayes, Nóirín; Maguire, Jackie; Corcoran, Lucie; O'Sullivan, Carmel

    2017-01-01

    Artful Dodgers is an arts education project developed by two artists and delivered in two early years settings located in two areas of urban disadvantage. It is a music and visual arts programme designed and implemented with early years teachers of children aged 3-5 years. It explored whether the provision of high-quality arts experiences could…

  16. Predicting First Grade Reading Achievement for Spanish-Speaking Kindergartners: Is Early Literacy Screening in English Valid?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ford, Karen L.; Invernizzi, Marcia A.; Huang, Francis

    2014-01-01

    This study explored the viability of using kindergarten measures of phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and orthographic knowledge, administered in English, to predict first grade reading achievement of Spanish-speaking English language learners. The primary research question was: Do kindergarten measures of early literacy skills in…

  17. SEL/Project Language. Level II, Kindergarten, Volume II (Lessons 17-32).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valladares, Ann E.; And Others

    This curriculum guide contains the Southeastern Education Laboratory/Project Language Lessons 17-32 stressing listening, speaking, and reading readiness for disadvantaged kindergarten children. The lessons are designed to be used in the SEL's mobile preschool units or as readiness materials for kindergarten. The major emphasis of this intervention…

  18. Teacher Development: A Comparative Study of Early Childhood Teachers in Their First Year of Teaching 1988-90.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clyde, Margaret; Ebbeck, M. A.

    A study of graduates of the de Lissa Institute of Early Childhood Studies and the School of Early Childhood Studies (SECS) at the University of Melbourne in Australia identified changes in the professional attitudes of teachers during their first year of teaching. Early childhood teachers working in junior primary schools, preschool kindergartens,…

  19. Investigating the incremental validity of cognitive variables in early mathematics screening.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarke, Ben; Shanley, Lina; Kosty, Derek; Baker, Scott K; Cary, Mari Strand; Fien, Hank; Smolkowski, Keith

    2018-03-26

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the incremental validity of a set of domain general cognitive measures added to a traditional screening battery of early numeracy measures. The sample consisted of 458 kindergarten students of whom 285 were designated as severely at-risk for mathematics difficulty. Hierarchical multiple regression results indicated that Wechsler Abbreviated Scales of Intelligence (WASI) Matrix Reasoning and Vocabulary subtests, and Digit Span Forward and Backward measures explained a small, but unique portion of the variance in kindergarten students' mathematics performance on the Test of Early Mathematics Ability-Third Edition (TEMA-3) when controlling for Early Numeracy Curriculum Based Measurement (EN-CBM) screening measures (R² change = .01). Furthermore, the incremental validity of the domain general cognitive measures was relatively stronger for the severely at-risk sample. We discuss results from the study in light of instructional decision-making and note the findings do not justify adding domain general cognitive assessments to mathematics screening batteries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  20. Arizona Twin Project: a focus on early resilience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn; Clifford, Sierra; McDonald, Kristy; O'Brien, T Caitlin; Valiente, Carlos

    2013-02-01

    The Arizona Twin Project is an ongoing longitudinal study designed to elucidate the genetic and environmental influences underlying the development of early competence and resilience to common mental and physical health problems during infancy and childhood. Participants are a sample of 600 twins (25% Hispanic) recruited from birth records in the state of Arizona, United States. Primary caregivers were interviewed on twins' development and early social environments when twins were 12 and 30 months of age. Measures include indices of prenatal and obstetrical risk coded from hospital medical records, as well as primary caregiver-report questionnaires assessing multiple indicators of environmental risk and resilience (e.g., parental warmth and control, family and social support), twins' developmental maturity, temperament, health, behavior problems, and competencies. Preliminary findings highlight the importance of the early environment for infant and toddler health and well-being, both directly and as a moderator of genetic influences. Future directions include a third longitudinal assessment in middle childhood examining daily bidirectional relations between sleep, health behaviors, stress, and mood.

  1. Remedial early numeracy education: can children identified as having a language deficiency benefit?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Luit, Johannes E H; Toll, Sylke W M

    2015-01-01

    Growing attention has been paid to the possibility of supporting early numeracy in at-risk kindergartners. Furthermore, it is assumed that language proficiency is an important prerequisite in early maths skills. To examine whether remedial early numeracy education in kindergarten, which has been proven to be effective in general, is also beneficial for children with a language deficiency. Based on intensive selection, four different conditions were included: two groups received remedial education, one consisting of children being language proficient (N = 86) and one of children with a language deficiency (N = 26), and two groups followed the regular curriculum, one consisting of children being language proficient (N = 51) and one of children with a language deficiency (N = 24). Remedial education was for 1.5 school years (90 sessions, 30 min per session, twice per week), following the programme 'The Road to Mathematics'. During this period, the children receiving remedial education did not attend the regular maths lessons in the classroom, which were offered for at least 1 h per week. Effects were assessed for early numeracy and mathematical skills (operationalized as basic calculation fluency) in kindergarten and first grade. Three analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) revealed that, when accounting for achievement at pre-test, children with a language deficiency who received remedial numeracy education performed better on early numeracy skills in kindergarten and first grade than kindergartners with a language deficiency that followed the regular curriculum. Furthermore, they were able to catch up with their language proficient peers in early numeracy. However, children with a language deficiency who received remedial numeracy education did not differ from children who followed the regular curriculum on mathematical skills, suggesting that benefits for numeracy did not generalize to more advanced skills of addition and subtraction. Since, in general, it can be

  2. The OBELIX project: early life exposure to endocrine disruptors and obesity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Legler, Juliette; Hamers, Timo; van Eck van der Sluijs-van de Bor, Margot; Schoeters, Greet; van der Ven, Leo; Eggesbo, Merete; Koppe, Janna; Feinberg, Max; Trnovec, Tomas

    2011-12-01

    The hypothesis of whether early life exposure (both pre- and early postnatal) to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may be a risk factor for obesity and related metabolic diseases later in life will be tested in the European research project OBELIX (OBesogenic Endocrine disrupting chemicals: LInking prenatal eXposure to the development of obesity later in life). OBELIX is a 4-y project that started in May 2009 and which has the following 5 main objectives: 1) to assess early life exposure in humans to major classes of EDCs identified as potential inducers of obesity (ie, dioxin-like compounds, non-dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides, brominated flame retardants, phthalates, and perfluorinated compounds) by using mother-child cohorts from 4 European regions with different food-contaminant exposure patterns; 2) to relate early life exposure to EDCs with clinical markers, novel biomarkers, and health-effect data related to obesity; 3) to perform hazard characterization of early life exposure to EDCs for the development of obesity later in life by using a mouse model; 4) to determine mechanisms of action of obesogenic EDCs on developmental programming with in vivo and in vitro genomics and epigenetic analyses; and 5) to perform risk assessments of prenatal exposure to obesogenic EDCs in food by integrating maternal exposure through food-contaminant exposure and health-effect data in children and hazard data in animal studies.

  3. ANALYSIS OF FORECASTING METHODS FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF EARLY WARNING CONCEPT IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Florin POPESCU

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Early warning system (EWS based on a reliable forecasting process has become a critical component of the management of large complex industrial projects in the globalized transnational environment. The purpose of this research is to critically analyze the forecasting methods from the point of view of early warning, choosing those useful for the construction of EWS. This research addresses complementary techniques, using Bayesian Networks, which addresses both uncertainties and causality in project planning and execution, with the goal of generating early warning signals for project managers. Even though Bayesian networks have been widely used in a range of decision-support applications, their application as early warning systems for project management is still new.

  4. Development of environmental education in the Korean kindergarten context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Keum Ho

    Many environmental educators insist that environmental education (EE) should be started from a young age. The Korean Ministry of Education (1999) has also emphasized the importance of environmental education in early childhood by including content and objectives regarding EE in the 1999 National Curriculum of Kindergarten. However, many Korean kindergarten teachers do not sufficiently implement environmental education in their teaching practice. To address this issue, this study aimed at investigating and overcoming barriers to fully implement EE in the Korean kindergarten context. Four experienced Korean kindergarten teachers were involved in a fourteen-week critical action research project that included weekly group meetings. At these group meetings, teachers reflected on the barriers preventing the full implementation of EE in their classrooms and discussed possible environmental education actions to be attempted in the following week. These actions, individually implemented in teachers' classrooms, were reviewed at subsequent group meetings. Data from group meetings and teacher lessons were used to analyze the effectiveness of this critical action research project for developing environmental education. At the beginning stages of this study, Korean kindergarten teachers felt strongly uncomfortable participating in group communication. However, through the continuous encouragement of the researcher and with the involvement of participants who have similar educational backgrounds, age, and working experiences, participants came to actively engage in group communication. Participants in this study identified the following barriers to fully implement EE in kindergartens: insufficient understandings and awareness of EE, reluctant attitudes towards the environment, lack of educational support and resources, low parental involvement, and discomfort about going on a field trip to environments. Teachers came to understand the importance, objectives, potential topics

  5. Social Studies, Social Competence and Citizenship in Early Childhood Education: Developmental Principles Guide Appropriate Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kemple, Kristen M.

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to examine the nature of appropriate social studies education in the Kindergarten and Pre-Kindergarten years. The importance of social competence development as a basic foundation of the social studies in the early years of schooling is examined, with particular attention to the commonalities shared between goals and…

  6. Young Children's Computer Skills Development from Kindergarten to Third Grade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sackes, Mesut; Trundle, Kathy Cabe; Bell, Randy L.

    2011-01-01

    This investigation explores young children's computer skills development from kindergarten to third grade using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten (ECLS-K) dataset. The sample size of the study was 8642 children. Latent growth curve modeling analysis was used as an analytical tool to examine the development of children's computer…

  7. Genetic Moderation of Early Child-Care Effects on Social Functioning Across Childhood: A Developmental Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belsky, Jay; Pluess, Michael

    2013-01-01

    Data from 508 Caucasian children in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development shows that the DRD4 (but not 5-HTTLPR) polymorphism moderates the effect of child-care quality (but not quantity or type) on caregiver-reported externalizing problems at 54 months and in kindergarten and teacher-reported social skills at kindergarten and…

  8. Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K): Combined User's Manual for the ECLS-K Eighth-Grade and K-8 Full Sample Data Files and Electronic Codebooks. NCES 2009-004

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tourangeau, Karen; Nord, Christine; Le, Thanh; Sorongon, Alberto G.; Najarian, Michelle

    2009-01-01

    This manual provides guidance and documentation for users of the eighth-grade data of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K). It begins with an overview of the ECLS-K study. Subsequent chapters provide details on the instruments and measures used, the sample design, weighting procedures, response rates, data…

  9. The impact of speech and language problems in kindergarten on academic learning and special education status in grade three.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janus, Magdalena; Labonté, Chantal; Kirkpatrick, Ryan; Davies, Scott; Duku, Eric

    2017-11-24

    This study addressed the implications of experiencing early speech-language pathologies (SLPs) in kindergarten on special education needs (SEN) and academic outcomes in grade three. Early Development Instrument (EDI) kindergarten data on development and the presence or absence of SLPs were matched with grade three school-system standardised tests of reading, writing and maths, and SEN classification in Ontario, Canada for 59 015 students. Children were classified as having a Persistent speech language pathology (SLP), Remittent SLP, Latent SEN or as a typically developing Control. Even though 72.3% of children's SLPs remitted by grade three, kindergarten SLPs conveyed higher likelihood of having an SEN, and of lower achievement levels in grade three. The degree of impact varied between Persistent and Remittent groups. Children in the Latent group had lower scores in kindergarten on all five EDI domains than Control children. These population level results provide strong evidence to indicate that all children who present with an SLP in kindergarten face further academic challenges, even if their SLP resolves over time. Findings have implications for early intervention and treatment for children with early SLPs.

  10. Creating Relational Spaces: Everyday Spirituality in Early Childhood Settings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bone, Jane

    2008-01-01

    This research addressed the question of how the spiritual experience of young children might be supported in early childhood educational settings. Qualitative case study research took place in three different contexts: a Montessori casa, a Rudolf Steiner kindergarten and a private preschool. Children aged 2 1/2-6 years, their parents and teachers…

  11. Story interpretation and its influence to child in early school

    OpenAIRE

    Kitanova, Irena

    2015-01-01

    One of the most beautiful reading-pice for education with ethical and esthetical value for the children in the early child education at the family and in the kindergarten is the story. The story has big importance for education process in early childhood and for the school period of child development. As a meter of fact on that age with specifically language and statement the story offers possibility to see the beauty of art expression, to wake up the esthetical sense and with that procedure ...

  12. An Evaluation of Early Education Based on Physical Environmental Guidelines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Donna J. Satterlee

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The integration of environmental policies with political support for action on these policies is of prime significance for mobilization and progression of improving indoor environments. However, state licensing agencies and local county ordinances for child care centers do not universally follow these policies and standards. As a result, most early childhood educational programs operate without proper indoor environments. Indoor air quality, temperature, ventilation, daylighting, and acoustics are crucial factors for educational settings in early childhood education. This study documents the physical environment in early childhood education centers in three counties in Maryland. Results indicate that building performance and indoor air quality standards vary according to the socioeconomic status of children who attend early childhood programs, and environmental factors correlate with educational achievement (as measured by kindergarten readiness scores.

  13. The Construction Site Project: Transforming Early Childhood Teacher Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    McNaughton, Kathryn; Krentz, Caroline

    2007-01-01

    The work of Malaguzzi (in Edwards, Gandini, & Forman, 1998; Fraser, 2006) has made the fundamentals of the preschools of Reggio Emilia familiar to many early childhood educators. The article describes an authentic project that enhanced undergraduate and postgraduate participants' understanding of the impact of collaboration, conversation, and…

  14. Preparing beginning reading teachers: An experimental comparison of initial early literacy field experiences

    OpenAIRE

    Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Lake, Vickie E.; Greulich, Luana; Folsom, Jessica S.; Guidry, Lisa

    2012-01-01

    This randomized-control trial examined the learning of preservice teachers taking an initial Early Literacy course in an early childhood education program and of the kindergarten or first grade students they tutored in their field experience. Preservice teachers were randomly assigned to one of two tutoring programs: Book Buddies and Tutor Assisted Intensive Learning Strategies (TAILS), which provided identical meaning-focused instruction (shared book reading), but differed ...

  15. Measuring Pre-Kindergarten Teachers' Perceptions: Compliance with the High/Scope Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palenzuela, Silvia M.

    2004-01-01

    The research study examined the relationship between pre-kindergarten teachers' age and years of experience with their perceptions and their actual compliance with the norms of the High/Scope Pre-kindergarten Program. Teachers' perceptions of satisfaction with the supervisory relationship were measured by the Early Childhood Job Satisfaction…

  16. The Relationship Between Perceptual Egocentrism and Field Dependence in Early Childhood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowd, Alan D.

    1975-01-01

    Kindergarten children were administered tests of inductive reasoning and field dependence and a series of perceptual egocentrism tasks. Results confirm a positive relation between field dependence and perceptual egocentrism; they also question the validity of the field-dependence construct in early childhood. (GO)

  17. Moderating effects of executive functions and the teacher–child relationship on the development of mathematics ability in kindergarten

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blair, Clancy; McKinnon, Rachel D.

    2017-01-01

    Academic preparedness, executive function abilities, and positive relationships with teachers have each been shown to be uniquely important for school readiness and success in the early elementary grades. Few studies, however, have examined the joint influence of these readiness variables on early school outcomes. Using data from a prospective longitudinal sample of 1292 children and families in predominantly low-income and rural communities, we found that executive function at child age 48 months and a higher quality relationship with the kindergarten teacher each uniquely moderated the effect of math ability in preschool on math ability at the end of kindergarten. This effect was seen for math ability as measured by the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten (ECLS-K) mathematics assessment battery but not the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement Applied Problems subtest. For children with lower math ability in preschool as assessed by the ECLS-K Math battery, higher executive function abilities and a more positive relationship with the kindergarten teacher were each associated with a higher than expected level of math ability in kindergarten. Conversely, lowest levels of math ability in kindergarten were observed among children with low math ability in preschool and poor executive function or a less positive relationship with the kindergarten teacher. PMID:28154471

  18. Moderating effects of executive functions and the teacher-child relationship on the development of mathematics ability in kindergarten.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blair, Clancy; McKinnon, Rachel D

    2016-02-01

    Academic preparedness, executive function abilities, and positive relationships with teachers have each been shown to be uniquely important for school readiness and success in the early elementary grades. Few studies, however, have examined the joint influence of these readiness variables on early school outcomes. Using data from a prospective longitudinal sample of 1292 children and families in predominantly low-income and rural communities, we found that executive function at child age 48 months and a higher quality relationship with the kindergarten teacher each uniquely moderated the effect of math ability in preschool on math ability at the end of kindergarten. This effect was seen for math ability as measured by the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten (ECLS-K) mathematics assessment battery but not the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement Applied Problems subtest. For children with lower math ability in preschool as assessed by the ECLS-K Math battery, higher executive function abilities and a more positive relationship with the kindergarten teacher were each associated with a higher than expected level of math ability in kindergarten. Conversely, lowest levels of math ability in kindergarten were observed among children with low math ability in preschool and poor executive function or a less positive relationship with the kindergarten teacher.

  19. The TRIDEC Project: Future-Saving FOSS GIS Applications for Tsunami Early Warning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loewe, P.; Wächter, J.; Hammitzsch, M.

    2011-12-01

    The Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 killed over 240,000 people in 14 countries and inundated the affected shorelines with waves reaching heights up to 30m. This natural disaster coincided with an information catastrophy, as potentially life-saving early warning information existed, yet no means were available to deliver it to the communities under imminent threat. Tsunami Early Warning Capabilities have improved in the meantime by continuing development of modular Tsunami Early Warning Systems (TEWS). However, recent tsunami events, like the Chile 2010 and the Tohoku 2011 tsunami demonstrate that the key challenge for ongoing TEWS research on the supranational scale still lies in the timely issuing of reliable early warning messages. Since 2004, the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences has built up expertise in the field of TEWS. Within GFZ, the Centre for GeoInformation Technology (CEGIT) has focused its work on the geoinformatics aspects of TEWS in two projects already: The German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Distant Early Warning System (DEWS), a European project funded under the sixth Framework Programme (FP6). These developments are continued in the TRIDEC project (Collaborative, Complex, and Critical Decision Processes in Evolving Crises) funded under the European Union's seventh Framework Programme (FP7). This ongoing project focuses on real-time intelligent information management in Earth management and its long-term application. All TRIDEC developments are based on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) components and industry standards where-ever possible. Tsunami Early Warning in TRIDEC is also based on mature system architecture models to ensure long-term usability and the flexibility to adapt to future generations of Tsunami sensors. All open source software produced by the project consortium are foreseen to be published on FOSSLAB, a publicly available

  20. Invented spelling – a window on early literacy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elżbieta Awramiuk

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available A wide spectrum of research on preschool spelling development in different languages is presented. In Poland, children at kindergarten are usually at a stage of pre-literacy. Invented spelling means the writing produced by young children (aged 3–7 before they are formally taught reading and writing or are at the beginning of the learning process. Their writing is more spontaneous than learnt. The paper describes an investigation of the development of early literacy and factors influencing it, such as knowledge about orthography (spelling, early morphological awareness or teaching methods. Children’s early writing provides a window on their conceptualisation of the written language, illustrating the process of developing language awareness and spelling skills. Invented spelling, together with phonological abilities and letter knowledge is considered to be a strong predictor for later literacy skills.

  1. Screening Tools for Kindergarten Children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Georgia Kokkalia

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The current paper review gives a brief and representative description of some of the most used screening tools for kindergarten education. The significant role that early education plays in every child’s academic life is underlined by the importance of tools that give his learning profiles.  Therefore many researchers note that screening tools paly a notable role for the kindergarten teachers, the family and of course for the child in order to offer the appropriate intervention program, the proper support and draw the most suitable teaching method for the child and the class. Thus, the research team of this paper gives the description of some screening tools that are used by kindergarten teachers and specialist’s worldwide-with focus in Greek kindergarten- scoping to underlie strengths and weaknesses of preschoolers. Finally, it is thought worthwhile to say that the screening tools that are presented are used with the traditional way while some of them with the support of new technology.

  2. Improving decision making in the early phases of configuration projects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mortensen, Niels Henrik; Harlou, Ulf; Haug, Anders

    2008-01-01

    During the early phases of configuration projects very important decisions are made which will heavily influence the performance of the company, benefits in different functional areas (production, sales, purchase, product development, service etc), maintenance of the configuration system...

  3. Improving decision making in the early phases of configuration projects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mortensen, Niels Henrik; Hvam, Lars; Harlou, Ulf

    2011-01-01

    During the early phases of configuration projects very important decisions are made which will heavily influence the performance of the company, benefits in different functional areas (production, sales, purchase, product development, service etc), maintenance of the configuration system...

  4. Siting and early-stage project management of nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Kai; Li Guojin

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, difficulties and challenges facing in siting of nuclear power plant after Fukushima nuclear accident is introduced. The key points for siting are analyzed. The site characteristics related to nuclear safety and the evaluated methods are discussed. From project management perspective, main procedures and key points for the early-stage of a nuclear power project are described. (authors)

  5. Role of executive functioning and home environment in early reading development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Segers, P.C.J.; Damhuis, C.M.P.; Sande, E. van de; Verhoeven, L.T.W.

    2016-01-01

    We examined the role of executive functioning (EF) and home environment in the prediction of early reading development. In a longitudinal design, we followed 101 Dutch children from kindergarten to second grade. EF (attentional control, action control, short-term memory (STM)) and home factors

  6. Temperament in early childhood and peer interactions in third grade: the role of teacher-child relationships in early elementary grades.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rudasill, Kathleen Moritz; Niehaus, Kate; Buhs, Eric; White, Jamie M

    2013-12-01

    Children's interactions with peers in early childhood have been consistently linked to their academic and social outcomes. Although both child and classroom characteristics have been implicated as contributors to children's success, there has been scant research linking child temperament, teacher-child relationship quality, and peer interactions in the same study. The purpose of this study is to examine children's early temperament, rated at preschool age, as a predictor of interactions with peers (i.e., aggression, relational aggression, victimization, and prosociality) in third grade while considering teacher-child relationship quality in kindergarten through second grades as a moderator and mediator of this association. The sample (N=1364) was drawn from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Results from structural equation models indicated that teacher-child conflict in early elementary grades mediated links between children's temperament and later peer interactions. Findings underscore the importance of considering children's temperament traits and teacher-child relationship quality when examining the mechanisms of the development of peer interactions. © 2013.

  7. Latino Parental Involvement in Kindergarten: Findings from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durand, Tina M.

    2011-01-01

    Parental involvement in children's schooling is an important component of children's early school success. Few studies have examined this construct exclusively among Latino families. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K), the present investigation (N = 2,051) explored relations between Latino parents' home and school…

  8. Associations between Toddler-Age Communication and Kindergarten-Age Self-Regulatory Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aro, Tuija; Laakso, Marja-Leena; Määttä, Sira; Tolvanen, Asko; Poikkeus, Anna-Maija

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: In this study, the authors aimed at gaining understanding on the associations of different types of early language and communication profiles with later self-regulation skills by using longitudinal data from toddler age to kindergarten age. Method: Children with early language profiles representing expressive delay, broad delay (i.e.,…

  9. Parent Early Evaluation of Kids: PEEK Outreach Training Project. Final Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Squires, Jane; Twombly, Liz; Yockelson, Sue

    This report describes achievements and activities of the Parent Early Evaluation of Kids (PEEK) Outreach Project at the University of Oregon. This project focused on assisting state agencies, regional and tribal entities, and local health and education programs to develop comprehensive, low-cost systems for child-find and referral. Rural and inner…

  10. Transition to Kindergarten: Negative Associations between the Emotional Availability in Mother–Child Relationships and Elevated Cortisol Levels in Children with an Immigrant Background

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rickmeyer, Constanze; Lebiger-Vogel, Judith; Leuzinger-Bohleber, Marianne

    2017-01-01

    Background: The transition to child care is a challenging time in a child’s life and leads to elevated levels of cortisol. These elevations may be influenced by the quality of the mother–child relationship. However, remarkably little is known about cortisol production in response to the beginning of child care among children-at-risk such as children with an immigrant background. However, attending kindergarten or any other child day-care institution can for example have a compensating effect on potential language deficits thus improving the educational opportunities of these children. Method: Data of a subsample of N = 24 “hard-to-reach” mother–child dyads was collected in the context of the psychoanalytic early prevention project FIRST STEPS. The project focuses on the earliest integration of children with an immigrant background by supporting parenting capacities in the critical phase of migration and early parenthood. Children’s hair cortisol concentration (HCC) was assessed 1 week before (mean age = 38.77 months) and 3 months after kindergarten entry (mean age = 42.26 months). Hair analysis was conducted for both times of measurement, reflecting the first 3 months after kindergarten entry and 3 months prior. Furthermore, the emotional quality of the mother–child relationship was assessed with the help of the Emotional Availability Scales (EAS; Biringen, 2008) shortly before kindergarten entry when the children were about 3 years old (mean age = 37.2). Results and Conclusion: Children’s mean cumulated HCC was higher after kindergarten entry than before. The increase correlated negatively with several dimensions of the EAS. Repeated measures ANCOVA revealed that particularly responsive children and children who had experienced less intrusive mother–child relationships demonstrated lower elevations in HCC after kindergarten entry. Furthermore, a decreased EA score was found in all EA dimensions, besides the dimension “mother’s non

  11. Transition to Kindergarten: Negative Associations between the Emotional Availability in Mother–Child Relationships and Elevated Cortisol Levels in Children with an Immigrant Background

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Constanze Rickmeyer

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Background: The transition to child care is a challenging time in a child’s life and leads to elevated levels of cortisol. These elevations may be influenced by the quality of the mother–child relationship. However, remarkably little is known about cortisol production in response to the beginning of child care among children-at-risk such as children with an immigrant background. However, attending kindergarten or any other child day-care institution can for example have a compensating effect on potential language deficits thus improving the educational opportunities of these children.Method: Data of a subsample of N = 24 “hard-to-reach” mother–child dyads was collected in the context of the psychoanalytic early prevention project FIRST STEPS. The project focuses on the earliest integration of children with an immigrant background by supporting parenting capacities in the critical phase of migration and early parenthood. Children’s hair cortisol concentration (HCC was assessed 1 week before (mean age = 38.77 months and 3 months after kindergarten entry (mean age = 42.26 months. Hair analysis was conducted for both times of measurement, reflecting the first 3 months after kindergarten entry and 3 months prior. Furthermore, the emotional quality of the mother–child relationship was assessed with the help of the Emotional Availability Scales (EAS; Biringen, 2008 shortly before kindergarten entry when the children were about 3 years old (mean age = 37.2.Results and Conclusion: Children’s mean cumulated HCC was higher after kindergarten entry than before. The increase correlated negatively with several dimensions of the EAS. Repeated measures ANCOVA revealed that particularly responsive children and children who had experienced less intrusive mother–child relationships demonstrated lower elevations in HCC after kindergarten entry. Furthermore, a decreased EA score was found in all EA dimensions, besides the dimension

  12. A Path to Successful Energy Retrofits: Early Collaboration through Integrated Project Delivery Teams

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parrish, Kristen [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2012-10-01

    This document guides you through a process for the early design phases of retrofit projects to help you mitigate frustrations commonly experienced by building owners and designers. It outlines the value of forming an integrated project delivery team and developing a communication and information-sharing infrastructure that fosters collaboration. This guide does not present a complete process for designing an energy retrofit for a building. Instead, it focuses on the early design phase tasks related to developing and selecting energy efficiency measures (EEMs) that benefit from collaboration, and highlights the resulting advantages.

  13. SWARMS Early Trials Management for The SWARMs ECSEL-H2020 Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alcaraz, Daniel; Morales, Tania; Castro, Ayoze; Barrera, Carlos; Hernández, Joaquín; Llinás, Octavio

    2017-04-01

    The work presented on this paper is aimed to explain how the Early Trials of the Project SWARMS were managed in order to complete the first field demonstrations on real environment. SWARMs aims to reduce the operational cost in the use of maritime robots and vehicles, in order to increase the safety of tasks and reduce profesional divers risks. This will be achieved enabling the AUVs/ROVs to work in a cooperative mesh. The challenge is to design and develop an integrated platform (a set of Software/Hardware components), incorporated into the current generation of underwater vehicles in order to improve autonomy, cooperation, robustness, cost-effectiveness, and reliability of the offshore operations. The first demonstration of the project has been performed at PLOCAN (The Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands) where these technologies were validated on its first stage. The Early Trials have represented the first in situ deployment and test of the novel technologies developed during the initial 14 months of the Project. Going into the sea supposed a huge challenge also in terms of management. The 32 partners of SWARMS had very different requirements (logistics, technical needs, software/computation needs, etc.), and a limited time frame to test and prove their individual developments. In order to fullfill the project objectives, all these tests were divided in 7 missions that were aimed to cover this early demonstration requiements. From PLOCAN, a management protocol was designed in order to cover all the partners needs and make an efficient resource asignment from the begining. These results will be extended to other two demonstrations of the project that forseen to be held in Romania (2017) and Norway (2018).

  14. Nonmarital Fertility, Family Structure, and the Early School Achievement of Young Children from Different Race/Ethnic and Immigration Groups

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crosnoe, Robert; Wildsmith, Elizabeth

    2011-01-01

    Working from a life course perspective, this study examined the links between mothers' fertility and relationship statuses and children's early school achievement and how these links varied by race/ethnicity and immigration status. Analyses of nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort revealed…

  15. Influences of Family Involvement in Kindergarten Transition Activities on Children's Early School Adjustment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Jean; Horn, Eva M.; Palmer, Susan

    2017-01-01

    Transition to kindergarten can be a pivotal experience for children because of its potential long-term impact on school performance. As the importance of relationships among contextual factors surrounding a child has been recognized, many schools have made efforts to establish strong ties with families in order to make kindergarten transition…

  16. Developmental Delays in Executive Function from 3 to 5 Years of Age Predict Kindergarten Academic Readiness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willoughby, Michael T; Magnus, Brooke; Vernon-Feagans, Lynne; Blair, Clancy B

    Substantial evidence has established that individual differences in executive function (EF) in early childhood are uniquely predictive of children's academic readiness at school entry. The current study tested whether growth trajectories of EF across the early childhood period could be used to identify a subset of children who were at pronounced risk for academic impairment in kindergarten. Using data that were collected at the age 3, 4, and 5 home assessments in the Family Life Project ( N = 1,120), growth mixture models were used to identify 9% of children who exhibited impaired EF performance (i.e., persistently low levels of EF that did not show expected improvements across time). Compared to children who exhibited typical trajectories of EF, the delayed group exhibited substantial impairments in multiple indicators of academic readiness in kindergarten (Cohen's ds = 0.9-2.7; odds ratios = 9.8-23.8). Although reduced in magnitude following control for a range of socioeconomic and cognitive (general intelligence screener, receptive vocabulary) covariates, moderate-sized group differences remained (Cohen's ds = 0.2-2.4; odds ratios = 3.9-5.4). Results are discussed with respect to the use of repeated measures of EF as a method of early identification, as well as the resulting translational implications of doing so.

  17. Exploring teacher roles and pupil outcomes in technology-rich early literacy learning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cviko, Amina; McKenney, Susan; Voogt, Joke; Orey, Michael; Branch, Robert Maribe

    2015-01-01

    The present study focused on the involvement of Dutch kindergarten teachers in curriculum (design and) implementation of PictoPal activities in three different roles: executor-only, re-designer, and co-designer. PictoPal refers to ICT-rich on- and off-computer activities for early literacy. In the

  18. Center-Based Early Care and Education and Children's School Readiness: Do Impacts Vary by Neighborhood Poverty?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morrissey, Taryn W.; Vinopal, Katie

    2018-01-01

    Neighborhoods provide resources that may affect children's achievement or moderate the influences of other developmental contexts, such as early care and education (ECE). Using a sample (N ˜ 12,430) from the 2010-2011 Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort, merged with census tract-level poverty data from the 2008-2012 American…

  19. The Health and Wellbeing of Adults Working in Early Childhood Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGrath, Belinda J.; Huntington, Annette D.

    2007-01-01

    This article reports the results of a survey of 168 New Zealand early childhood workers and describes their health status, behaviours and concerns. The respondents included 73 childcare teachers, 58 kindergarten teachers and 37 home-based educators. Although 92 per cent of respondents reported that they had good or excellent health, statistically…

  20. How We Advocated for Gender Diversity in the Early Childhood Workforce

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janairo, Rolland R.; Holm, Just; Jordan, Theresa; Wright, Nida S.

    2010-01-01

    Men matter to young children. Furthermore, people can see that men care about children. Men are, in fact, rare in early education and care settings. Nationally, men comprise 5 percent of the child care workforce and 2.2 percent of preschool and kindergarten teachers. A representative, diverse workforce that promotes professional opportunities…

  1. What's Past is Prologue: Relations Between Early Mathematics Knowledge and High School Achievement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watts, Tyler W; Duncan, Greg J; Siegler, Robert S; Davis-Kean, Pamela E

    2014-10-01

    Although previous research has established the association between early-grade mathematics knowledge and later mathematics achievement, few studies have measured mathematical skills prior to school entry, nor have they investigated the predictive power of early gains in mathematics ability. The current paper relates mathematical skills measured at 54 months to adolescent mathematics achievement using multi-site longitudinal data. We find that preschool mathematics ability predicts mathematics achievement through age 15, even after accounting for early reading, cognitive skills, and family and child characteristics. Moreover, we find that growth in mathematical ability between age 54 months and first grade is an even stronger predictor of adolescent mathematics achievement. These results demonstrate the importance of pre-kindergarten mathematics knowledge and early math learning for later achievement.

  2. Parental Influence, School Readiness and Early Academic Achievement of African American Boys

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joe, Emanique M.; Davis, James Earl

    2009-01-01

    This study examined the relationship between parental influence and the school readiness of African American boys, using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: ECLS-K, Parents' influence, via their academic beliefs and behaviors, was associated with the cognitive performance of African American boys during kindergarten. While previous…

  3. Incorporating Early Learning Strategies in the School Improvement Grants (SIG) Program: How Three Schools Integrated Early Childhood Strategies into School Turnaround Efforts to Improve Instruction for All Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Connors-Tadros, Lori; Dunn, Lenay; Martella, Jana; McCauley, Carlas

    2015-01-01

    A significant body of research shows that achievement gaps evident in persistently low-performing schools, in many instances, manifest prior to children entering kindergarten. High-quality early learning programs have proven to demonstrate positive effects on closing academic gaps both for individual children and in the aggregate for the school.…

  4. Early Involvement and Integration in Construction Projects: The Benefits of DfX in Elimination of Wastes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heikki Halttula

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Typical construction processes provide waste: material waste but especially process-related waste. The majority of this waste can be avoided with efficient planning in the front end of projects. The main aim is to describe how the concept of Design for Excellence (DfX can reduce the most severe waste in construction projects. Based on a literature review of waste and requirements that aid early involvement and integration, we created a survey for analyzing and prioritizing types of waste in the construction industry. We describe how DFX reduces this waste, especially through the use of early involvement and integration. When applied, DfX creates incentives for project stakeholders to eliminate waste automatically through early involvement and integration.

  5. Examining Program Quality Disparities between Urban and Rural Kindergartens in China: Evidence from Zhejiang

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Bi Ying; Zhou, Yisu; Li, Kejian; Roberts, Sherron Killingsworth

    2014-01-01

    In recent years, the Chinese government has initiated a national plan to universalize quality kindergartens for all age-eligible Chinese children. Kindergarten is the main form of early childhood education and care (ECEC) service across China. However, the government faces two thorny issues on the journey toward realizing educational equity for…

  6. Getting behind Discourses of Love, Care and Maternalism in Early Childhood Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aslanian, Teresa K.

    2015-01-01

    Discourses of love, care and maternalism affect the everyday lives of children enrolled in early childhood education. These discourses bear witness to the ontological transformation that has occurred since the Romantic era that birthed the kindergarten movement to today. Reflecting on historical discourses of love, care and maternalism from the…

  7. Gaze Awareness in Agent-Based Early-Childhood Learning Application

    OpenAIRE

    Akkil , Deepak; Dey , Prasenjit; Salian , Deepshika; Rajput , Nitendra

    2017-01-01

    Part 6: Interaction with Children; International audience; Use of technological devices for early childhood learning is increasing. Now, kindergarten and primary school children use interactive applications on mobile phones and tablet computers to support and complement classroom learning. With increase in cognitive technologies, there is further potential to make such applications more engaging by understanding the user context. In this paper, we present the Little Bear, a gaze aware pedagog...

  8. Challenges to Early Childhood Education in Rural China: Lessons from the Hebei Province

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Bi Ying; Roberts, Sherron Killingsworth; Leng Ieong, Sylvia Sao; Guo, Haiying

    2016-01-01

    This research study examined the challenges faced by early childhood education (ECE) in rural China based on a qualitative study of 217 kindergarten classrooms in a large agricultural, rural province. This study utilised onsite teacher surveys, interviews, and observational field notes. This investigation's findings revealed important information…

  9. A Chrysanthemum in the Garden: A Christian Kindergarten in the Empire of Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nishida, Yukiyo

    2015-01-01

    This is a study of the contribution of Christian missionaries to kindergarten education in the Empire of Japan. The study concerns an American Missionary woman, Annie L. Howe (1852-1943) and her kindergarten in Kobe, Japan. Annie L. Howe had a great impact on the history of early childhood education and is still remembered as the "Mother of…

  10. Potential return on investment of a family-centered early childhood intervention: a cost-effectiveness analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Negin Hajizadeh

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background ParentCorps is a family-centered enhancement to pre-kindergarten programming in elementary schools and early education centers. When implemented in high-poverty, urban elementary schools serving primarily Black and Latino children, it has been found to yield benefits in childhood across domains of academic achievement, behavior problems, and obesity. However, its long-term cost-effectiveness is unknown. Methods We determined the cost-effectiveness of ParentCorps in high-poverty, urban schools using a Markov Model projecting the long-term impact of ParentCorps compared to standard pre-kindergarten programming. We measured costs and quality adjusted life years (QALYs resulting from the development of three disease states (i.e., drug abuse, obesity, and diabetes; from the health sequelae of these disease states; from graduation from high school; from interaction with the judiciary system; and opportunity costs of unemployment with a lifetime time horizon. The model was built, and analyses were performed in 2015–2016. Results ParentCorps was estimated to save $4387 per individual and increase each individual’s quality adjusted life expectancy by 0.27 QALYs. These benefits were primarily due to the impact of ParentCorps on childhood obesity and the subsequent predicted prevention of diabetes, and ParentCorps’ impact on childhood behavior problems and the subsequent predicted prevention of interaction with the judiciary system and unemployment. Results were robust on sensitivity analyses, with ParentCorps remaining cost saving and health generating under nearly all assumptions, except when schools had very small pre-kindergarten programs. Conclusions Effective family-centered interventions early in life such as ParentCorps that impact academic, behavioral and health outcomes among children attending high-poverty, urban schools have the potential to result in longer-term health benefits and substantial cost savings.

  11. What’s Past is Prologue: Relations Between Early Mathematics Knowledge and High School Achievement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watts, Tyler W.; Duncan, Greg J.; Siegler, Robert S.; Davis-Kean, Pamela E.

    2015-01-01

    Although previous research has established the association between early-grade mathematics knowledge and later mathematics achievement, few studies have measured mathematical skills prior to school entry, nor have they investigated the predictive power of early gains in mathematics ability. The current paper relates mathematical skills measured at 54 months to adolescent mathematics achievement using multi-site longitudinal data. We find that preschool mathematics ability predicts mathematics achievement through age 15, even after accounting for early reading, cognitive skills, and family and child characteristics. Moreover, we find that growth in mathematical ability between age 54 months and first grade is an even stronger predictor of adolescent mathematics achievement. These results demonstrate the importance of pre-kindergarten mathematics knowledge and early math learning for later achievement. PMID:26806961

  12. Is credit for early action credible early action?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rolfe, C.; Michaelowa, A.; Dutschke, M.

    1999-12-01

    Credit for early action as a tool for greenhouse gas emissions reduction is compared with various market instruments as a means of narrowing the gap between projected emissions and those of the Kyoto Protocol. Market instruments work by creating a market price for emissions and use the market to encourage reductions at the lowest price, which is done by placing limits on greenhouse gas emissions and allowing the market to decide where reductions occur, or by imposing a carbon tax or emissions charge. While they can be applied within a sector, they are usually used to encourage reductions throughout the economy or across large sectors. Credit for early action also creates an incentive for emissions reductions throughout the economy or at least across many sectors. Credit for early action tools do not work by either imposing a carbon tax or emissions charge or placing limits on emissions, rather they promise that entities that take action against greenhouse gases prior to the imposition of a carbon tax or emissions limits will receive a credit against future taxes or limits. An overview is provided of the Kyoto Protocol and the rationale for taking early action, and a review is included of the theory and specific proposals for market instruments and credit for early action. A comparative analysis is provided of these approaches by examining their relative efficiency, environmental effectiveness, and impacts on the redistribution of wealth. Credit for early action is viewed as problematic on a number of counts and is seen as an interim strategy for imposition while political support for market instruments develop. The environmental effectiveness of credit for early action is very difficult to predict, and credit for early action programs do not yield the lowest cost emissions reductions. Credit for early action programs will not achieve compliance with the Kyoto Protocol at the lowest cost, and credits for early action will increase the compliance costs for those who

  13. Understanding Science Achievement Gaps by Race/Ethnicity and Gender in Kindergarten and First Grade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curran, F. Chris; Kellogg, Ann T.

    2016-01-01

    Disparities in science achievement across race and gender have been well documented in secondary and postsecondary school; however, the science achievement gap in the early years of elementary school remains understudied. We present findings from the recently released Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-2011 that…

  14. Investigating Parents' Attitudes towards Digital Technology Use in Early Childhood: A Case Study from Croatia

    OpenAIRE

    Nives MIKELIĆ PRERADOVIĆ; Gordana LEŠIN; Mirjana ŠAGUD

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study is to investigate perceptions of parents in Croatia towards advantages and disadvantages of computer use in general as well as their children's computer use and to reveal parents' concerns and opinions about digital technology (DT) education in kindergarten. The paper reports on research findings from one of the large public kindergartens in the capital city of Croatia. A total of 152 parents of the children aged 3 to 7 enrolled at this early childhood education institut...

  15. Linguistic and Literacy Predictors of Early Spelling in First and Second Language Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keilty, Megan; Harrison, Gina L.

    2015-01-01

    Error analyses using a multidimensional measure were conducted on the misspellings of Kindergarten children speaking English as a first (EL1) and English as a second language (ESL) in order to detect any differences in early spelling ability between language groups. Oral vocabulary, syntactic knowledge, phonological processing, letter/word…

  16. A cross-language study of decontextualized vocabulary comprehension in toddlerhood and kindergarten readiness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friend, Margaret; Smolak, Erin; Liu, Yushuang; Poulin-Dubois, Diane; Zesiger, Pascal

    2018-04-05

    Recent studies demonstrate that emerging literacy depends on earlier language achievement. Importantly, most extant work focuses on parent-reported production prior to 30 months of age. Of interest is whether and how directly assessed vocabulary comprehension in the 2nd year of life supports vocabulary and kindergarten readiness in the 4th year. We first contrasted orthogonal indices of parent-reported production and directly assessed vocabulary comprehension and found that comprehension was a stronger predictor of child outcomes. We then assessed prediction from vocabulary comprehension controlling for maternal education, preschool attendance, and child sex. In 3 studies early, decontextualized vocabulary comprehension emerged as a significant predictor of 4th year language and kindergarten readiness accounting for unique variance above demographic control variables. Further we found that the effect of early vocabulary on 4th year kindergarten readiness was not mediated by 4th year vocabulary. This pattern of results emerged in English monolingual children (N = 48) and replicated in French monolingual (N = 58) and French-English bilingual children (N = 34). Our findings suggest that early, decontextualized vocabulary may provide a platform for the establishment of a conceptual system that supports both later vocabulary and kindergarten readiness, including the acquisition of a wide range of concepts including print and number. Differences between parent-reported and directly assessed vocabulary and the mechanisms by which decontextualized vocabulary may contribute to conceptual development are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  17. The DEBT Project: Early Intervention for Handicapped Children and Their Parents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macy, Daniel J.; And Others

    Project DEBT (Developmental Education Birth through Two), an early identification and intervention program for handicapped and at risk children and their parents, is described. The Koontz Child Developmental Program, the core curriculum for instructional planning and intervention in DEBT, is reviewed, and new data are presented. It is explained…

  18. Early Childhood Workforce Index, 2016

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitebook, Marcy; McLean, Caitlin; Austin, Lea J. E.

    2016-01-01

    The State of the Early Childhood Workforce (SECW) Initiative is a groundbreaking multi-year project to shine a steady spotlight on the nation's early childhood workforce. The SECW Initiative is designed to challenge entrenched ideas and policies that maintain an inequitable and inadequate status quo for early educators and for the children and…

  19. From higher order thinking to higher order behavior: exploring the relationship between early cognitive skills and social competence in black boys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Kristin M; Barbarin, Oscar A; Brown, Jeffrey M

    2013-01-01

    This study examines the relations of higher order (i.e., abstract) thinking (HOT) skills to specific domains of social competence in Black boys (n = 108) attending publicly sponsored prekindergarten (pre-K) programs. Data for the study were collected as part of the National Center for Early Development and Learning (NCEDL) Multi-State Study, a national, longitudinal study examining the quality and outcomes in a representative sample of publicly sponsored pre-K programs in six states (N = 240). Pre-K and kindergarten teachers rated randomly selected children on measures of abstract thinking, self-regulation, and social functioning at the beginning and end of each school year. Applying structural equation modeling, compared with earlier time points, HOT measured in the fall of kindergarten significantly predicted each of the domains of social competence in the spring of kindergarten, with the exception of peer social skills, while controlling for general cognitive ability. Results suggest that early intervention to improve HOT may be an effective and more focused approach to address concerns about Black boys' early social competencies in specific domains and potentially reduce the risk of later social difficulties. © 2013 American Orthopsychiatric Association.

  20. Operational Features of the Kamehameha Early Education Project. Technical Report #4.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallimore, Ronald; And Others

    This report summarizes the operational features of the initial phases of the Kamehameha Early Education Project (KEEP). The rationale for KEEP's focus on conducting research on programs similar to those in the public schools rather than on developing radically innovative educational programs is discussed. Start up procedures such as recruitment of…

  1. Assessing spelling in kindergarten: further comparison of scoring metrics and their relation to reading skills.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clemens, Nathan H; Oslund, Eric L; Simmons, Leslie E; Simmons, Deborah

    2014-02-01

    Early reading and spelling development share foundational skills, yet spelling assessment is underutilized in evaluating early reading. This study extended research comparing the degree to which methods for scoring spelling skills at the end of kindergarten were associated with reading skills measured at the same time as well as at the end of first grade. Five strategies for scoring spelling responses were compared: totaling the number of words spelled correctly, totaling the number of correct letter sounds, totaling the number of correct letter sequences, using a rubric for scoring invented spellings, and calculating the Spelling Sensitivity Score (Masterson & Apel, 2010b). Students (N=287) who were identified at kindergarten entry as at risk for reading difficulty and who had received supplemental reading intervention were administered a standardized spelling assessment in the spring of kindergarten, and measures of phonological awareness, decoding, word recognition, and reading fluency were administered concurrently and at the end of first grade. The five spelling scoring metrics were similar in their strong relations with factors summarizing reading subskills (phonological awareness, decoding, and word reading) on a concurrent basis. Furthermore, when predicting first-grade reading skills based on spring-of-kindergarten performance, spelling scores from all five metrics explained unique variance over the autoregressive effects of kindergarten word identification. The practical advantages of using a brief spelling assessment for early reading evaluation and the relative tradeoffs of each scoring metric are discussed. Copyright © 2013 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. The Race to the Top--Early Learning Challenge Year Two Progress Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    US Department of Education, 2014

    2014-01-01

    The human brain develops rapidly in the first five years of life. High-quality early learning experiences can have a profound and lasting positive effect on young children during these years, setting the stage for success in kindergarten and beyond. This is especially true for young children with high needs who are from low-income families; who…

  3. Investigating Key Psychometric Properties of the French Version of the Early Years Evaluation-Teacher Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laurie, Robert; Sloat, Elizabeth

    2016-01-01

    This research investigates key psychometric properties of the French Early Years Evaluation-Teacher Assessment measure designed to systematically assess kindergarten children across five social and academic developmental domains: awareness of self and environment, social skills and behaviour, cognitive abilities, language and communication, and…

  4. Educational Games for Early Childhood: Using Tabletop Surface Computers for Teaching the Arabic Alphabet

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Papadopoulos, Pantelis M.; Ibrahim, Zeinab; Karatsolis, Andreas

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents initial evaluation regarding the use of simple educational games on tabletop surface computers to teach Kindergarten students in Qatar the Arabic alphabet. This effort is part of the “Arabiyyatii” research project, a 3-year endeavor aimed to teach 5-year-olds Modern Standard...... to the students, along with data collected from system log files and class observations. Result analysis suggests that these kinds of games could be useful in (a) enhancing students’ engagement in language learning, (b) increasing their exposure to MSA, and (c) developing their vocabulary....... Arabic (MSA). The paper describes a naturalistic study design, following the activities of 18 students for a period of 9 weeks in the project. All students were native speakers of the Qatari dialect and they were early users of similar surface technologies. The paper presents three of the games available...

  5. Implementing the Project Approach: A Case Study of Hybrid Pedagogy in a Hong Kong Kindergarten

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Jennifer J.; Li, Hui; Wang, Jing-ying

    2017-01-01

    The Project Approach has been promoted in Hong Kong kindergartens since the 1990s. However, the dynamic processes and underlying mechanisms involved in the teachers' implementation of this pedagogical method there have not yet been fully investigated. This case study of one typical kindergarten in Hong Kong documented how and why eight teachers…

  6. 78 FR 29499 - Proposed Priorities, Requirements, Definitions, and Selection Criteria-Race to the Top-Early...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-05-20

    ... children moving from Early Learning and Development Programs to elementary schools; (c) Promoting health... health and mental health. These State agency representatives explicitly oversee the child care work in... children, especially those with high needs, entering kindergarten ready to succeed in school and in life...

  7. A pilot study of the effects of RightStart instruction on early numeracy skills of children with specific language impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mononen, Riikka; Aunio, Pirjo; Koponen, Tuire

    2014-05-01

    This pilot study investigated the effects of an early numeracy program, RightStart Mathematics (RS), on Finnish kindergartners with specific language impairment (SLI). The study applied a pre-test-instruction-post-test design. The children with SLI (n=9, Mage=82.11 months) received RS instruction two to three times a week for 40 min over seven months, which replaced their business-as-usual mathematics instruction. Mathematical skill development among children with SLI was examined at the individual and group levels, and compared to the performance of normal language-achieving age peers (n=32, Mage=74.16 months) who received business-as-usual kindergarten mathematics instruction. The children with SLI began kindergarten with significantly weaker early numeracy skills compared to their peers. Immediately after the instruction phase, there was no significant difference between the groups in counting skills. In Grade 1, the children with SLI performed similarly to their peers in addition and subtraction skills (accuracy) and multi-digit number comparison, but showed weaker skills in arithmetical reasoning and in matching spoken and printed multi-digit numbers. Our pilot study showed encouraging signs that the early numeracy skills of children with SLI can be improved successfully in a kindergarten small-classroom setting with systematic instruction emphasizing visualization. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Evacuation exercise at the Kindergarten

    CERN Multimedia

    2001-01-01

    Every year fire evacuation exercises are organized through out CERN and our facility's Kindergarten is no exception. Just a few weeks ago, a fire simulation was carried out in the Kindergarten kitchen facility using synthetic smoke. The purpose of the exercise was to teach staff to react in a disciplined and professional manner when in the presence of danger. The simulation is always carried out at a random time so as to ensure that people in the area under the test are not aware of the exercise. For the Kindergarten the exercise was held early in the school year so as to train those who are new to the establishment. The evacuation was a complete success and all went as it was supposed to. When the children and teachers smelt smoke they followed the prescribed evacuation routes and left the building immediately. Once outside the situation was revealed as an exercise and everyone went back to business as usual, everyone that is, except the fire brigade and fire inspector.  The fire brigade checked t...

  9. Longitudinal Change in the Relationship between Fundamental Motor Skills and Perceived Competence: Kindergarten to Grade 2

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeff R. Crane

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available As children transition from early to middle childhood, the relationship between motor skill proficiency and perceptions of physical competence should strengthen as skills improve and inflated early childhood perceptions decrease. This study examined change in motor skills and perceptions of physical competence and the relationship between those variables from kindergarten to grade 2. Participants were 250 boys and girls (Mean age = 5 years 8 months in kindergarten. Motor skills were assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 and perceptions were assessed using a pictorial scale of perceived competence. Mixed-design analyses of variance revealed there was a significant increase in object-control skills and perceptions from kindergarten to grade 2, but no change in locomotor skills. In kindergarten, linear regression showed that locomotor skills and object-control skills explained 10% and 9% of the variance, respectively, in perceived competence for girls, and 7% and 11%, respectively, for boys. In grade 2, locomotor skills predicted 11% and object-control skills predicted 19% of the variance in perceptions of physical competence, but only among the boys. Furthermore, the relationship between motor skills and perceptions of physical competence strengthened for boys only from early to middle childhood. However, it seems that forces other than motor skill proficiency influenced girls’ perceptions of their abilities in grade 2.

  10. Physical activity and play in kindergarten age children

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Caroli, Margherita; Malecka-Tendera, Ewa; Epifani, Susi

    2011-01-01

    PERISCOPE project assesses factors promoting or preventing obesity development in early age. A specifi c aim is to assess preschool children ’ s physical activity habits in three different European countries. PERISCOPE has been implemented in 1094 children attending kindergartens in Denmark, Italy...... and Poland. The parents ’ and children ’ s physical activity habits and attitudes assessed by a questionnaire fi lled by the parents. Overweight and obesity assessed by Cole ’ s BMI cut-off points. Statistical analysis performed by χ^2 test and the test of proportion. Denmark shows the lowest rate (14...... hour (p active, the Polish are in the middle and the Italians are the least active. The difference in infrastructures (safety of walking streets, access...

  11. Executive functioning in low birth weight children entering kindergarten.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, S E; DeBoer, M D; Scharf, R J

    2018-01-01

    Poor executive functioning is associated with life-long difficulty. Identification of children at risk for executive dysfunction is important for early intervention to improve neurodevelopmental outcomes. This study is designed to examine relationships between birthweight and executive functioning in US children during kindergarten. Our hypothesis was that children with higher birthweights would have better executive function scores. We evaluated data from 17506 US children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten 2011 cohort. Birthweight and gestational age were obtained by parental survey. Executive functions were directly assessed using the number reverse test and card sort test to measure working memory and cognitive flexibility, respectively. Teacher evaluations were used for additional executive functions. Data were analyzed using SAS to run all linear and logistical regressions. For every kilogram of birthweight, scores of working memory increased by 1.47 (Pexecutive functioning. As birthweight increases executive function scores improve, even among infants born normal weight. Further evaluation of this population including interventions and progression through school is needed.

  12. The Internationalisation of Early Childhood Education: Case Study from Selected Kindergartens in Bandung, Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adriany, Vina

    2018-01-01

    For the past 20 years, early childhood education has undergone changes that have resulted from an alteration in Indonesian socio-political situations. One of the changes has resulted in the emergence of the internationalisation of early childhood education in Indonesia. This paper unpacks the complexity of the process. Three teachers from three…

  13. The Long-Term Effects of Early Parent Involvement and Parent Expectation in the USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Froiland, John Mark; Peterson, Aubrey; Davison, Mark L.

    2013-01-01

    Building on social-cognitive theory and the expectancy-value theory, this study indicated that early parent expectations for children’s post-secondary educational attainment have a stronger effect on 8th-grade achievement than home-based parental involvement. With a nationally representative sample of kindergarten students and their parents in the…

  14. The hELENa project - I. Stellar populations of early-type galaxies linked with local environment and galaxy mass

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sybilska, A.; Lisker, T.; Kuntschner, H.; Vazdekis, A.; van de Ven, G.; Peletier, R.; Falcón-Barroso, J.; Vijayaraghavan, R.; Janz, J.

    2017-01-01

    We present the first in a series of papers in The role of Environment in shaping Low-mass Early-type Nearby galaxies (hELENa) project. In this paper, we combine our sample of 20 low-mass early types (dEs) with 258 massive early types (ETGs) from the ATLAS3D survey - all observed with the SAURON

  15. "You Can't Be Rich Only Doing Good Deeds": Bilingual Kindergarteners' Discussions about Poverty and Wealth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, So Jung; Park, Soyeon; An, Song

    2018-01-01

    This interdisciplinary study explores the intersection of economic equality, bilingual discussion, and early literacy instruction by examining Korean kindergarteners' discussions about poverty and wealth during read-alouds. As part of a larger qualitative study, the current study was conducted in a kindergarten classroom at the Korean Language…

  16. Early screening for dyslexia--a collaborative pilot project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ball, S; Becker, T; Boys, M; Davies, S; Noton, H

    2001-01-01

    An ongoing collaborative project, currently being piloted in 12 Wiltshire primary schools, is described. The aim is to provide a means of identifying potentially dyslexic children by the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2) with a view to early intervention. The causal links identified by research between phonological skills and literacy development are taken as the theoretical basis of an initial screening procedure, and an intervention package is implemented for identified children. Those demonstrating persistent difficulties one year later are further assessed over a school term using an assessment package designed to identify those children showing a dyslexic profile. Further intervention is then planned and implemented.

  17. International Views of Inclusive Education: A Comparative Study of Early Childhood Educator's Perceptions in Jordan, United Arab Emirates, and the United States of America

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamaidi, Diala; Homidi, Moayyad; Reyes, Luis V.

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this research was to explore and describe early childhood educators' perceptions of academic aspects and social and emotional aspects of inclusion practices. In this comparative international quantitative research an attitudinal demographic survey was distributed to 300 early childhood educators in mandated kindergartens and primary…

  18. Six years of vision screening tests in pre-school children in kindergartens of Wroclaw

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szmigiel, Marta; Geniusz, Malwina; Szmigiel, Ireneusz

    2017-09-01

    Detection of vision defects of a child without professional knowledge is not easy. Very often, the parents of a small child does not know that their child sees incorrect. Also the youngster, not knowing any other way of seeing, does not know that it is not the best. While the vision of a small child is not yet fully formed, it is worth checking them very early. Defects detected early gives opportunity for the correction of anomalies, which might give the effect of the normal development of vision. According to the indications, the American Optometric Association (AOA) control eye examination should be performed between the ages of 6 months to 3 years, before going to school and then every two years. Members of SPIE Student Chapter, in cooperation with the Visual Optics Group working on the Department of Optics and Photonics (Faculty of Fundamental Problems, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology) for 6 years offer selected kindergartens of Wroclaw participation in project "Screening vision tests in pre-school children". Depending on the number of involved members of the student chapter and willing to cooperate students of Ophthalmology and Optometry, vision screening test was carried out in up to eight kindergartens every year. The basic purpose of screening vision test is to detect visual defects to start the correction so early in life as possible, while increasing the efficiency of the child's visual potential. The surrounding community is in fact more than enough examples of late diagnose vision problems, which resulted in lack of opportunity or treatment failure

  19. Beyond the Black-White Test Score Gap: Latinos' Early School Experiences and Literacy Outcomes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delgado, Enilda A.; Stoll, Laurie Cooper

    2015-01-01

    Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey-Birth Cohort are used to analyze the factors that lead to the reading readiness of children who participate in nonparental care the year prior to kindergarten (N = 4,550), with a specific focus on Latino children (N = 800). Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis demonstrates that reading…

  20. Multiracial Children and Poverty: Evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of Kindergartners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bratter, Jenifer; Kimbro, Rachel Tolbert

    2013-01-01

    Despite the recent growth in multiracial children among American children, we know very little about their well-being. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class (N?=?17,706), we evaluated the likelihood of living in poverty and near poverty for multiracial and monoracial children. Most multiracial groups have poverty or near…

  1. Social and behavioral skills and the gender gap in early educational achievement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diprete, Thomas A; Jennings, Jennifer L

    2012-01-01

    Though many studies have suggested that social and behavioral skills play a central role in gender stratification processes, we know little about the extent to which these skills affect gender gaps in academic achievement. Analyzing data from the Early Child Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort, we demonstrate that social and behavioral skills have substantively important effects on academic outcomes from kindergarten through fifth grade. Gender differences in the acquisition of these skills, moreover, explain a considerable fraction of the gender gap in academic outcomes during early elementary school. Boys get roughly the same academic return to social and behavioral skills as their female peers, but girls begin school with more advanced social and behavioral skills and their skill advantage grows over time. While part of the effect may reflect an evaluation process that rewards students who better conform to school norms, our results imply that the acquisition of social and behavioral skills enhances learning as well. Our results call for a reconsideration of the family and school-level processes that produce gender gaps in social and behavioral skills and the advantages they confer for academic and later success. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Analyses of Children's Mathematics Proficiency from ECLS-K 1998 and 2010 Cohorts: Why Early Mathematics?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Joohi; Pant, Mohan D.

    2017-01-01

    This article presents the correlation analyses of mathematics item response theory scores from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998 and 2010 data, and proposes the critical need for systematic efforts to improve the quality of pre- and in-service teachers of young children in teaching mathematics.

  3. Gender Differences in Kindergarteners' Robotics and Programming Achievement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sullivan, Amanda; Bers, Marina Umaschi

    2013-01-01

    Early childhood is a critical period for introducing girls to traditionally masculine fields of science and technology before more extreme gender stereotypes surface in later years. This study looks at the TangibleK Robotics Program in order to determine whether kindergarten boys and girls were equally successful in a series of building and…

  4. Research project management 101: insiders' tips from Early Career Scientists

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cristini, Luisa; Pabortsava, Katsiaryna; Stichel, Torben

    2016-04-01

    From the very beginning of their career, it is important for Early Career Scientists (ECS) to develop project management skills to be able to organise their research efficiently. ECS are often in charge of specific tasks within their projects or for their teams. However, without specific training or tools, the successful completion of these assignments will depend entirely on the organisational skills of individual researchers. ECS are thus facing "sink-or-swim" situations, which can be either instructive or disastrous for their projects. Here we provide experience-based tips from fellow ECS that can help manage various project activities, including: 1. Communication with supervisors and peers 2. Lab management 3. Field trips (e.g., oceanographic campaigns) 4. Internships and collaborations with other institutions 5. Literature/background research 6. Conference convening These are potential "life buoys" for ECS, which will help them to carry out these tasks efficiently and successfully.

  5. Early menarche, nulliparity and the risk for premature and early natural menopause.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mishra, Gita D; Pandeya, Nirmala; Dobson, Annette J; Chung, Hsin-Fang; Anderson, Debra; Kuh, Diana; Sandin, Sven; Giles, Graham G; Bruinsma, Fiona; Hayashi, Kunihiko; Lee, Jung Su; Mizunuma, Hideki; Cade, Janet E; Burley, Victoria; Greenwood, Darren C; Goodman, Alissa; Simonsen, Mette Kildevæld; Adami, Hans-Olov; Demakakos, Panayotes; Weiderpass, Elisabete

    2017-03-01

    .80, 95% CI 1.53-2.12) and early menopause (1.31, 1.19-1.44). Nulliparity was associated with increased risk of premature menopause (2.26, 1.84-2.77) and early menopause (1.32, 1.09-1.59). Women having early menarche and nulliparity were at over 5-fold increased risk of premature menopause (5.64, 4.04-7.87) and 2-fold increased risk of early menopause (2.16, 1.48-3.15) compared with women who had menarche at ≥12 years and two or more children. Most of the studies (except the birth cohorts) relied on retrospectively reported age at menarche, which may have led to some degree of recall bias. Our findings support early monitoring of women with early menarche, especially those who have no children, for preventive health interventions aimed at mitigating the risk of adverse health outcomes associated with early menopause. InterLACE project is funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council project grant (APP1027196). G.D.M. is supported by Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT120100812). There are no competing interests. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.

  6. Evacuation exercise at the CERN Kindergarten

    CERN Document Server

    2001-01-01

    Every year fire evacuation exercises are organized through out CERN and our facility's Kindergarten is no exception. Just a few weeks ago, a fire simulation was carried out in the Kindergarten kitchen facility using synthetic smoke. The purpose of the exercise was to teach staff to react in a disciplined and professional manner when in the presence of danger. The simulation is always carried out at a random time so as to ensure that people in the area under the test are not aware of the exercise. For the Kindergarten the exercise was held early in the school year so as to train those who are new to the establishment. The evacuation was a complete success and all went as it was supposed to. When the children and teachers smelt smoke they followed the prescribed evacuation routes and left the building immediately. Once outside the situation was revealed as an exercise and everyone went back to business as usual, everyone that is, except the fire brigade and fire inspector. The fire brigade checked that the buil...

  7. Alberta Learning: Early Development Instrument Pilot Project Evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meaney, Wanda; Harris-Lorenze, Elayne

    The Early Development Instrument (EDI) was designed by McMaster University to measure the outcomes of childrens early years as they influence their readiness to learn at school. The EDI was piloted in several Canadian cities in recent years through two national initiatives. Building on these initiatives, Alberta Learning piloted the EDI as a…

  8. Early Phase Process Evaluation: Industrial Practices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zulfan Adi Putra

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Process route evaluation is a part of research and development (R&D works in an industrial chemical project life cycle. In this early phase, good process evaluation, including process synthesis and designs, provide guidance’s on the R&D project. The paper aimed to collect practical methods used in this early phase process route evaluation from author’s 10 years of industrial experiences.  The collected methods range from forward-backward process synthesis, functional process design, use of cost estimation, and applications of Monte Carlo simulation. Led by a good project management (e.g. via a stage-gate approach use of these methods have shown beneficial results. Some important results are strong arguments on whether or not the project will continue, as well as relevant technical and economic issues identified during this early phase process synthesis and design. Later on, these issues become guidance’s to the follow-up project, if it is continued.

  9. Should Science be Taught in Early Childhood?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eshach, Haim; Fried, Michael N.

    2005-09-01

    This essay considers the question of why we should teach science to K-2. After initial consideration of two traditional reasons for studying science, six assertions supporting the idea that even small children should be exposed to science are given. These are, in order: (1) Children naturally enjoy observing and thinking about nature. (2) Exposing students to science develops positive attitudes towards science. (3) Early exposure to scientific phenomena leads to better understanding of the scientific concepts studied later in a formal way. (4) The use of scientifically informed language at an early age influences the eventual development of scientific concepts. (5) Children can understand scientific concepts and reason scientifically. (6) Science is an efficient means for developing scientific thinking. Concrete illustrations of some of the ideas discussed in this essay, particularly, how language and prior knowledge may influence the development of scientific concepts, are then provided. The essay concludes by emphasizing that there is a window of opportunity that educators should exploit by presenting science as part of the curriculum in both kindergarten and the first years of primary school.

  10. Parental Learning and School Readiness in the Gearing Up for Kindergarten Program

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sharon Query

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Entering kindergarten is a key moment in a young child’s life, and parents are a child’s first teacher. What can guide parents as they assist children with school readiness? Gearing Up for Kindergarten is an intensive parent education and school readiness program designed to help parents and children prepare for school. Gearing Up for Kindergarten is a parent education program that combines early learning opportunities for pre-kindergarten children with parent education opportunities for adults. This study presents findings from evaluation efforts conducted with 59 Gearing Up for Kindergarten adult participants during the 2006-2007 school year. Participants in the program demonstrated (1 high satisfaction with program quality and experiences, (2 impacts on parental knowledge and confidence, and (3 significant and positive changes in parental practices related to school readiness. Implications for parent education and programs intended to strengthen school readiness among pre-kindergarten children are explored. Parent education on school readiness can provide a substantive resource as parents help their children develop and become ready for the school years.

  11. Project ATTACK and Project VISTA: Benchmark studies on the road to NATO's early TNF policy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garrity, P.J.

    1994-01-01

    This paper is concerned with those studies and analyses that affected early NATO nuclear policy and force structure. The discussion focuses specifically on two open-quotes benchmarkclose quotes activities. Project VISTA and Project ATTACK. These two studies were chosen less because one can document their direct impact on NATO nuclear policy and more because they capture the state of thinking about tactical nuclear weapons at a particular point of time. Project VISTA offers an especially important benchmark in this respect. Project ATTACK is a rather different kind of benchmark. It is not a pathbreaking study. It is much narrower and more technical than VISTA. It appears to have received no public attention. Project ATTACK is interesting because it seems to capture a open-quotes nuts-and-boltsclose quotes feel for how U.S. (and thereby NATO) theater nuclear policy was evolving prior to MC 48. The background and context for Project VISTA and Project ATTACK are presented and discussed

  12. [Infectious diseases and use of health care resources in children less than 2 years-old who attend kindergarten].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Domínguez Aurrecoechea, B; Fernández Francés, M; Ordóñez Alonso, M Á; López Vilar, P; Pérez Candás, J I; Merino Ramos, L; Aladro Antuña, A; Fernández López, F J; Pérez López, A M

    2015-09-01

    Parents often ask paediatricians for advice about the best way to care for their children. There are discrepancies in the literature on this subject. The objective of this study is to evaluate the influence of attending kindergartens on the risk of acute infections and the use of health care resources in children less than 24 months. A prospective longitudinal study was conducted on two cohorts of children 0-24 months (born between 1 January and 30 September 2010), who were grouped according to whether they attended kindergarten or not, and were usually seen in 33 pediatric clinics of the Principality of Asturias Public Health Service. A total of 975 children were studied, of whom 43.7% attended a kindergarten at 24 months. Attending kindergarten increases the risk of pneumonia by 131%, recurrent wheezing by 69%, bronchitis by 57%, and otitis media by 64%. Early exposure to kindergarten increases the risk of pneumonia from 2.31 to 2.81, and the mean emergency room visits from 1 to 2.3. The mean antibiotic cycle is 1.7 in children who do not go to kindergarten, 3.4 if started within the first 6 months, and 2 if they start at 18 months. Day-care attendance is a risk factor of infectious diseases that increases if attending kindergartens from an early age. Copyright © 2014 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  13. Do Children's Executive Functions Account for Associations Between Early Autonomy-Supportive Parenting and Achievement Through High School?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bindman, Samantha W; Pomerantz, Eva M; Roisman, Glenn I

    2015-08-01

    This study evaluated whether the positive association between early autonomy-supportive parenting and children's subsequent achievement is mediated by children's executive functions. Using observations of mothers' parenting from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development ( N = 1,306), analyses revealed that mothers' autonomy support over the first 3 years of life predicted enhanced executive functions (i.e., inhibition, delay of gratification, and sustained attention) during the year prior to kindergarten and academic achievement in elementary and high school even when mothers' warmth and cognitive stimulation, as well as other factors (e.g., children's early general cognitive skills and mothers' educational attainment) were covaried. Mediation analyses demonstrated that over and above other attributes (e.g., temperament), children's executive functions partially accounted for the association between early autonomy-supportive parenting and children's subsequent achievement.

  14. Early Feelings about School and Later Academic Outcomes of Children with Special Needs Living in Poverty

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hauser-Cram, Penny; Durand, Tina M.; Warfield, Marji Erickson

    2007-01-01

    In this investigation we examined the relation of children's reported feelings about school during kindergarten or first grade to their academic achievement at the end of fifth grade. Participants were children (N=103) who lived in poverty during early childhood and who were placed on individualized education programs (IEPs) during their…

  15. SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION OF FORMING OF COLOR-BASED CARDS FOR ASSESSMENT OF EARLY STAGES INNOVATION PROJECTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ekaterina I. Bragina

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with functional program that allows to generate a visualrepresentation of the shareholder tothe innovative project early stage ofdevelopment, formed a color-based cards.

  16. Kindergarten stressors and cumulative adrenocortical activation: the "first straws" of allostatic load?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bush, Nicole R; Obradović, Jelena; Adler, Nancy; Boyce, W Thomas

    2011-11-01

    Using an ethnically diverse longitudinal sample of 338 kindergarten children, this study examined the effects of cumulative contextual stressors on children's developing hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis regulation as an early life indicator of allostatic load. Chronic HPA axis regulation was assessed using cumulative, multiday measures of cortisol in both the fall and spring seasons of the kindergarten year. Hierarchical linear regression analyses revealed that contextual stressors related to ethnic minority status, socioeconomic status, and family adversity each uniquely predicted children's daily HPA activity and that some of those associations were curvilinear in conformation. Results showed that the quadratic, U-shaped influences of family socioeconomic status and family adversity operate in different directions to predict children's HPA axis regulation. Results further suggested that these associations differ for White and ethnic minority children. In total, this study revealed that early childhood experiences contribute to shifts in one of the principal neurobiological systems thought to generate allostatic load, confirming the importance of early prevention and intervention efforts. Moreover, findings suggested that analyses of allostatic load and developmental theories accounting for its accrual would benefit from an inclusion of curvilinear associations in tested predictive models.

  17. Association of parental stress and early childhood caries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seyed Ebrahim Jabbarifar

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Background:Little research has been carried out on whether the parental stress affects children′s oral health in general and dental caries in particular. This study aimed to investigate the association be-tween parental stress and early childhood caries (ECC. Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed that included 250 children of 4-6 year-old; 127 ones attended the pediatric department of Isfahan School of Dentistry who had early childhood caries and a comparison group of 123 caries free children attended five kindergartens and pre-schools in Isfahan city. Clinical examinations were conducted to evaluate the caries status. The parents of the two study groups completed the self-administrated long form of the Parenting Stress Index questionnaire. De-tails of their socio-demographic status were gathered too. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS version 11.5. The nonparametric Mantel-Haenszel test for correlation statistics was used to determine bivariate associations between total parenting stress and their domains scores in the two groups; i.e., those with early childhood caries and the caries free group. Results: Mean score of PSI in the early childhood caries and caries free group were 286.66 ± 66.26 and 273.87 ± 31.03, respectively. There was not any significant relationship between total parental stress and ECC. The scores of the following domains of PSI demonstrated significant differences between ECC and CF groups: child reinforcement, child distractibility, child deficit attention, life stress and relationship with spouse (P = 0.01, 0.01, 0.001, 0.005 respectively. Conclusion: Findings of this study did not show any significant association between total parenting stress score and prevalence of early childhood caries.

  18. The Professional Project among Danish Kindergarten Teachers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bøje, Jakob Ditlev

    2016-01-01

    This article describes ways in which the professionalization strategy among Danish kindergarten teachers is realised in practice by newly educated members of the occupation. It focusses on relations between gender and professionalisation and concludes that the professionalisation strategy is real...... educated kindergarten teachers employed in three different pedagogic institutions: day-care (0-6 years), after-school institutions (6-10 years) and club facilities (10-18 years)....

  19. An Algorithm for the Weighted Earliness-Tardiness Unconstrained Project Scheduling Problem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Afshar Nadjafi, Behrouz; Shadrokh, Shahram

    This research considers a project scheduling problem with the object of minimizing weighted earliness-tardiness penalty costs, taking into account a deadline for the project and precedence relations among the activities. An exact recursive method has been proposed for solving the basic form of this problem. We present a new depth-first branch and bound algorithm for extended form of the problem, which time value of money is taken into account by discounting the cash flows. The algorithm is extended with two bounding rules in order to reduce the size of the branch and bound tree. Finally, some test problems are solved and computational results are reported.

  20. Design, Implementation, and Study Protocol of a Kindergarten-Based Health Promotion Intervention

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Susanne Kobel

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Inactivity and an unhealthy diet amongst others have led to an increased prevalence of overweight and obesity even in young children. Since most health behaviours develop during childhood health promotion has to start early. The setting kindergarten has been shown as ideal for such interventions. “Join the Healthy Boat” is a kindergarten-based health promotion programme with a cluster-randomised study focussing on increased physical activity, reduced screen media use, and sugar-sweetened beverages, as well as a higher fruit and vegetable intake. Intervention and materials were developed using Bartholomew’s Intervention Mapping approach considering Bandura’s social-cognitive theory and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological framework for human development. The programme is distributed using a train-the-trainer approach and currently implemented in 618 kindergartens. The effectiveness of this one-year intervention with an intervention and a control group will be examined in 62 kindergartens using standardised protocols, materials, and tools for outcome and process evaluation. A sample of 1021 children and their parents provided consent and participated in the intervention. Results of this study are awaited to give a better understanding of health behaviours in early childhood and to identify strategies for effective health promotion. The current paper describes development and design of the intervention and its implementation and planned evaluation. Trial Registration. The study is registered at the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS, Freiburg University, Germany, ID: DRKS00010089.

  1. Pre-Kindergarten Child Care and Behavioral Outcomes among Children of Immigrants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turney, Kristin; Kao, Grace

    2009-01-01

    The school transition model suggests that children's transitions into formal schooling can have lasting and profound implications for their educational careers, though this model is rarely used to understand the outcomes of children of immigrants. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), a nationally…

  2. Developmental commentary: individual and contextual influences on student-teacher relationships and children's early problem behaviors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myers, Sonya S; Pianta, Robert C

    2008-07-01

    Understanding factors associated with children's early behavioral difficulties is of vital importance to children's school success, and to the prevention of future behavior problems. Although biological factors can influence the expression of certain behaviors, the probability of children exhibiting classroom behavior problems is intensified when they are exposed to multiple risk factors, particularly negative student-teacher interactions. Children who exhibit behavior problems during early childhood and the transition to kindergarten, without intervention, can be placed on a developmental trajectory for serious behavior problems in later grades. Using a developmental systems model, this commentary provides a conceptual framework for understanding the contributions of individual and contextual factors to the development of early student-teacher relationships. Parent, teacher, and student characteristics are discussed as they are related to shaping student-teacher interactions and children's adjustment to school.

  3. The role of household chaos in understanding relations between early poverty and children's academic achievement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mokrova, Irina; Vernon-Feagans, Lynne; Willoughby, Michael; Pan, Yi

    2016-01-01

    The following prospective longitudinal study used an epidemiological sample (N = 1,236) to consider the potential mediating role of early cumulative household chaos (6–58 months) on associations between early family income poverty (6 months) and children's academic achievement in kindergarten. Two dimensions of household chaos, disorganization and instability, were examined as mediators. Results revealed that, in the presence of household disorganization (but not instability) and relevant covariates, income poverty was no longer directly related to academic achievement. Income poverty was, however, positively related to household disorganization, which was, in turn, associated with lower academic achievement. Study results are consistent with previous research indicating that household chaos conveys some of the adverse longitudinal effects of income poverty on children's outcomes and extend previous findings specifically to academic achievement in early childhood. PMID:27330247

  4. Gender and Boys' Singing in Early Childhood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Clare

    2005-01-01

    This article derives from a research project investigating the singing behaviour of a group of Australian boys in their first year of school. The project showed that the genesis of the "missing male" trend in singing at school may be occurring in early childhood. The impact of hegemonic masculinity in early childhood is explored here by…

  5. Project B.E.S.T.: Language Development Handbook. Kentucky's Individualized Kindergartens (KIK).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kentucky State Dept. of Education, Frankfort. Bureau of Education for Exceptional Children.

    Project BEST (Building Educational and Social Skills Through Training) seeks to develop social skills in students. As a first step, high-risk kindergarten students attending school in Spencer County, Kentucky, were identified through systematic screening and assessment procedures and a curriculum was developed to meet the individual needs of the…

  6. Naïve Bayesian Classifier for Selecting Good/Bad Projects during the Early Stage of International Construction Bidding Decisions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Woosik Jang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Since the 1970s, revenues generated by Korean contractors in international construction have increased rapidly, exceeding USD 70 billion per year in recent years. However, Korean contractors face significant risks from market uncertainty and sensitivity to economic volatility and technical difficulties. As the volatility of these risks threatens project profitability, approximately 15% of bad projects were found to account for 74% of losses from the same international construction sector. Anticipating bad projects via preemptive risk management can better prevent losses so that contractors can enhance the efficiency of bidding decisions during the early stages of a project cycle. In line with these objectives, this paper examines the effect of such factors on the degree of project profitability. The Naïve Bayesian classifier is applied to identify a good project screening tool, which increases practical applicability using binomial variables with limited information that is obtainable in the early stages. The proposed model produced superior classification results that adequately reflect contractor views of risk. It is anticipated that when users apply the proposed model based on their own knowledge and expertise, overall firm profit rates will increase as a result of early abandonment of bad projects as well as the prioritization of good projects before final bidding decisions are made.

  7. The Power of Programming and the EarlyNutrition project: opportunities for health promotion by nutrition during the first thousand days of life and beyond.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koletzko, Berthold; Brands, Brigitte; Chourdakis, Michael; Cramer, Simone; Grote, Veit; Hellmuth, Christian; Kirchberg, Franca; Prell, Christine; Rzehak, Peter; Uhl, Olaf; Weber, Martina

    2014-01-01

    At The Power of Programming 2014 Conference, researchers from multiple disciplines presented and discussed the effects of early nutrition and other environmental cues during the first thousand days of life and beyond on the lifelong risk of noncommunicable diseases. This paper aims to summarize the concepts and some of the first achievements of the EarlyNutrition research project that initiated the conference. The EarlyNutrition consortium is a multinational, multidisciplinary research collaboration of researchers from Europe, the USA, and Australia. A focus is placed on exploration of the developmental origins of obesity, adiposity, and related health outcomes. Here we report on the first findings of experimental approaches, cohort studies, randomized clinical trials, and systematic reviews of current information, as well as position papers, which have all been developed with the involvement of project partners. We conclude that the EarlyNutrition project has successfully established itself during the first 2 project years as a very strong platform for collaborative research on early programming effects. The first results, available already at this early stage of the project, point to great opportunities for health prevention strategies via the implementation of dietary and lifestyle modifications, with large effect sizes. Further results are expected which should support improved recommendations and related policies for optimized nutrition and lifestyle choices before and during pregnancy, in infancy, and in early childhood. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  8. Effects of Writing Instruction on Kindergarten Students' Writing Achievement: An Experimental Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Cindy D'On

    2015-01-01

    This full-year experimental study examined how methods of writing instruction contribute to kindergarten students' acquisition of foundational and compositional early writing skills. Multiple regression with cluster analysis was used to compare 3 writing instructional groups: an interactive writing group, a writing workshop group, and a…

  9. A Study of the Curriculum and Contents in American Progressive Education : Focusing on Castle Kindergarten and Nursery School in Hawaii

    OpenAIRE

    塩路, 晶子

    2010-01-01

    This study aims to show the features of American progressive kindergarten in the early 20th century, through analyzing the curriculum and contents of Henry and Dorothy Castle Memorial Kindergarten and Nursery School in Hawaii. This kindergarten was established by Mary Castle at Honolulu in 1899 and influenced from John Dewey. And in 1927, the nursery school was established because educating younger children was important. Children could select the subject matter based on their own interest. A...

  10. Domain-Specific and Domain-General Training to Improve Kindergarten Children’s Mathematics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geetha B. Ramani

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Ensuring that kindergarten children have a solid foundation in early numerical knowledge is of critical importance for later mathematical achievement. In this study, we targeted improving the numerical knowledge of kindergarteners (n = 81 from primarily low-income backgrounds using two approaches: one targeting their conceptual knowledge, specifically, their understanding of numerical magnitudes; and the other targeting their underlying cognitive system, specifically, their working memory. Both interventions involved playing game-like activities on tablet computers over the course of several sessions. As predicted, both interventions improved children’s numerical magnitude knowledge as compared to a no-contact control group, suggesting that both domain-specific and domain-general interventions facilitate mathematical learning. Individual differences in effort during the working memory game, but not the number knowledge training game predicted children’s improvements in number line estimation. The results demonstrate the potential of using a rapidly growing technology in early childhood classrooms to promote young children’s numerical knowledge.

  11. Academic and Social Functioning Associated with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Latent Class Analyses of Trajectories from Kindergarten to Fifth Grade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DuPaul, George J; Morgan, Paul L; Farkas, George; Hillemeier, Marianne M; Maczuga, Steve

    2016-10-01

    Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are known to exhibit significantly lower academic and social functioning than other children. Yet the field currently lacks knowledge about specific impairment trajectories experienced by children with ADHD, which may constrain early screening and intervention effectiveness. Data were analyzed from a nationally representative U.S. cohort in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K) for 590 children (72.7 % male) whose parents reported a formal diagnosis of ADHD. Children's math, reading, and interpersonal skills were assessed at 5 time points between kindergarten and fifth grade. Growth mixture model analyses indicated 4 latent trajectory classes for reading, 8 classes for math, and 4 classes for interpersonal skills. Membership in reading and math trajectory classes was strongly related; overlaps with interpersonal skills classes were weaker. Trajectory class membership was correlated with demographic characteristics and behavioral functioning. Children with ADHD display substantial heterogeneity in their reading, math, and interpersonal growth trajectories, with some groups of children especially likely to display relatively severe levels of academic and social impairment over time. Early screening and intervention to address impairment, particularly reading difficulties, among kindergarten students with ADHD is warranted.

  12. Nature Study, Aborigines and the Australian Kindergarten: Lessons from Martha Simpson's "Australian Programme Based on the Life and Customs of the Australian Black"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Jennifer

    2014-01-01

    This article examines an experimental kindergarten programme "Work in the Kindergarten: An Australian Programme based on the Life and Customs of the Australian Black" developed by Martha Simpson in early twentieth-century Australia. Here Simpson adapted international Revisionist Froebelian approaches to cultural epoch theory and nature…

  13. The Influence of Test-Based Accountability Policies on Early Elementary Teachers: School Climate, Environmental Stress, and Teacher Stress

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saeki, Elina; Segool, Natasha; Pendergast, Laura; von der Embse, Nathaniel

    2018-01-01

    This study examined the potential influence of test-based accountability policies on school environment and teacher stress among early elementary teachers. Structural equation modeling of data from 541 kindergarten through second grade teachers across three states found that use of student performance on high-stakes tests to evaluate teachers…

  14. The hELENa project - I. Stellar populations of early-type galaxies linked with local environment and galaxy mass

    OpenAIRE

    Sybilska, A.; Lisker, T.; Kuntschner, H.; Vazdekis, A.; van de Ven, G.; Peletier, R.; Falcón-Barroso, J.; Vijayaraghavan, R.; Janz, J.

    2017-01-01

    We present the first in a series of papers in T$h$e role of $E$nvironment in shaping $L$ow-mass $E$arly-type $N$earby g$a$laxies (hELENa) project. In this paper we combine our sample of 20 low-mass early types (dEs) with 258 massive early types (ETGs) from the ATLAS$^{\\mathrm{3D}}$ survey - all observed with the SAURON integral field unit (IFU) - to investigate early-type galaxies' stellar population scaling relations and the dependence of the population properties on local environment, exten...

  15. Kindergartners' Mental Models of the Day and Night Cycle: Implications for Instructional Practices in Early Childhood Classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saçkes, Mesut

    2015-01-01

    This study aims to examine kindergarten children's mental models of the day and night cycle and provide implications for pedagogical practices targeting space science concepts in early childhood classrooms. A total of 46 kindergartners participated in the study, their age ranging from 60 to 75 months, including 22 boys and 24 girls.…

  16. Kindergarten Children's Interactions with Touchscreen Mathematics Virtual Manipulatives: An Innovative Mixed Methods Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tucker, Stephen I.; Lommatsch, Christina W.; Moyer-Packenham, Patricia S.; Anderson-Pence, Katie L.; Symanzik, Jürgen

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine patterns of mathematical practices evident during children's interactions with touchscreen mathematics virtual manipulatives. Researchers analyzed 33 Kindergarten children's interactions during activities involving apps featuring mathematical content of early number sense or quantity in base ten, recorded…

  17. Modeling individual variation in early literacy skills in kindergarten children with intellectual disabilities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tilborg, A.J. van; Segers, P.C.J.; Balkom, L.J.M. van; Verhoeven, L.T.W.

    2018-01-01

    In the present study, we investigated (i) to what extent the early literacy skills (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, and word decoding) along with cognitive (nonverbal reasoning, attention, phonological short-term memory, sequential memory, executive functioning) and linguistic (auditory

  18. [Preschool familial environment and academic difficulties: A 10-year follow-up from kindergarten to middle school].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Câmara-Costa, H; Pulgar, S; Cusin, F; Dellatolas, G

    2016-02-01

    The persistence of academic difficulties from childhood through adulthood has led researchers to focus on the identification of the early factors influencing children's subsequent achievement in order to improve the efficient screening of children who might be at risk of school failure. The foundations of academic achievement can be accurately traced back to the preschool years prior to children's entry in formal schooling and are largely influenced by environmental determinants. Importantly, some environmental conditions act as early risk factors undermining children's later academic achievement due to the well-established relation between underachievement and exposure to moderate to high levels of environmental risk. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the longitudinal effects of environment-level factors (sociodemographic and family characteristics) and early risk exposure at kindergarten on children's subsequent academic achievement at the end of middle school (grade 9). The sample of analysis comprised 654 kindergarteners aged 5-6 years (2001-2002 school year) followed through the end of middle school when they were aged 14-15 years (2010-2011 school year). At kindergarten, assessment included questionnaire-based measures of sociodemographic and family background characteristics. These included an original set of information pertaining to family background including parental nationality, education level, history of reading difficulties, type of early childcare, family situation, family size, and language-based bedtime routines, as well as individual-level factors such as children's first language, medical history, language delay, birth weight, age of walking onset, and gestation period. At grade 9, outcome measures were composed of children's results in the national evaluations performed at the end of middle school ("Diplôme National du Brevet"), or history of repetition for a second year of the same class. The results indicated that all family

  19. A Qualitative Study of the Current Transformation to Rural Village Early Childhood in China: Retrospect and Prospect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Bi Ying; Roberts, Sherron Killingsworth

    2013-01-01

    By far, literature regarding Chinese early childhood education and care (ECEC) has primarily focused on Youeryuan in urban settings. Youeryuan is the everyday Chinese term used for ECEC programs serving children ages three to six, which does include the U.S. version of the kindergarten year. This paper will refer to Youeryuan rather than the…

  20. Early hospital discharge and early puerperal complications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramírez-Villalobos, Dolores; Hernández-Garduño, Adolfo; Salinas, Aarón; González, Dolores; Walker, Dilys; Rojo-Herrera, Guadalupe; Hernández-Prado, Bernardo

    2009-01-01

    To evaluate the association between time of postpartum discharge and symptoms indicative of complications during the first postpartum week. Women with vaginal delivery at a Mexico City public hospital, without complications before the hospital discharge, were interviewed seven days after delivery. Time of postpartum discharge was classified as early (25 hours). The dependent variable was defined as the occurrence and severity of puerperal complication symptoms. Out of 303 women, 208 (68%) were discharged early. However, women with early discharge and satisfactory prenatal care had lower odds of presenting symptoms in early puerperium than women without early discharge and inadequate prenatal care (OR 0.36; 95% confidence intervals = 0.17-0.76). There was no association between early discharge and symptoms of complications during the first postpartum week; the odds of complications were lower for mothers with early discharge and satisfactory prenatal care.

  1. Predicting first-grade mathematics achievement: The contributions of domain-general cognitive abilities, nonverbal number sense, and early number competence.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Caroline eHornung

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Early number competence, grounded in number-specific and domain-general cognitive abilities, is theorized to lay the foundation for later math achievement. Few longitudinal studies have tested a comprehensive model for early math development. Using structural equation modeling and mediation analyses, the present work examined the influence of kindergarteners’ nonverbal number sense and domain-general abilities i.e., working memory, fluid intelligence, and receptive vocabulary and their early number competence (i.e., symbolic number skills on first grade math achievement (arithmetic, shape and space skills, and number line estimation assessed one year later. Latent regression models revealed that nonverbal number sense and working memory are central building blocks for developing early number competence in kindergarten and that early number competence is key for first grade math achievement. After controlling for early number competence, fluid intelligence significantly predicted arithmetic and number line estimation while receptive vocabulary significantly predicted shape and space skills. In sum we suggest that early math achievement draws on different constellations of number-specific and domain-general mechanisms.

  2. Prevalence of Burnout Syndrome of Greek Child Care Workers and Kindergarten Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rentzou, Konstantina

    2015-01-01

    The present study, employing the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey, aims to compare and explore possible differences to the levels of burnout reported by the two main professional groups working in the early childhood education and care sector in Greece, that is kindergarten teachers and childcare workers. The correlation between the…

  3. Pump Early, Pump Often: A Continuous Quality Improvement Project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spatz, Diane L; Froh, Elizabeth B; Schwarz, Jessica; Houng, Kathy; Brewster, Isabel; Myers, Carey; Prince, Judy; Olkkola, Michelle

    2015-01-01

    Research demonstrates that although many mothers initiate pumping for their critically ill children, few women are successful at maintaining milk supply throughout their infants' entire hospital stay. At the Garbose Family Special Delivery Unit (SDU) at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, we care for mothers who have critically ill infants born with complex cardiac and congenital anomalies. Human milk is viewed as a medical intervention at our institution. Therefore, nurses on the SDU wanted to ensure best practice in terms of pumping initiation. This article describes a continuous quality improvement project that ensured mothers pumped early and often. Childbirth educators can play a key role in preparing mothers who are anticipating an infant who will require hospitalization immediately post-birth.

  4. A Longitudinal Assessment of Early Childhood Education with Integrated Speech Therapy for Children with Significant Language Impairment in Germany

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ullrich, Dieter; Ullrich, Katja; Marten, Magret

    2014-01-01

    Background: In Lower Saxony, Germany, pre-school children with language- and speech-deficits have the opportunity to access kindergartens with integrated language-/speech therapy prior to attending primary school, both regular or with integrated speech therapy. It is unknown whether these early childhood education treatments are helpful and…

  5. Child Care Subsidies and School Readiness in Kindergarten

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Anna D; Martin, Anne; Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne

    2013-01-01

    The federal child care subsidy program represents one of the government’s largest investments in early care and education. Using data from the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), this paper examines associations, among subsidy-eligible families, between child care subsidy receipt when children are 4 years old and a range of school readiness outcomes in kindergarten (sample n ≈ 1,400). Findings suggest that subsidy receipt in preschool is not directly linked to subsequent reading or social-emotional skills. However, subsidy receipt predicted lower math scores among children attending community-based centers. Supplementary analyses revealed that subsidies predicted greater use of center care, but this association did not appear to affect school readiness. PMID:23461769

  6. Promoting Children's Social-Emotional Skills in Preschool Can Enhance Academic and Behavioral Functioning in Kindergarten: Findings from Head Start REDI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nix, Robert L; Bierman, Karen L; Domitrovich, Celene E; Gill, Sukhdeep

    2013-01-01

    Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services in the Department of Education). The projects funded through this partnership were designed to assess how integrative early interventions for at-risk children could promote learning and development across multiple domains of functioning. In addition, the projects were charged with examining processes of change and identifying mechanisms of action by which the early childhood interventions fostered later school adjustment and academic achievement. This study examined such processes of change, with the goal of documenting hypothesized cross-domain influences on kindergarten outcomes. In particular, this study tested whether gains in the proximal language/emergent literacy and social-emotional competencies targeted during Head Start would mediate the REDI intervention effects on kindergarten academic and behavioral outcomes. In addition, it tested the hypothesis that gains in social-emotional competencies during preschool would make unique contributions to intervention effects on both academic and behavioral outcomes, even after accounting for the effects of preschool gains in language and emergent literacy skills.

  7. Tiers of intervention in kindergarten through third grade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Connor, Rollanda E; Harty, Kristin R; Fulmer, Deborah

    2005-01-01

    This study measured the effects of increasing levels of intervention in reading for a cohort of children in Grades K through 3 to determine whether the severity of reading disability (RD) could be significantly reduced in the catchment schools. Tier 1 consisted of professional development for teachers of reading. The focus of this study is on additional instruction that was provided as early as kindergarten for children whose achievement fell below average. Tier 2 intervention consisted of small-group reading instruction 3 times per week, and Tier 3 of daily instruction delivered individually or in groups of two. A comparison of the reading achievement of third-grade children who were at risk in kindergarten showed moderate to large differences favoring children in the tiered interventions in decoding, word identification, fluency, and reading comprehension.

  8. PROJECT W-551 DETERMINATION DATA FOR EARLY LAW INTERIM PRETREATMENT SYSTEM SELECTION

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    TEDESCHI AR

    2008-08-11

    This report provides the detailed assessment forms and data for selection of the solids separation and cesium separation technology for project W-551, Interim Pretreatment System. This project will provide early pretreated low activity waste feed to the Waste Treatment Plant to allow Waste Treatment Plan Low Activity Waste facility operation prior to construction completion of the Pretreatment and High Level Waste facilities. The candidate solids separations technologies are rotary microfiltration and crossflow filtration, and the candidate cesium separation technologies are fractional crystallization, caustic-side solvent extraction, and ion-exchange using spherical resorcinol-formaldehyde resin. This data was used to prepare a cross-cutting technology summary, reported in RPP-RPT-37740.

  9. Measures of Kindergarten Spelling and Their Relations to Later Spelling Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Treiman, Rebecca; Kessler, Brett; Pollo, Tatiana Cury; Byrne, Brian; Olson, Richard K.

    2016-01-01

    Learning the orthographic forms of words is important for both spelling and reading. To determine whether some methods of scoring children's early spellings predict later spelling performance better than do other methods, we analyzed data from 374 U.S. and Australian children who took a 10-word spelling test at the end of kindergarten (M age =…

  10. Improving early childhood development and well-being in refugee ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Improving early childhood development and well-being in refugee and other marginalized countries. Early childhood development research has traditionally focused on single-intervention initiatives and non-refugee populations. This project will generate evidence to support effective, integrated and scalable early childhood ...

  11. [The community-oriented experience of early intervention services in Taipei City].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Feng-Ying

    2007-10-01

    The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the importance of early intervention. The purpose of early intervention in Taipei City is to help child development, promote parenting skills, and reduce educational and social costs. In order to meet these goals, parenting groups and Taipei City Council have made great efforts to make early intervention work in Taipei City. In April 1995, Taipei City Government started planning and setting up the service network. To date, Taipei City has set up one reporting and referral center?, ?six community resources centers, 22 medical assessment and intervention clinics, 12 child development centers, one early intervention training center, three non-profit foundations and more than 300 inclusion schools, such as kindergartens and day care centers. With parent participation, professional devotion and Taipei City Government's commitment, the number of assisted children has increased from 98 to 2,523 /year. By the end of 2006, Taipei had already funded 25,277 children. We estimate Taipei City early intervention services to have affected at least 75,000 persons, including development-delayed and disabled children, their parents?, ?grandparents and siblings. We found that early intervention services help the children to build up self esteem, grow their potential, learn how to socialize, and receive an education, while the most important aim is to help them to reduce their level of disability or to prevent them from getting worse. At the same time, their families get support and a diverse range of services. An integrated early intervention program should include children, families, and multidisciplinary professionals. The system should therefore be more "family-centered" and "community-oriented" to provide appropriate services to children and families through a positive and aggressive attitude.

  12. Enhancing international collaboration among early-career researchers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carroll, Jennifer K; Albada, Akke; Farahani, Mansoureh; Lithner, Maria; Neumann, Melanie; Sandhu, Harbinder; Shepherd, Heather L

    2010-01-01

    Objective The European Association of Communication in Healthcare (EACH) Early Career Researchers Network (ECRN) aims are to (1) promote international collaboration among young investigators and (2) provide a support network for future innovative communication research projects. In October 2009, Miami, USA at a workshop facilitated by the ECRN at the International Conference on Communication in Healthcare (ICCH) hosted by the American Academy of Communication in Healthcare we explored common facilitators and challenges faced by early career researchers in health communication research. Methods Attendees introduced themselves, their research area(s) of interest, and listed one facilitator and one barrier for their career development. EACH ECRN members then led a discussion of facilitators and challenges encountered in communication research projects and career development. We discussed potential collaboration opportunities, future goals, and activities. Results Having supportive collegial relationships, institutional support, job security, and funding are critical facilitators for early career investigators. Key challenges include difficulty with time management and prioritizing, limited resources, and contacts. Conclusion International collaboration among early career researchers is a feasible and effective means to address important challenges, by increasing opportunities for professional support and networking, problem-solving, discussion of data, and ultimately publishing. Practice Implications Future AACH-EACH Early Career Researcher Networks should continue to build collaborations by developing shared research projects, papers, and other scholarly products. PMID:20663630

  13. Beyond ectomycorrhizal bipartite networks: projected networks demonstrate contrasted patterns between early- and late-successional plants in Corsica.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adrien eTaudiere

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The ectomycorrhizal (ECM symbiosis connects mutualistic plants and fungal species into bipartite networks. While links between one focal ECM plant and its fungal symbionts have been widely documented, systemic views of ECM networks are lacking, in particular, concerning the ability of fungal species to mediate indirect ecological interactions between ECM plant species (projected-ECM networks. We assembled a large dataset of plant-fungi associations at the species level and at the scale of Corsica using molecular data and unambiguously host-assigned records to: (i examine the correlation between the number of fungal symbionts of a plant species and the average specialization of these fungal species, (ii explore the structure of the plant-plant projected network and (iii compare plant association patterns in regard to their position along the ecological succession. Our analysis reveals no trade-off between specialization of plants and specialization of their partners and a saturation of the plant projected network. Moreover, there is a significantly lower-than-expected sharing of partners between early- and late-successional plant species, with fewer fungal partners for early-successional ones and similar average specialization of symbionts of early- and late-successional plants. Our work paves the way for ecological readings of Mediterranean landscapes that include the astonishing diversity of below-ground interactions.

  14. ERP services effort estimation strategies based on early requirements

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Erasmus, I.P.; Daneva, Maia; Kalenborg, Axel; Trapp, Marcus

    2015-01-01

    ERP clients and vendors necessarily estimate their project interventions at a very early stage, before the full requirements to an ERP solution are known and often before a contract is finalized between a vendor/ consulting company and a client. ERP project estimation at the stage of early

  15. The Long-Run Impacts of Early Childhood Education: Evidence from a Failed Policy Experiment. NBER Working Paper No. 17085

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeCicca, Philip; Smith, Justin D.

    2011-01-01

    We investigate short and long-term effects of early childhood education using variation created by a unique policy experiment in British Columbia, Canada. Our findings imply starting Kindergarten one year late substantially reduces the probability of repeating the third grade, and meaningfully increases in tenth grade math and reading scores.…

  16. "What a Girl Wants, What a Girl Needs:" Responding to Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in the Early Childhood Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blaise, Mindy

    2009-01-01

    This paper is based on data generated from a qualitative study of gender and sexuality in a kindergarten classroom. Post-developmental perspectives of sex, gender, and sexuality are used to show how young children are constructing gender and heterosexual discourses in the early childhood classroom. Drawing from feminist post-structuralism and…

  17. Examining the Contribution of Handwriting and Spelling to Written Expression in Kindergarten Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Puranik, Cynthia S.; AlOtaiba, Stephanie

    2012-01-01

    In this study, we examined the development of beginning writing skills in kindergarten children and the contribution of spelling and handwriting to these writing skills after accounting for early language, literacy, cognitive skills, and student characteristics. Two hundred and forty two children were given a battery of cognitive, oral language,…

  18. Coaching in Early Mathematics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Germeroth, Carrie; Sarama, Julie

    2017-01-01

    Falling scores in math have prompted a renewed interest in math instruction at early ages. By their own admission, early childhood educators are generally underprepared and not always comfortable teaching math. Professional development (PD) in early mathematics is widely considered a main way to increase teachers' skills and efficacy (e.g., Guskey, 2000; Hyson & Woods, 2014; Munby, Russell, & Martin, 2001; Piasta, Logan, Pelatti, Capps, & Petrill, 2015; Richardson & Placier, 2001; Sarama, Clements, Wolfe, & Spitler, 2016; Sarama & DiBiase, 2004; Zaslow, 2014). However, it has been documented that stand-alone PD is not as effective in changing practice (e.g., Biancarosa & Bryk, 2011; Garet et al., 2008; Guskey, 2000; Hyson & Woods, 2014; Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, 2015; Joyce & Showers, 2002; Zaslow, 2014). Site-embedded ongoing support in the form of coaching or mentoring has been shown to be critical for successful implementation (Neuman & Cunningham, 2009; Powell, Diamond, Burchinal, & Koehler, 2010). In this chapter, we describe coaching models and abstract characteristics of effective coaching from the research. With this background, we provide an in-depth view of the coaching aspect of two large empirical studies in early mathematics. We introduce the theoretical framework from which the coaching models for these projects were developed and describe the research on which they were based. We then summarize how the planned models were instantiated and challenges to their implementation within each project. In the final section, we summarize what we have learned and described implications and challenges for the field. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Understanding the Program Effectiveness of Early Mathematics Interventions for Prekindergarten and Kindergarten Environments: A Meta-Analytic Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Aubrey H.; Firmender, Janine M.; Power, Joshua R.; Byrnes, James P.

    2016-01-01

    Research Findings: The early childhood years are critical in developing early mathematics skills, but the opportunities one has to learn mathematics tend to be limited, preventing the development of significant mathematics learning. By conducting a meta-analysis of 29 experimental and quasi-experimental studies that have been published since 2000,…

  20. Predictors of Behavioral Regulation in Kindergarten: Household Chaos, Parenting, and Early Executive Functions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vernon-Feagans, Lynne; Garrett-Peters, Patricia; Willoughby, Michael

    2016-01-01

    Behavioral regulation is an important school readiness skill that has been linked to early executive function (EF) and later success in learning and school achievement. Although poverty and related risks, as well as negative parenting, have been associated with poorer EF and behavioral regulation, chaotic home environments may also play a role in…

  1. Building an early career network through outreach projects: The "mon océan & moi" example

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbieux, M.; Scheurle, C.; Ardyna, M.; Harmel, T.; Ferraris, M.; Jessin, T.; Lacour, L.; Mayot, N.; Organelli, E.; Pasqueron De Fommervault, O.; Penkerc'h, C.; Poteau, A.; Uitz, J.; Ramondec, S.; Sauzède, R.; Velluci, V.; Claustre, H.

    2016-02-01

    The ocean plays an important role in the global processes of our planet, from climate change to sea level rise, uptake of carbon dioxide to fisheries stocks. In addition, its scientific importance, extraordinary beauty and public fascination provide perfect ingredients for both education and public outreach. Four years ago, after the launch of the "mon océan & moi" outreach project, an early career network (Ph.D. students and postdocs) has been formed to "promote collaborations/exchanges between the scientific and educational worlds in order to co-elaborate a teaching method for raising the awareness of school children on marine environments". Scientists are pursuing new research yielding improved knowledge and new documentation resources. However, they lack the communication skills to make the subject accessible to the general public. On the other hand, teachers must be informed of recent discoveries and of new resources for educational purposes. To fill this gap, the early career scientists developed, in collaboration with a school authority and an experienced science communicators team, both a trail education program tested directly in middle and high schools and innovative supporting material (i.e., animations, educative video clips and experiments, interactive maps and quizzes). Here we outline a set of guidelines as to how to improve science outreach across a variety of disciplines (e.g., science, technology, engineering) and how this may impact the experience of early career scientists. These tips will be useful for other early career scientists and science outreach projects, large or small, regional, national or international. Such novel outreach initiatives will help educate current and next generations about the importance of ocean environments and the relevance of ocean sciences for the society, and may serve as an example of teamwork for other young scientists.

  2. Linguistic, reading, and transcription influences on kindergarten writing in children with English as a second language

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gina L. Harrison, Keira C. Ogle & Megan Keilty

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available The contribution of linguistic, reading, and transcription processes to writing in kindergarten English as a second language (ESL children and their native-English speaking peers (EL1 were examined. ESL and EL1 performed similarly on one of the two measures of phonological awareness (PA and on measures of early reading, spelling, and writing. EL1 outperformed ESL on a pseudoword repetition task and on the English vocabulary and syntactic knowledge tasks. ESL outperformed EL1 on a writing fluency measure. Correlation and hierarchical regression results varied as a function of the writing tasks (procedural or generative and language status. Across language groups, writing tasks that captured children's developing graphophonemic knowledge were associated with a breadth of cognitive, linguistic, and early literacy skills. PA, reading, and transcription skills, but not oral vocabulary and syntactic knowledge contributed the most variance to writing irrespective of language status. The results suggest that parallel component skills and processes underlie ESL and EL1 children's early writing when formal literacy instruction begins in kindergarten even though ESL children are developing English oral and literacy proficiency simultaneously.

  3. Contributions of Motivation, Early Numeracy Skills, and Executive Functioning to Mathematical Performance. A Longitudinal Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mercader, Jessica; Miranda, Ana; Presentación, M Jesús; Siegenthaler, Rebeca; Rosel, Jesús F

    2017-01-01

    The main goal of this longitudinal study is to examine the power of different variables and its dynamic interactions in predicting mathematical performance. The model proposed in this study includes indicators of motivational constructs (learning motivation and attributions), executive functioning (inhibition and working memory), and early numeracy skills (logical operations, counting, and magnitude comparison abilities), assessed during kindergarten, and mathematical performance in the second year of Primary Education. The sample consisted of 180 subjects assessed in two moments (5-6 and 7-8 years old). The results showed an indirect effect of initial motivation on later mathematical performance. Executive functioning and early numeracy skills mediated the effect of motivation on later mathematic achievement. Practical implications of these findings for mathematics education are discussed.

  4. Longitudinal relations among parents' reactions to children's negative emotions, effortful control, and math achievement in early elementary school.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swanson, Jodi; Valiente, Carlos; Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn; Bradley, Robert H; Eggum-Wilkens, Natalie D

    2014-01-01

    Panel mediation models and fixed-effects models were used to explore longitudinal relations among parents' reactions to children's displays of negative emotions, children's effortful control (EC), and children's math achievement (N = 291; M age in fall of kindergarten = 5.66 years, SD = .39 year) across kindergarten through second grade. Parents reported their reactions and children's EC. Math achievement was assessed with a standardized achievement test. First-grade EC mediated the relation between parents' reactions at kindergarten and second-grade math achievement, beyond stability in constructs across study years. Panel mediation model results suggested that socialization of EC may be one method of promoting math achievement in early school; however, when all omitted time-invariant covariates of EC and math achievement were controlled, first-grade EC no longer predicted second-grade math achievement. © 2014 The Authors. Child Development © 2014 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

  5. Children's social and scholastic lives in kindergarten: related spheres of influence?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ladd, G W; Birch, S H; Buhs, E S

    1999-01-01

    Evidence from two studies conducted with kindergarten samples (N = 200, M age = 5.58 years; N = 199, M age = 5.47 years) supported a series of interrelated hypotheses derived from a child x environment model of early school adjustment. The findings obtained were consistent with the following inferences: (1) Entry factors, such as children's cognitive maturity and family backgrounds, directly as well as indirectly influence children's behavior, participation, and achievement in kindergarten; (2) as children enter school, their initial behavioral orientations influence the types of relationships they form with peers and teachers; (3) stressful aspects of children's peer and teacher relationships in the school environment adversely impact classroom participation and achievement; and (4) classroom participation is an important prerequisite for achievement during kindergarten. Collectively, these findings illustrate the need to revise prevailing theories of school adjustment, and the research agendas that evolve from these perspectives, so as to incorporate interpersonal risk factors that operate within the school environment.

  6. The Wheels on the Bot Go Round and Round: Robotics Curriculum in Pre-Kindergarten

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sullivan, Amanda; Kazakoff, Elizabeth R.; Bers, Marina Umashi

    2013-01-01

    This paper qualitatively examines the implementation of an intensive weeklong robotics curriculum in three Pre-Kindergarten classrooms (N = 37) at an early childhood STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) focused magnet school in the Harlem area of New York City. Children at the school spent one week participating in computer…

  7. The Importance of Future Kindergarten Teachers' Beliefs about the Usefulness of Games Based Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manessis, Dionysios

    2014-01-01

    This paper examines the importance of future kindergarten teachers' beliefs about the usefulness of Games Based Learning in Early Childhood Education. Data were collected by using questionnaires which were given to the participants at the end of an introductory level, Information and Communication Technologies course. The sample of this study was…

  8. Early Science Instruction and Academic Language Development Can Go Hand in Hand. The Promising Effects of a Low-Intensity Teacher-Focused Intervention

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Henrichs, Lotte F.; Leseman, Paul P.M.

    2014-01-01

    Early science instruction is important in order to lay a firm basis for learning scientific concepts and scientific thinking. In addition, young children enjoy science. However, science plays only a minor role in the kindergarten curriculum. It has been reported that teachers feel they need to

  9. Vocabulary development and intervention for English learners in the early grades.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Doris Luft; Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Ortiz, Miriam; Correa, Vivian; Cole, Ron

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this chapter is to describe the vocabulary development and promising, evidence-based vocabulary interventions for English learners (ELs) from preschool through second grade. To achieve this purpose, we have taken six steps. First, we describe the elements of language development in the native language (L1) and a second language (L2) and how these elements relate to three phases of reading development (i.e., the prereading phase, the learning to read phase, and the reading to learn phase). We contend that in order for ELs to succeed in school, they need a strong language foundation prior to entering kindergarten. This language foundation needs to continue developing during the "learning to read" and "reading to learn" phases. Second, we describe the limitations of current practice in preschool for ELs related to vocabulary instruction and to family involvement to support children's language development. Third, we report curricular challenges faced by ELs in early elementary school, and we relate these challenges to the increase in reading and language demands outlined in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Specific language activities that can help meet some of the demands are provided in a table. Fourth, we synthesize the research on evidence-based vocabulary instruction and intervention and discuss implications for practice with ELs. Fifth, we describe two intervention projects under development that have the potential to improve EL vocabulary and language proficiency in the early grades. We conclude with a summary of the chapter and provide additional resources on the topic.

  10. Atypical Sulcal Pattern in Children with Developmental Dyslexia and At-Risk Kindergarteners.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Im, Kiho; Raschle, Nora Maria; Smith, Sara Ashley; Ellen Grant, P; Gaab, Nadine

    2016-03-01

    Developmental dyslexia (DD) is highly heritable and previous studies observed reduced cortical volume, white matter integrity, and functional alterations in left posterior brain regions in individuals with DD. The primary sulcal pattern has been hypothesized to relate to optimal organization and connections of cortical functional areas. It is determined during prenatal development and may reflect early, genetically influenced, brain development. We characterize the sulcal pattern using graph-based pattern analysis and investigate whether sulcal patterns in parieto-temporal and occipito-temporal regions are atypical in elementary school-age children with DD and pre-readers/beginning readers (preschoolers/kindergarteners) with a familial risk (elementary school-age children: n [males/females], age range = 17/11, 84-155 months; preschoolers/kindergarteners: 16/15, 59-84 months). The pattern of sulcal basin area in left parieto-temporal and occipito-temporal regions was significantly atypical (more sulcal basins of smaller size) in children with DD and further correlated with reduced reading performance on single- and nonword reading measures. A significantly atypical sulcal area pattern was also confirmed in younger preschoolers/kindergarteners with a familial risk of DD. Our results provide further support for atypical early brain development in DD and suggest that DD may originate from altered organization or connections of cortical areas in the left posterior regions. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  11. How Early Experiences in a Kindergarten Classroom Shape the Development of Self-Regulation Skills of Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darcy, Eloisa; Sarette, Sarah; Boghigian, Anna; Martin, Marley

    2017-01-01

    Providing the support that children need to build self-regulation skills has come to the forefront for educators today. This study investigated how kindergarten students (N=19) improved their self-regulation skills through direct instruction and effective scaffolding techniques. Selfregulated instruction was adapted to behavior activities for…

  12. The PRIMA-PIETRA Project: A Web-Based Platform for Early Autism Risk Assessment

    OpenAIRE

    Ruta, Liliana; Siracusano, Rosamaria; Tortorella, Gaetano; Boncoddo, Maria; Colombi, Costanza; Crifaci, Giulia; Billeci, Lucia; Tartarisco, Gennaro; Ferro, Marcello; Narzisi, Antonio; Muratori, Filippo; Pioggia, Giovanni

    2013-01-01

    It is well recognized that the best outcomes in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are achieved through early diagnosis and early intervention. ASD symptoms may occur as early as 12-18 months and different instruments have been developed for early autism risk assessment under the age of 2 years. The Modified Checklist for Autism in Children (M-CHAT) is a developmental surveillance-screening instrument administered during 18- to 36-month well-child visits that was demonstrated to improve early id...

  13. The hELENa project - II. Abundance distribution trends of early-type galaxies: from dwarfs to giants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sybilska, A.; Kuntschner, H.; van de Ven, G.; Vazdekis, A.; Falcón-Barroso, J.; Peletier, R. F.; Lisker, T.

    2018-06-01

    In this second paper of The role of Environment in shaping Low-mass Early-type Nearby galaxies (hELENa) series we study [Mg/Fe] abundance distribution trends of early-type galaxies (ETGs) observed with the Spectrographic Areal Unit for Research on Optical Nebulae integral field unit, spanning a wide range in mass and local environment densities: 20 low-mass early types (dEs) of Sybilska et al. and 258 massive early types (ETGs) of the ATLAS3D project, all homogeneously reduced and analysed. We show that the [Mg/Fe] ratios scale with velocity dispersion (σ) at fixed [Fe/H] and that they evolve with [Fe/H] along similar paths for all early types, grouped in bins of increasing local and global σ, as well as the second velocity moment Vrms, indicating a common inside-out formation pattern. We then place our dEs on the [Mg/Fe] versus [Fe/H] diagram of Local Group galaxies and show that dEs occupy the same region and show a similar trend line slope in the diagram as the high-metallicity stars of the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud. This finding extends the similar trend found for dwarf spheroidal versus dwarf irregular galaxies and supports the notion that dEs have evolved from late-type galaxies that have lost their gas at a point of their evolution, which likely coincided with them entering denser environments.

  14. THE BENEFIT OF EARLY EXPOSURE TO SIGN LANGUAGE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ljubica PRIBANIKJ

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Early diagnosis and intervention are now recognized as undeniable rights of deaf and hard-of-hearing children and their families. The deaf child’s family must have the opportunity to socialize with deaf children and deaf adults. The deaf child’s family must also have access to all the information on the general development of their child, and to special information on hearing impairment, communication options and linguistic development of the deaf child.The critical period hypothesis for language acquisition proposes that the outcome of language acquisition is not uniform over the lifespan but rather is best during early childhood. Individuals who learned sign language from birth performed better on linguistic and memory tasks than individuals who did not start learning sign language until after puberty. The old prejudice that the deaf child must learn the spoken language at a very young age, and that sign language can wait because it can be easily learned by any person at any age, cannot be maintained anymore.The cultural approach to deafness emphasizes three necessary components in the development of a deaf child: 1. stimulating early communication using natural sign language within the family and interacting with the Deaf community; 2. bilingual / bicultural education and 3. ensuring deaf persons’ rights to enjoy the services of high quality interpreters throughout their education from kindergarten to university. This new view of the phenomenology of deafness means that the environment needs to be changed in order to meet the deaf person’s needs, not the contrary.

  15. A high-level dynamic analysis approach for studying global process plant availability and production time in the early stages of mining projects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dennis Travagini Cremonese

    Full Text Available Abstract In the early stage of front-end studies of a Mining Project, the global availability (i.e. number of hours a plant is available for production and production (number of hours a plant is actually operated with material time of the process plant are normally assumed based on the experience of the study team. Understanding and defining the availability hours at the early stages of the project are important for the future stages of the project, as drastic changes in work hours will impact the economics of the project at that stage. An innovative high-level dynamic modeling approach has been developed to assist in the rapid evaluation of assumptions made by the study team. This model incorporates systems or equipment that are commonly used in mining projects from mine to product stockyard discharge after the processing plant. It includes subsystems that will simulate all the component handling, and major process plant systems required for a mining project. The output data provided by this high-level dynamic simulation approach will enhance the confidence level of engineering carried out during the early stage of the project. This study discusses the capabilities of the approach, and a test case compared with standard techniques used in mining project front-end studies.

  16. Teaching of students technology early professional orientation of schoolchildren

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilmanshina, S. I.; Sagitova, R. N.; Gilmanshin, I. R.; Kamaleeva, A. R.

    2017-09-01

    The necessity of early professional orientation of schoolchildren on the engineering profession and a new type of teacher was proved. Theoretically substantiated and experimentally tested pedagogical conditions of training of students - future teachers of technology early professional orientation of schoolchildren in the system of university preparation of teacher of a new type. This development of courses of special disciplines, aimed at developing of future teachers of readiness for early career guidance activities; development of interactive group projects for schoolchildren of different age groups (including primary school), expanding their understanding of the world of professions; practical testing of career guidance projects dealing with children’s audience.

  17. Contributions of Motivation, Early Numeracy Skills, and Executive Functioning to Mathematical Performance. A Longitudinal Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jessica Mercader

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The main goal of this longitudinal study is to examine the power of different variables and its dynamic interactions in predicting mathematical performance. The model proposed in this study includes indicators of motivational constructs (learning motivation and attributions, executive functioning (inhibition and working memory, and early numeracy skills (logical operations, counting, and magnitude comparison abilities, assessed during kindergarten, and mathematical performance in the second year of Primary Education. The sample consisted of 180 subjects assessed in two moments (5–6 and 7–8 years old. The results showed an indirect effect of initial motivation on later mathematical performance. Executive functioning and early numeracy skills mediated the effect of motivation on later mathematic achievement. Practical implications of these findings for mathematics education are discussed.

  18. Early diagnosis and early intervention in cerebral palsy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mijna eHadders-Algra

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper reviews the opportunities and challenges for early diagnosis and early intervention in cerebral palsy (CP. CP describes a group of disorders of the development of movement and posture, causing activity limitation, that are attributed to disturbances that occurred in the fetal or infant brain. Therefore the paper starts with a summary of relevant information from developmental neuroscience. Most lesions underlying CP occur in the second half of gestation, when developmental activity in the brain reaches its summit. Variations in timing of the damage not only result in different lesions, but also in different neuroplastic reactions and different associated neuropathologies. This turns CP into a heterogeneous entity. This may mean that the best early diagnostics and the best intervention methods may differ for various subgroups of children with CP. Next, the paper addresses possibilities for early diagnosis. It discusses the predictive value of neuromotor and neurological exams, neuro-imaging techniques and neurophysiological assessments. Prediction is best when complementary techniques are used in longitudinal series. Possibilities for early prediction of CP differ for infants admitted to neonatal intensive care and other infants. In the former group best prediction is achieved with the combination of neuro-imaging and the assessment of general movements, in the latter group best prediction is based on carefully documented milestones and neurological assessment. The last part reviews early intervention in infants developing CP. Most knowledge on early intervention is based on studies in high risk infants without CP. In these infants early intervention programs promote cognitive development until preschool age; motor development profits less. The few studies on early intervention in infants developing CP suggest that programs that stimulate all aspects of infant development by means of family coaching are most promising. More research is

  19. Educational Investment, Family Context, and Children's Math and Reading Growth from Kindergarten through the Third Grade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheadle, Jacob E.

    2008-01-01

    Drawing on longitudinal data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999, this study used IRT modeling to operationalize a measure of parental educational investments based on Lareau's notion of concerted cultivation. It used multilevel piece-wise growth models regressing children's math and reading achievement…

  20. Adult Outcomes as a Function of an Early Childhood Educational Program: An Abecedarian Project Follow-Up

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, Frances A.; Pungello, Elizabeth P.; Burchinal, Margaret; Kainz, Kirsten; Pan, Yi; Wasik, Barbara H.; Barbarin, Oscar A.; Sparling, Joseph J.; Ramey, Craig T.

    2012-01-01

    Adult (age 30) educational, economic, and social-emotional adjustment outcomes were investigated for participants in the Abecedarian Project, a randomized controlled trial of early childhood education for children from low-income families. Of the original 111 infants enrolled (98% African American), 101 took part in the age 30 follow-up. Primary…

  1. EARLY TREATMENT OF HANDICAPPED CHILDREN-ESPECIALLY OF MENTALLY HANDICAPPED

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter SKUBER

    1997-06-01

    Full Text Available In my discussion about the early treatment, I am going to point out three important matters:1. Open public health serviceThe deliveries are made at hospitals and the health service is the first to detect and treat children who are disturbed in their development. It also supervisor pregnancies. Upon the delivery, the screening test is used to analyze the risk delivery. At the beginning, the treatment is individual.2. Group (5-8 children in regular kindergartenThe transition of the child from the clinical treatment to the kindergarten is the result of an agreement between the team of experts both from the health institutes and pedagogical field of activity working in this way also when the child is in the nursery.The group of 5-8 handicapped children is now under the supervision of a nursery teacher having been to obtain special pedagogical education.3. Seminars of parentsThe state unity of associations providing for handicapped, in cooperation with local associations, organizes seminars lasting several days for parents and children.The purpose of the seminars is first of all helping parents in solving their emotional problems and also informing them on numerous issues appearing in connection with their child and themselves.

  2. Preplanning of early cleanup. Annual report 1996

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1997-01-01

    A pre-study 'Pre-planning of early cleanup after fallout of radioactive material' made by Studvik EcoSafe has pointed out the need and request for pre-planning of actions. Based on the pre-study this project was started with the goal to work out guidelines and checklists. Because of the common interest between the Nordic countries NKS is the organization responsible for the project. The results of the project will be a document pointing out what can be planned in advance, including guidelines and checklists, regarding early cleanup actions after a nuclear plant accident in or in the vicinity of the Nordic countries. In this work 'early' means the three first weeks after an accident. The project only deals with questions concerning external radiation. The document shall be usable by persons in charge of planning or decision makers on the appropriate level of organization for each country. The document shall principally be aimed towards persons without professional competence in the field of radiology. The result will be presented for a limited number of generalized environments and fallout situations: urban/suburban/rural (concentrating on urban/suburban); regional differences (in for example house types and constructing material); dry or wet deposition. Five housing environments, ten cleanup actions and wet or dry deposition are treated. For 66 combinations calculations are made and the results are documented as data sheets, each describing the beneficial effects, costs and disadvantages of application of a feasible method for cleaning in the early phase of a specific type of surface in one of five different urban or suburban environments. This data forms the foundation for the recommendations on guidelines, which are the ultimate goal of the EKO-5 project. (EG)

  3. Telomere length and early severe social deprivation: linking early adversity and cellular aging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drury, SS; Theall, K; Gleason, MM; Smyke, AT; De Vivo, I; Wong, JYY; Fox, NA; Zeanah, CH; Nelson, CA

    2012-01-01

    Accelerated telomere length attrition has been associated with psychological stress and early adversity in adults; however, no studies have examined whether telomere length in childhood is associated with early experiences. The Bucharest Early Intervention Project is a unique randomized controlled trial of foster care placement compared with continued care in institutions. As a result of the study design, participants were exposed to a quantified range of time in institutional care, and represented an ideal population in which to examine the association between a specific early adversity, institutional care and telomere length. We examined the association between average relative telomere length, telomere repeat copy number to single gene copy number (T/S) ratio and exposure to institutional care quantified as the percent of time at baseline (mean age 22 months) and at 54 months of age that each child lived in the institution. A significant negative correlation between T/S ratio and percentage of time was observed. Children with greater exposure to institutional care had significantly shorter relative telomere length in middle childhood. Gender modified this main effect. The percentage of time in institutional care at baseline significantly predicted telomere length in females, whereas the percentage of institutional care at 54 months was strongly predictive of telomere length in males. This is the first study to demonstrate an association between telomere length and institutionalization, the first study to find an association between adversity and telomere length in children, and contributes to the growing literature linking telomere length and early adversity. PMID:21577215

  4. A Proposal to Build an Education Research and Development Program: The Kamehameha Early Education Project Proposal. Technical Report #3.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallimore, Ronald; And Others

    This report summarizes the programmatic features of a proposal for the Kamehameha Early Education Project (KEEP), a program aimed at the development, demonstration, and dissemination of methods for improving the education of Hawaiian and part-Hawaiian children. A brief description of the proposed project goals, structure, organization, and…

  5. Extending the Range of a BEV - Early Progress

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Meyer, John; Agathocleous, Nicos; Kang, SH; Vespa, Tony

    2015-09-30

    The 2015 BEV Kia Soul is available with either a Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) heater only or an air-source R134a heat pump with PTC heater combination. Hanon, HATCI, and NREL are jointly, with financial support from the DoE, working towards extending the driving range of the heat pump vehicle. This presentation will focus on the early findings of the project, including test data of the baseline vehicle, early data from a modified vehicle, and range extension goals of the project.

  6. Early pharmaceutical profiling to predict oral drug absorption

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bergström, Christel A S; Holm, René; Jørgensen, Søren Astrup

    2014-01-01

    Preformulation measurements are used to estimate the fraction absorbed in vivo for orally administered compounds and thereby allow an early evaluation of the need for enabling formulations. As part of the Oral Biopharmaceutical Tools (OrBiTo) project, this review provides a summary of the pharmac......Preformulation measurements are used to estimate the fraction absorbed in vivo for orally administered compounds and thereby allow an early evaluation of the need for enabling formulations. As part of the Oral Biopharmaceutical Tools (OrBiTo) project, this review provides a summary...... and state-of-the art methodologies to study API properties impacting on oral absorption are reviewed. Assays performed during early development, i.e. physicochemical characterization, dissolution profiles under physiological conditions, permeability assays and the impact of excipients on these properties...

  7. Early Childhood Systems: Transforming Early Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kagan, Sharon Lynn, Ed.; Kauertz, Kristie, Ed.

    2012-01-01

    In this seminal volume, leading authorities strategize about how to create early childhood systems that transcend politics and economics to serve the needs of all young children. The authors offer different interpretations of the nature of early childhood systems, discuss the elements necessary to support their development, and examine how…

  8. An Examination of the Implementation of Mathematics Lessons in a Chinese Kindergarten Classroom in the Setting of Standards Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Bi Ying; Quebec Fuentes, Sarah; Ma, Jingjing; Ye, Feiwei; Roberts, Sherron Killingsworth

    2017-01-01

    In China, the "2001 Kindergarten Education Guidelines (Trial)", or "New Outline", delineates what constitutes high-quality, developmentally appropriate practices in all early childhood education curriculum domains, including mathematics. The "New Outline" is known for advocating a child-centered, play-based approach…

  9. Associations of prenatal and early life dietary inflammatory potential with childhood adiposity and cardiometabolic risk in Project Viva.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sen, S; Rifas-Shiman, S L; Shivappa, N; Wirth, M D; Hebert, J R; Gold, D R; Gillman, M W; Oken, E

    2018-05-01

    Limited information exists regarding the association between early-life diet and cardiometabolic risk. Examine associations of dietary inflammatory index (DII) in pregnancy and early childhood (3-5 years) with adiposity, blood pressure and metabolic markers in mid-childhood (6-10 years). Among 992 mother-child pairs from Project Viva, a pre-birth cohort, we examined associations of DII scores with outcomes using multivariable linear regression adjusted for child age and sex and maternal age, BMI, education, parity, smoking, race and income. Mean (SD) maternal DII in pregnancy was -2.6(1.4) units and in child DII in early childhood was 0.3(0.7). Mean mid-childhood BMI z-score was 0.40(0.98) units. In boys only, DII in early childhood was associated with higher BMIz (adjusted β = 0.16 units per unit DII, 95%CI 0.02, 0.29), waist circumference (0.93 cm; -0.07, 1.92) and skin fold thicknesses (1.12 mm; 0.01, 2.23). Dietary inflammatory index in the highest quartiles during both pregnancy and in early childhood, compared to the lowest quartiles, was associated with higher waist circumference (2.4 cm; 0.14, 4.6) in all children, and BMIz in boys (0.78 units; 0.34, 1.22). Associations with BP and metabolic markers were null. A pro-inflammatory diet in pregnancy and early childhood may promote the development of adiposity. © 2017 World Obesity Federation.

  10. Kindergarten Self-Regulation as a Predictor of Body Mass Index and Sports Participation in Fourth Grade Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piche, Genevieve; Fitzpatrick, Caroline; Pagani, Linda S.

    2012-01-01

    Identifying early precursors of body mass index (BMI) and sports participation represents an important concern from a public health perspective and can inform the development of preventive interventions. This article examines whether kindergarten child self-regulation, as measured by classroom engagement and behavioral regulation, predicts healthy…

  11. The Longitudinal Contribution of Early Morphological Awareness Skills to Reading Fluency and Comprehension in Greek

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    George Manolitsis

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the role of three morphological awareness (MA skills (inflection, derivation, and compounding in word reading fluency and reading comprehension in a relatively transparent orthography (Greek. Two hundred and fifteen (104 girls; Mage = 67.40 months, at kindergarten Greek children were followed from kindergarten (K to grade 2 (G2. In K and grade 1 (G1, they were tested on measures of MA (two inflectional, two derivational, and three compounding, letter knowledge, phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN, and general cognitive ability (vocabulary and non-verbal IQ. At the end of G1 and G2, they were also tested on word reading fluency and reading comprehension. The results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that the inflectional and derivational aspects of MA in K as well as all aspects of MA in G1 accounted for 2–5% of unique variance in reading comprehension. None of the MA skills predicted word reading fluency, after controlling for the effects of vocabulary and RAN. These findings suggest that the MA skills, even when assessed as early as in kindergarten, play a significant role in reading comprehension development.

  12. Time Well Spent in a Kindergarten Class:A Teacher’s Reflection on Using Talk to Learn

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Hope-Southcott

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Recent changes in the Ontario curricular expectations for teaching and learning have led the author to re-examine some of her teaching practices, particularly in oral language learning. In this article, the author explores what learning through talk looks like, sounds like and feels like from the kindergarten teacher’s perspective. By inquiring into her own practice, drawing from the literature on classroom talk in the early years, and critically reflecting on vignettes of classroom talk as well as a teaching journal, the author as kindergarten teacher challenges her own assumptions about talk to gain a deeper understanding of its role in a kindergarten classroom. The vignettes, reflective writing and teaching journal act as signposts that map a growing understanding of talk as a tool for learning. These stories help to ground the discussion about talk in practice as well as theory, and provide insights into the challenges and opportunities of using talk for learning in kindergarten.

  13. Long-Term Health Impact of Early Nutrition: The Power of Programming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koletzko, Berthold; Brands, Brigitte; Grote, Veit; Kirchberg, Franca F; Prell, Christine; Rzehak, Peter; Uhl, Olaf; Weber, Martina

    2017-01-01

    The Power of Programming conference 2016 at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich brought together about 600 researchers and other stakeholders from around the world who reviewed the recent evidence on the lasting health impact of environment and nutrition during early life, from pre-pregnancy to early childhood. The conference was hosted by the Early Nutrition Project, a multidisciplinary research collaboration funded by the European Commission with collaborating researchers from 35 institutions in 15 countries in Europe, the United States and Australia. The project explores the early origins of obesity, adiposity and associated non-communicable diseases, underlying mechanisms and opportunities for prevention. The project also proactively supports translational application of research findings. In fact, some existing evidence has already been rapidly adopted into policy, regulatory standards and practice. Further, broad dissemination of findings is achieved through the established digital eLearning platform of the Early Nutrition eAcademy, video clip-based learning and graphically supported messaging to consumers. The project demonstrated powerful effects of early metabolic programming on later health. Compared to other common prevention strategies, modifying risk trajectories in early life can achieve a much larger risk reduction and be more cost-effective. While some effective prevention strategies have been promptly implemented in policy and guidelines, legislation and practice, in other areas, the uptake is limited by a paucity of quality human intervention trials and insufficient evaluation of the feasibility of implementation and econometric impact. This needs to be strengthened by future collaborative research work. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  14. Sustainability Evaluation of Retrofitting and Renovation of Buildings in Early Stages

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Per Anker; Maslesa, Esmir; Gohardani, Navid

    2013-01-01

    research results and ideas for the development of a tool, which can be used as decision support for renovation projects in early stages. The research is part of the Eracobuild project ACES – “A concept for promotion of sustainable retrofitting and renovation in early stages” with participants from Denmark...

  15. Early math intervention for marginalized students

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Overgaard, Steffen; Tonnesen, Pia Beck

    2016-01-01

    This study is one of more substudies in the project Early Math Intervention for Marginalized Students (TMTM2014). The paper presents the initial process of this substudy that will be carried out fall 2015. In the TMTM2014 project, 80 teachers, who completed a one week course in the idea of TMTM...

  16. Implications of Overweight Onset and Persistence for Social and Behavioral Development between Kindergarten Entry and Third Grade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gable, Sara; Krull, Jennifer L.; Chang, Yiting

    2009-01-01

    The current study examines the social and behavioral development of school-age children with different histories of overweight onset. Eight thousand children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) participated. Three groups of children were identified for analysis: (1) those who were persistently overweight from…

  17. A kindergarten experiment in linguistic e-learning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Valente, Andrea; Marchetti, Emanuela

    2006-01-01

    As part of the BlaSq project, we are developing a set of linguistic games to be used in kindergartens. The first of these games is Crazipes, that we are currently testing in a Danish kindergarten, with the support of the local teachers. Here we discuss the architecture of the game, its potentials...

  18. Infusing Early Childhood Mental Health into Early Intervention Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grabert, John C.

    2009-01-01

    This article describes the process of enhancing early childhood mental health awareness and skills in non-mental health staff. The author describes a pilot training model, conducted the U.S. Army's Early Intervention Services, that involved: (a) increasing early childhood mental health knowledge through reflective readings, (b) enhancing…

  19. Tracing Early Interventions on Childhood Overweight

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ditlevsen, Kia

    This thesis presents results from a qualitative research project on early interventions to counter childhood obesity in Denmark. Overall, it was found that these interventions in families with preschool children were rarely performed. One barrier to the interventions is the structural setting...... in families with a non-western ethnic minority background and with low socioeconomic status. In families who participated in interventions, other social problems and a sense of insecurity caused by precarious living conditions of different kinds influenced the parents’ readiness to restrict children in order...... in the Danish health care system, which was found to be insufficient to initiate and facilitate early interventions. In addition, cultural stereotypes were found to affect the health care practitioners who are performing early interventions, and this can create reluctance to address overweight problems...

  20. Antiretroviral therapy in a community clinic - early lessons from a ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Antiretroviral therapy in a community clinic - early lessons from a pilot project. ... The HIV Research Unit, University of Cape Town, supplied training and ... Attention must be given to the diagnosis of tuberculosis during screening and early ART ...

  1. How Kindergarten Entry Assessments Are Used in Public Schools and How They Correlate with Spring Assessments. REL 2017-182

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shields, Katherine A.; Cook, Kyle DeMeo; Greller, Sara

    2016-01-01

    As a growing number of states require kindergarten entry assessments, more state and district administrators are becoming interested in how their peers use these assessments around the country. Given this interest, state administrators participating in Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast & Islands Early Childhood Education Research…

  2. Identifying anomalously early spring onsets in the CESM large ensemble project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Labe, Zachary; Ault, Toby; Zurita-Milla, Raul

    2017-06-01

    Seasonal transitions from winter to spring impact a wide variety of ecological and physical systems. While the effects of early springs across North America are widely documented, changes in their frequency and likelihood under the combined influences of climate change and natural variability are poorly understood. Extremely early springs, such as March 2012, can lead to severe economical losses and agricultural damage when these are followed by hard freeze events. Here we use the new Community Earth System Model Large Ensemble project and Extended Spring Indices to simulate historical and future spring onsets across the United States and in the particular the Great Lakes region. We found a marked increase in the frequency of March 2012-like springs by midcentury in addition to an overall trend towards earlier spring onsets, which nearly doubles that of observational records. However, changes in the date of last freeze do not occur at the same rate, therefore, causing a potential increase in the threat of plant tissue damage. Although large-scale climate modes, such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, have previously dominated decadal to multidecadal spring onset trends, our results indicate a decreased role in natural climate variability and hence a greater forced response by the end of the century for modulating trends. Without a major reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, our study suggests that years like 2012 in the US could become normal by mid-century.

  3. Developments in early intervention for psychosis in Hong Kong.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, G H Y; Hui, C L M; Wong, D Y; Tang, J Y M; Chang, W C; Chan, S K W; Lee, E H M; Xu, J Q; Lin, J J X; Lai, D C; Tam, W; Kok, J; Chung, D W S; Hung, S F; Chen, E Y H

    2012-09-01

    The year 2011 marked the 10-year milestone of early intervention for psychosis in Hong Kong. Since 2001, the landscape of early psychosis services has changed markedly in Hong Kong. Substantial progress has been made in the areas of early intervention service implementation, knowledge generation, and public awareness promotion. Favourable outcomes attributable to the early intervention service are supported by solid evidence from local clinical research studies; early intervention service users showed improved functioning, ameliorated symptoms, and decreased hospitalisation and suicide rates. Continued development of early intervention in Hong Kong over the decade includes the introduction and maturation of several key platforms, such as the Hospital Authority Early Assessment Service for Young People with Psychosis programme, the Psychosis Studies and Intervention Unit by the University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Early Psychosis Intervention Society, the Jockey Club Early Psychosis Project, and the postgraduate Psychological Medicine (Psychosis Studies) programme. In this paper, we reviewed some of the major milestones in local service development with reference to features of the Hong Kong mental health system. We describe chronologically the implementation and consolidation of public early intervention services as well as recent progresses in public awareness work that are tied in with knowledge generation and transfer, and outline the prospects for early intervention in the next decade and those that follow.

  4. Counting on Early Math Skills: Preliminary Kindergarten Impacts of the Making Pre-K Count and High 5s Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mattera, Shira; Morris, Pamela

    2017-01-01

    Early math ability is one of the best predictors of children's math and reading skills into late elementary school. Children with stronger math proficiency in elementary school, in turn, are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college. However, early math skills have not historically been a major focus of instruction in preschool…

  5. Gender differences in the behavioral associates of loneliness and social dissatisfaction in kindergarten.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coplan, Robert J; Closson, Leanna M; Arbeau, Kimberley A

    2007-10-01

    Much of the evidence suggesting that loneliness is a risk factor for socio-emotional adjustment difficulties comes from studies with older children and adolescents. Comparatively less is known about the mental health implications of loneliness in early childhood. The goals of the present study were to provide additional convergent validity of the Loneliness and Social Dissatisfaction Questionnaire for Young Children (Cassidy & Asher, 1992) and explore potential gender differences in relations between loneliness and behavior problems in early childhood. A multiple source assessment of 139 kindergarten-aged children (M(age) = 64.76 mos., SD = 4.48) was undertaken, including parental ratings, behavioral observations, child interviews, and teacher ratings. Overall, loneliness was positively associated with anxiety, aggression, and peer exclusion. However, several gender differences were also observed. Loneliness may be a marker variable for both early internalizing and externalizing problems. However, gender differences in the behavioral associates of loneliness are also evident.

  6. National Quality Improvement Center on Early Childhood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Browne, Charlyn Harper

    2014-01-01

    The national Quality Improvement Center on early Childhood (QIC-eC) funded four research and demonstration projects that tested child maltreatment prevention approaches. The projects were guided by several key perspectives: the importance of increasing protective factors in addition to decreasing risk factors in child maltreatment prevention…

  7. Validation of Early Detection Ovarian Cancer Biomarkers (Team Project) — EDRN Public Portal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Early detection of Ovarian Cancer (OC) is one of the key clinical problems in this disease. We propose a team EDRN project to address the issue of early detection of OC by performing a validation study on candidate protein markers already identified in previous EDRN research or in the literature (e.g. protein products of TCGA identified mutations specific to ovarian cancer). (See appendix for full listing) Biospecimen sources have been identified which include samples obtained at diagnosis and matched controls (Urban, Godwin, Marks, Skates), and longitudinal samples obtained prior to diagnosis (Urban, Skates, Godwin). Bioinformatic filters will be applied to rank the candidates (Diamandis). In order of ranking, candidate proteins for which high quality antibodies are available will be measured by development of ELISAs at JHU (Chan/Zhang) or through NAPPA at DFCI (Anderson/LaBaer), while for other candidates mass spectrometry based selective reaction monitoring (SRM) assays will be developed at PNNL (Rodland). Three milestones are defined. The first two milestones are to assemble the necessary specimens and to develop the qualifying assay(s). The final milestone is to estimate the markers’ sensitivity one year prior to diagnosis at a given high specificity.

  8. Vocabulary, syntax, and narrative development in typically developing children and children with early unilateral brain injury: Early parental talk about the there-and-then matters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demir, Özlem Ece; Rowe, Meredith L.; Heller, Gabriella; Goldin-Meadow, Susan; Levine, Susan C.

    2014-01-01

    This study examines the role of a particular kind of linguistic input––talk about the past and future, pretend, and explanations, that is, talk that is decontextualized––in the development of vocabulary, syntax, and narrative skill in typically developing (TD) children and children with pre- or perinatal brain injury (BI). Decontextualized talk has been shown to be particularly effective in predicting children’s language skills, but it is not clear why. We first explored the nature of parent decontextualized talk and found it to be linguistically richer than contextualized talk in parents of both TD and BI children. We then found, again for both groups, that parent decontextualized talk at child age 30 months was a significant predictor of child vocabulary, syntax, and narrative performance at kindergarten, above and beyond the child’s own early language skills, parent contextualized talk and demographic factors. Decontextualized talk played a larger role in predicting kindergarten syntax and narrative outcomes for children with lower syntax and narrative skill at 30 months, and also a larger role in predicting kindergarten narrative outcomes for children with BI than for TD children. The difference between the two groups stemmed primarily from the fact that children with BI had lower narrative (but not vocabulary or syntax) scores than TD children. When the two groups were matched in terms of narrative skill at kindergarten, the impact that decontextualized talk had on narrative skill did not differ for children with BI and for TD children. Decontextualized talk is thus a strong predictor of later language skill for all children, but may be particularly potent for children at the lower-end of the distribution for language skill. The findings also suggest that variability in the language development of children with BI is influenced not only by the biological characteristics of their lesions, but also by the language input they receive. PMID:25621756

  9. Making the Case for Early Childhood Investments: Three Arguments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neugebauer, Roger

    2011-01-01

    Tamar Manuelyan Atinc, vice president of The World Bank, introduces a World Bank report, "Investing in Young Children: An Early Childhood Development Guide for Policy Dialogue and Project Preparation". This report, which is a must for inclusion in every advocate's make the case for investing in early childhood services. It defines three arguments…

  10. ICU early physical rehabilitation programs: financial modeling of cost savings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lord, Robert K; Mayhew, Christopher R; Korupolu, Radha; Mantheiy, Earl C; Friedman, Michael A; Palmer, Jeffrey B; Needham, Dale M

    2013-03-01

    To evaluate the potential annual net cost savings of implementing an ICU early rehabilitation program. Using data from existing publications and actual experience with an early rehabilitation program in the Johns Hopkins Hospital Medical ICU, we developed a model of net financial savings/costs and presented results for ICUs with 200, 600, 900, and 2,000 annual admissions, accounting for both conservative- and best-case scenarios. Our example scenario provided a projected financial analysis of the Johns Hopkins Medical ICU early rehabilitation program, with 900 admissions per year, using actual reductions in length of stay achieved by this program. U.S.-based adult ICUs. Financial modeling of the introduction of an ICU early rehabilitation program. Net cost savings generated in our example scenario, with 900 annual admissions and actual length of stay reductions of 22% and 19% for the ICU and floor, respectively, were $817,836. Sensitivity analyses, which used conservative- and best-case scenarios for length of stay reductions and varied the per-day ICU and floor costs, across ICUs with 200-2,000 annual admissions, yielded financial projections ranging from -$87,611 (net cost) to $3,763,149 (net savings). Of the 24 scenarios included in these sensitivity analyses, 20 (83%) demonstrated net savings, with a relatively small net cost occurring in the remaining four scenarios, mostly when simultaneously combining the most conservative assumptions. A financial model, based on actual experience and published data, projects that investment in an ICU early rehabilitation program can generate net financial savings for U.S. hospitals. Even under the most conservative assumptions, the projected net cost of implementing such a program is modest relative to the substantial improvements in patient outcomes demonstrated by ICU early rehabilitation programs.

  11. The Relationship of Preschool Experience and Socioeconomic Status to Kindergarten and First Grade Achievement. Technical Report #65.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fox, Candace; Gallimore, Ronald

    This study examines the effects of preschool attendance on school achievement. The achievement test scores of 50 children in two classes of the Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP) who had attended preschool were compared to those of their classmates who had not attended preschool. Measures of kindergarten achievement used were the Wechsler…

  12. Effect of Foster Care on Language Learning at Eight Years: Findings from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Windsor, Jennifer; Moraru, Ana; Nelson, Charles A., III.; Fox, Nathan A.; Zeanah, Charles H.

    2013-01-01

    This study reports on language outcomes at eight years from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a randomized controlled study of foster care. We previously have shown that children placed in foster care by age two have substantially stronger preschool language outcomes than children placed later and children remaining in institutional care.…

  13. Early intervention for psychotic disorders: Real-life implementation in Hong Kong.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Gloria H Y; Hui, Christy L M; Tang, Jennifer Y M; Chang, Wing-Chung; Chan, Sherry K W; Xu, Jia-Qi; Lin, Jessie J X; Lai, Dik-Chee; Tam, Wendy; Kok, Joy; Chung, Dicky; Hung, S F; Chen, Eric Y H

    2012-03-01

    Hong Kong is among the first few cities in Asia to have implemented early intervention for psychosis in 2001. Substantial changes in psychosis service have since taken place. We reviewed available outcome data in Hong Kong, with reference to the philosophy of early intervention in psychosis, discussing experience and lessons learned from the implementation process, and future opportunities and challenges. Data accumulated in the past decade provided evidence for the benefits and significance of early intervention programmes: patients under the care of early intervention service showed improved functioning, milder symptoms, and fewer hospitalizations and suicides. Early intervention is more cost-effective compared with standard care. Stigma and misconception remains an issue, and public awareness campaigns are underway. In recent years, a critical mass is being formed, and Hong Kong has witnessed the unfolding of public service extension, new projects and organizations, and increasing interest from the community. Several major platforms are in place for coherent efforts, including the public Early Assessment Service for Young people with psychosis (EASY) programme, the Psychosis Studies and Intervention (PSI) research unit, the independent Hong Kong Early Psychosis Intervention Society (EPISO), the Jockey Club Early Psychosis (JCEP) project, and the postgraduate Psychological Medicine (Psychosis Studies) programme. The first decade of early intervention work has been promising; consolidation and further development is needed on many fronts of research, service and education. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. An Early Historical Examination of the Educational Intent of Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAEs) and Project-Based Learning in Agricultural Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Kasee L.; Rayfield, John

    2016-01-01

    Project-based learning has been a component of agricultural education since its inception. In light of the current call for additional emphasis of the Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) component of agricultural education, there is a need to revisit the roots of project-based learning. This early historical research study was conducted to…

  15. Brachytherapy in early prostate cancer--early experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jose, B O; Bailen, J L; Albrink, F H; Steinbock, G S; Cornett, M S; Benson, D C; Schmied, W K; Medley, R N; Spanos, W J; Paris, K J; Koerner, P D; Gatenby, R A; Wilson, D L; Meyer, R

    1999-01-01

    Use of brachytherapy with radioactive seeds in the management of early prostate cancer is commonly used in the United States. The early experience has been reported from the prostate treatment centers in Seattle for the last 10 years. In this manuscript we are reporting our early experience of 150 radioactive seed implantations in early stage prostate cancer using either Iodine 125 or Palladium 103 seeds. The average age of the patient is 66 years and the median Gleason score is 5.4 with a median PSA of 6. A brief description of the evolution of the treatment of prostate cancer as well as the preparation for the seed implantation using the volume study with ultrasound of the prostate, pubic arch study using CT scan of the pelvis and the complete planning using the treatment planning computers are discussed. We also have described the current technique which is used in our experience based on the Seattle guidelines. We plan a follow-up report with the results of the studies with longer follow-up.

  16. Developmental Links Between Children's Working Memory and their Social Relations with Teachers and Peers in the Early School Years.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Wilde, Amber; Koot, Hans M; van Lier, Pol A C

    2016-01-01

    This study assessed the developmental links between children's working memory development and their relations with teachers and peers across 2 years of kindergarten and early elementary school. Kindergarten and first grade children, N = 1109, 50% boys, were followed across 2 school-years. Children were assessed across 3 waves, in the fall and spring of the first school-year (within school-year), and finally in the spring of the second school-year. Working memory was assessed using a visuo-spatial working memory task. The developmental links between working memory and child-reported teacher-child relationship quality (warmth and conflict) and peer-nominated likeability and friendedness were assessed using autoregressive cross-lagged models. Lower working memory scores were related to increases in teacher-child conflict and decreases in teacher-child warmth one school-year later, in addition to decreases in likeability by peers within the same school-year. Conversely, teacher-child conflict was negatively associated with the development of working memory across the studied period. Path estimates between working memory and social relational factors were similar for boys and girls. Findings show developmental links between working memory and social-relational factors and vice versa. These results suggest that children's working memory development can be fostered through pro-social relations with teachers in early elementary school children.

  17. The Role Of The Integrated, Thematic Project To Learning Progress Of The Child In The Early Period

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aida Cornelia Stoian

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available In this study, we have proposed to present you the results of an empirical research in order to identify the positive aspects of the integrated, thematic project in learning progress of children in preschool. Using the observation method, we analyzed children's results regarding the objectives in the respect to the objectives in the grid. Children's progress in learning represents the confirmation and affirmation of the role of this integrated, thematic project in supporting the early learning child.

  18. A comparative analysis of early child health and development services and outcomes in countries with different redistributive policies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van den Heuvel, Meta; Hopkins, Jessica; Biscaro, Anne; Srikanthan, Cinntha; Feller, Andrea; Bremberg, Sven; Verkuijl, Nienke; Flapper, Boudien; Ford-Jones, Elizabeth Lee; Williams, Robin

    2013-11-06

    The social environment is a fundamental determinant of early child development and, in turn, early child development is a determinant of health, well-being, and learning skills across the life course. Redistributive policies aimed at reducing social inequalities, such as a welfare state and labour market policies, have shown a positive association with selected health indicators. In this study, we investigated the influence of redistributive policies specifically on the social environment of early child development in five countries with different political traditions. The objective of this analysis was to highlight similarities and differences in social and health services between the countries and their associations with other health outcomes that can inform better global early child development policies and improve early child health and development. Four social determinants of early child development were selected to provide a cross-section of key time periods in a child's life from prenatal to kindergarten. They included: 1) prenatal care, 2) maternal leave, 3) child health care, and 4) child care and early childhood education. We searched international databases and reports (e.g. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, World Bank, and UNICEF) to obtain information about early child development policies, services and outcomes. Although a comparative analysis cannot claim causation, our analysis suggests that redistributive policies aimed at reducing social inequalities are associated with a positive influence on the social determinants of early child development. Generous redistributive policies are associated with a higher maternal leave allowance and pay and more preventive child healthcare visits. A decreasing trend in infant mortality, low birth weight rate, and under five mortality rate were observed with an increase in redistributive policies. No clear influence of redistributive policies was observed on breastfeeding and immunization

  19. Early Education for Asian American Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitano, Margie K.

    1980-01-01

    A review of early education for Asian American children (Japanese, Chinese, Filipinos, Vietnamese, Koreans, Hawaiians, and Samoans) focuses on the 1975 Asian American Education Project, a study of the learning characteristics of preschool age children and its educational implications. (CM)

  20. Do Preschool Special Education Services Make a Difference in Kindergarten Reading and Mathematics Skills?: A Propensity Score Weighting Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sullivan, Amanda L.; Field, Samuel

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the average treatment effect of preschool special education services on children's kindergarten academic skills. Using data from a nationally representative sample of United States children who participated in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Birth Cohort, we examined the effectiveness of preschool…

  1. The Costly Consequences of not Being Socially and Behaviorally Ready to Learn by Kindergarten in Baltimore City.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bettencourt, Amie F; Gross, Deborah; Ho, Grace; Perrin, Nancy

    2018-02-01

    Social, emotional, and behavioral skills are foundational to learning and long-term success. However, poverty and exposure to adverse childhood experiences reduce the chances of children entering kindergarten socially-behaviorally ready to learn. This study examined the unique impact of 5-year-old children (N = 11,412) entering kindergarten not socially-behaviorally ready on three costly school outcomes by fourth grade in Baltimore City Public Schools: being retained in grade, receiving services and supports through an IEP or 504 plan, and being suspended/expelled. Controlling for all other types of school readiness, students not identified as socially-behaviorally ready for kindergarten were more likely to experience all three school outcomes. Findings underscore the importance of early prevention and intervention strategies targeting parents and social-behavioral readiness skills during the first 5 years of life.

  2. A Behavior-Genetic Study of the Legacy of Early Caregiving Experiences: Academic Skills, Social Competence, and Externalizing Behavior in Kindergarten

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roisman, Glenn I.; Fraley, R. Chris

    2012-01-01

    A critique of research examining whether early experiences with primary caregivers are reflected in adaptation is that relevant longitudinal studies have generally not employed genetically informed research designs capable of unconfounding shared genes and environments. Using the twin subsample (N = 485 pairs) of the Early Childhood Longitudinal…

  3. Let's Draw: Utilizing Interactive White Board to Support Kindergarten Children's Visual Art Learning Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chou, Pao-Nan; Chang, Chi-Cheng; Chen, Mei-Yin

    2017-01-01

    Compared to other academic disciplines, interactive white board (IWB) research in early childhood education is still in its infancy. To add more knowledge base regarding the instructional effectiveness of IWB for young children, this study aimed to investigate educational phenomenon of using an IWB to teach visual art to kindergarten students. The…

  4. Organizational Commitment as a Predictor of Teacher Kindergarten Performance in Implementation of ESDIGDC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suparji Suparji

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In order to achieve national development goals in the field of children health, the government is committed to enhancing the growth and development of children through the “Early Stimulation, Detection and Intervention for Growth and Development of Children (ESDIGDC” Program. Efforts to improve the health status of children is very important, because in addition to being the target of health development, it also becomes an indicator of the health status of children is to prepare children to achieve optimal growth and development . This  study  aimed to analyze the influence of organizational commitment on the performance of kindergarten  teacher in implementation of ESDIGDC Program. The subjects of this cross sectional study were 68 kindergarten teacher at Panekan Sub District, Magetan District, East Java Province,  Indonesia.  Data  were  collected through  questionnaires and then analyzed using linear regression. The results showed that p-value = 0.001 (significant, so it could be concluded  that  there was the influence of organizational commitment on the performance of kindergarten teacher in implementation of ESDIGDC.

  5. Robotics in the Early Childhood Classroom: Learning Outcomes from an 8-Week Robotics Curriculum in Pre-Kindergarten through Second Grade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sullivan, Amanda; Bers, Marina Umaschi

    2016-01-01

    In recent years there has been an increasing focus on the missing "T" of technology and "E" of engineering in early childhood STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) curricula. Robotics offers a playful and tangible way for children to engage with both T and E concepts during their foundational early childhood…

  6. THE IMPROVE SPEAKING ABILITY THROUGH EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION 5-6 YEARS OLD THROUGH ROLE PLAY IN ANAK BANGSA KINDERGARTEN CIOMAS BOGOR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Triyaningsih Triyaningsih

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract: This study is attempled to investigate about how improve the speaking ability through Role Play in Anak Bangsa Kindergarten Ciomas Bogor. Hypothesis tested are : there is different between the beginning assessment and the end assessment This study is conducted in TK Anak Bangsa,Ciomas Bogor on March until May in the second semester 2009/2010. this study uses the Kemmis and Mc. Taggart model of action research which consist of the four stage, those are : a planning, 2 action, 3 observation, 4 reflection . the process of collecting the data is using the techigue of interview, observation, and portofolio. the data is analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. The result of the research shoe that, the learning analysis in the first cycle to the second cycle indicated that, the learning analysis in the first cycle to the second cycle indicated that, significantly theres is increasing oof the speaking ability of student which sight out by the positive respon to speaking ability performen. the quantitave data of student outcome learning is score of speaking performance with rating scale. the student more done their speakin performence ability with higt result. The research result also concluded that 1 The Role Play can impove speaking ability for kindergarden student, 2 managing and organization the condusive class can improve the speaking ability for kindergarten student, 3 portofolio assessment system improve the speaking ability for kindergarten student, and the other result of this research is Role Play can improve the learning activity and the student outcome learning. Keyword: kindergarten, speaking ability, assessment

  7. THE IMPROVE SPEAKING ABILITY THROUGH EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION 5-6 YEARS OLD THROUGH ROLE PLAY IN ANAK BANGSA KINDERGARTEN CIOMAS BOGOR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Triyaningsih Triyaningsih

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract: This study is attempled to investigate about how improve the speaking ability through Role Play in Anak Bangsa Kindergarten Ciomas Bogor. Hypothesis tested are : there is different between the beginning assessment and the end assessment This study is conducted in TK Anak Bangsa,Ciomas Bogor on March until May  in the second semester 2009/2010. this study uses the Kemmis and Mc. Taggart model of action research which consist of the four stage, those are : a planning, 2 action, 3 observation, 4 reflection . the process of collecting the data is using the techigue of interview, observation, and portofolio. the data is analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. The result of the research shoe that, the learning analysis in the first cycle to the second cycle indicated that, the learning analysis in the first cycle to the second cycle indicated that, significantly theres is increasing oof the speaking ability of student which sight out by the positive respon to speaking ability performen. the quantitave data of student outcome learning is score of speaking performance with rating scale. the student more done their speakin performence ability  with higt result. The research result also concluded that 1 The Role Play can impove speaking ability for kindergarden student, 2 managing and organization the condusive class can improve the speaking ability for kindergarten student, 3 portofolio assessment system improve the speaking ability for kindergarten student, and the other result of this research is Role Play can improve the learning activity and the student outcome learning.  Keyword: kindergarten, speaking ability, assessment

  8. Building multilingual learning environments in early years education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martin Dodman

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the early language development of children with particular reference to the importance of personal multilingualism and the reasons why this should be promoted in early years education. It is argued that such an objective is best achieved by building multilingual learning environments at the level of nursery and infant schools. The characteristics of such environments are described and ways of evaluating projects designed to build them are presented.

  9. Does Accreditation Matter? School Readiness Rates for Accredited versus Nonaccredited Child Care Facilities in Florida's Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winterbottom, Christian; Piasta, Shayne B.

    2015-01-01

    Accreditation is a widely accepted indicator of quality in early education and includes many of the components cited in broad conceptualizations of quality. The purpose of this study was to examine whether kindergarten readiness rates differed between Florida child care facilities that were and were not accredited by any relevant national…

  10. USING ENGLISH SONGS TO INCREASE EARLY STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Siti Fachraini

    2017-12-01

    on the results of this study, it is very important for Kindergarten teachers to create an atmosphere of learning that makes students motivated and eager in learning such as the use of video media in learning so that automatically can improve students' abilities and achievement. Keywords: Early Childhood, English Vocabulary

  11. Early Memories as a Guide to Client Movement through Life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slavik, Steve

    1991-01-01

    Outlines the theory of the significance of early memories used as a projective tool by Adlerian psychologists. Describes a procedure for elicitation and interpretation of early memories and provides several examples of their use in an encouraging therapeutic context. Attempts to show effectiveness of this technique in assessing client issues and…

  12. Early intervention as a catalyst for effective early childhood ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... of positive attitudes towards children with disabilities in a country like Ghana. ... As Ghana strides towards mainstreaming early childhood education in the quest ... an integrated, inclusive and effective early intervention programme becomes ...

  13. Closing the achievement gap through modification of neurocognitive and neuroendocrine function: results from a cluster randomized controlled trial of an innovative approach to the education of children in kindergarten.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clancy Blair

    Full Text Available Effective early education is essential for academic achievement and positive life outcomes, particularly for children in poverty. Advances in neuroscience suggest that a focus on self-regulation in education can enhance children's engagement in learning and establish beneficial academic trajectories in the early elementary grades. Here, we experimentally evaluate an innovative approach to the education of children in kindergarten that embeds support for self-regulation, particularly executive functions, into literacy, mathematics, and science learning activities. Results from a cluster randomized controlled trial involving 29 schools, 79 classrooms, and 759 children indicated positive effects on executive functions, reasoning ability, the control of attention, and levels of salivary cortisol and alpha amylase. Results also demonstrated improvements in reading, vocabulary, and mathematics at the end of kindergarten that increased into the first grade. A number of effects were specific to high-poverty schools, suggesting that a focus on executive functions and associated aspects of self-regulation in early elementary education holds promise for closing the achievement gap.

  14. Closing the achievement gap through modification of neurocognitive and neuroendocrine function: results from a cluster randomized controlled trial of an innovative approach to the education of children in kindergarten.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blair, Clancy; Raver, C Cybele

    2014-01-01

    Effective early education is essential for academic achievement and positive life outcomes, particularly for children in poverty. Advances in neuroscience suggest that a focus on self-regulation in education can enhance children's engagement in learning and establish beneficial academic trajectories in the early elementary grades. Here, we experimentally evaluate an innovative approach to the education of children in kindergarten that embeds support for self-regulation, particularly executive functions, into literacy, mathematics, and science learning activities. Results from a cluster randomized controlled trial involving 29 schools, 79 classrooms, and 759 children indicated positive effects on executive functions, reasoning ability, the control of attention, and levels of salivary cortisol and alpha amylase. Results also demonstrated improvements in reading, vocabulary, and mathematics at the end of kindergarten that increased into the first grade. A number of effects were specific to high-poverty schools, suggesting that a focus on executive functions and associated aspects of self-regulation in early elementary education holds promise for closing the achievement gap.

  15. The TESIS Project: Revealing Massive Early-Type Galaxies at z > 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saracco, P.; Longhetti, M.; Severgnini, P.; Della Ceca, R.; Braito, V.; Bender, R.; Drory, N.; Feulner, G.; Hopp, U.; Mannucci, F.; Maraston, C.

    How and when present-day massive early-type galaxies built up and what type of evolution has characterized their growth (star formation and/or merging) still remain open issues. The different competing scenarios of galaxy formation predict much different properties of early-type galaxies at z > 1. The "monolithic" collapse predicts that massive spheroids formed at high redshift (z > 2.5-3) and that their comoving density is constant at z 1, their comoving density decreases from z = 0 to z ~ 1.5 and they should experience their last burst of star formation at z 1 can be probed observationally once a well defined sample of massive early-types at z > 1 is available. We are constructing such a sample through a dedicated near-IR very low resolution (λ/Δλ≃50) spectroscopic survey (TNG EROs Spectroscopic Identification Survey, TESIS, [6]) of a complete sample of 30 bright (K < 18.5) Extremely Red Objects (EROs).

  16. Automated early detection of diabetic retinopathy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Abràmoff, M.D.; Reinhardt, J.M.; Russell, S.R.; Folk, J.C.; Mahajan, V.B.; Niemeijer, M.; Quellec, G.

    2010-01-01

    Purpose To compare the performance of automated diabetic retinopathy (DR) detection, using the algorithm that won the 2009 Retinopathy Online Challenge Competition in 2009, the Challenge2009, against that of the one currently used in EyeCheck, a large computer-aided early DR detection project.

  17. Early discontinuation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Dorte Gilså; Felde, Lina; Gichangi, Anthony

    2007-01-01

    prevalence and rate of early discontinuation of different drugs consisting of, in this study, lipid-lowering drugs, antihypertensive drugs, antidepressants, antidiabetics and drugs against osteoporosis. Material and methods This was a register study based on prescription data covering a 4-year period...... and consisting of 470,000 citizens. For each practice and group of drug, a 1-year prevalence for 2002 and the rate of early discontinuation among new users in 2002-2003 were estimated. Early discontinuation was defined as no prescriptions during the second half-year following the first prescription....... There was a positive association between the prevalence of prescribing for the specific drugs studied (antidepressants, antidiabetics, drugs against osteoporosis and lipid-lowering drugs) and early discontinuation (r = 0.29 -0.44), but not for anti-hypertensive drugs. The analysis of the association between prevalence...

  18. Validity and reliability of the Early Childhood Caries Perceptions Scale (ECCPS) to assess health beliefs related to early childhood caries prevention among primary caregivers of children under 5 years of age.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pisarnturakit, Pagaporn P; Shaw, Bret R; Tanasukarn, Chanuantong; Vatanasomboon, Paranee

    2012-09-01

    Primary caregivers' child oral health care beliefs and practices are major factors in the prevention of Early Childhood Caries (ECC). This study assessed the validity and reliability of a newly-developed scale--the Early Childhood Caries Perceptions Scale (ECCPS)--used to measure beliefs regarding ECC preventive practices among primary caregivers of young children. The ECCPS was developed based on the Health Belief Model. The construct validity and reliability of the ECCPS were examined among 254 low-socioeconomic status primary caregivers with children under five years old, recruifed from 4 Bangkok Metropolitan Administration Health Centers and a kindergarten school. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) revealed a four-factor structure. The four factors were labeled as Perceived Susceptibility, Perceived Severity, Perceived Benefits and Perceived Barriers. Internal consistency measured by the Cronbach's coefficient alpha for those four factors were 0.897, 0.971, 0.975 and 0.789, respectively. The ECCPS demonstrated satisfactory levels of reliability and validity for assessing the health beliefs related to ECC prevention among low-socioeconomic primary caregivers.

  19. Teachers' perceptions of students' mathematics proficiency may exacerbate early gender gaps in achievement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson-Cimpian, Joseph P; Lubienski, Sarah Theule; Ganley, Colleen M; Copur-Gencturk, Yasemin

    2014-04-01

    A recent wave of research suggests that teachers overrate the performance of girls relative to boys and hold more positive attitudes toward girls' mathematics abilities. However, these prior estimates of teachers' supposed female bias are potentially misleading because these estimates (and teachers themselves) confound achievement with teachers' perceptions of behavior and effort. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K), Study 1 demonstrates that teachers actually rate boys' mathematics proficiency higher than that of girls when conditioning on both teachers' ratings of behavior and approaches to learning as well as past and current test scores. In other words, on average girls are only perceived to be as mathematically competent as similarly achieving boys when the girls are also seen as working harder, behaving better, and being more eager to learn. Study 2 uses mediation analysis with an instrumental-variables approach, as well as a matching strategy, to explore the extent to which this conditional underrating of girls may explain the widening gender gap in mathematics in early elementary school. We find robust evidence suggesting that underrating girls' mathematics proficiency accounts for a substantial portion of the development of the mathematics achievement gap between similarly performing and behaving boys and girls in the early grades. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  20. Evaluating the impact of a community developed collaborative project for the prevention of early childhood caries: the Healthy Smile Happy Child project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schroth, Robert J; Edwards, Jeanette M; Brothwell, Douglas J; Yakiwchuk, Carol A; Bertone, Mary F; Mellon, Bernadette; Ward, Jennifer; Ellis, Marion; Hai-Santiago, Khalida; Lawrence, Herenia P; Moffatt, Michael E

    2015-01-01

    To determine the effectiveness of the Healthy Smile Happy Child (HSHC) project, a community-developed initiative promoting early childhood oral health in Manitoba, Canada. Specific aims were to assess improvements in caregiver knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours relating to early childhood oral health, and the burden of early childhood caries (ECC) and severe ECC (S-ECC). A serial cross-sectional study design was selected to contrast findings following the Healthy Smile Happy Child (HSHC) campaign in four communities with the previous baseline data. One community was a remote First Nation in northern Manitoba and another was a rural First Nation in southern Manitoba. The other two communities were urban centres, one of which was located in northern Manitoba. A community-development approach was adopted for the project to foster community solutions to address ECC. Goals of the HSHC program were to promote the project in each community, use existing community-based programs and services to deliver the oral health promotion and ECC prevention activities, and recruit and train natural leaders to assist in program development and to deliver the ECC prevention program. The HSHC coordinator worked with communities to develop a comprehensive list of potential strategies to address ECC. Numerous activities occurred in each community to engage members and increase their knowledge of early childhood oral health and ultimately lead them to adopt preventive oral health practices for their young children. Children under 71 months of age and their primary caregivers participated in this follow-up study. A -value ≤0.05 was statistically significant. 319 children (mean age 38.2±18.6 months) and their primary caregivers participated. Significant improvements in caregiver knowledge and attitudes were observed following the HSHC campaign, including that baby teeth are important (98.8%), that decay involving primary teeth can impact on health (94.3%), and the importance of a dental

  1. E-Learning and Comprehensive School and Kindergarten Development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Line Skov; Hansen, Ole; Guttorm Andersen, Pia

    2012-01-01

    The content of this article includes experiences and results of a comprehensive development project for schools and kindergartens in Denmark. The project includes all pedagogical professionals within the organization and contains a professional development sequence based on among other things e-learning...... where pedagogical professionals collaboratively develop their common and individual practices. The article takes a look at both the challenges and potentials that have surfaced using e-learning as part of the framework for both professional and organizational development. In addition, the article...... proposes how the experience gathered from this existing project can be used as springboard to design new professional development projects where e-learning becomes an important element of competency development for pedagogical professionals in schools and kindergartens closely related to practice....

  2. Designing using Lego and Uno-Stacko: A Playful Architecture for an Integrated Kindergarten and Elementary School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muthmainnah, K.; Aryanti, T.; Ardiansyah, A.

    2017-03-01

    The integrated kindergarten and elementary school is a public educational facility used for early age and elementary education. Designated for children at 4-12 years of age, the design should meet the standards and requirements, while considering children’s needs in their development phase. This paper discusses the design of an integrated kindergarten and elementary school using the playful theme. Design was explored using LEGO and UNO-STACKO to create spaces that accommodate material exploration for children. The design takes the play concept as a medium of child’s learning in order to improve their ability and awareness of the surrounding environment. The design translates the playful theme into imaginary dimension, constructive-deconstructive shapes, and glide circulations concept. The spatial pattern is applied by considering children’s behavior in the designated ages to trigger their creativity improvement. The design is expected to serve as a model of an integrated kindergarten and elementary school architecture.

  3. Boys' Bodies in Early Childhood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drummond, Murray

    2012-01-01

    This paper is based on qualitative research data from a project investigating early childhood boys' constructions of masculinities in relation to sport, health and the body. The focus group data, with 33 boys, has been collected in each of the boys' first three years at school. It is part of the data that will be collected over eight years with…

  4. Strategic framework for socioeconomic viability of community-based early warning system

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Homberg, M.J.C. van den; Posthumus, A.L.

    2014-01-01

    Christian Aid, Cordaid, PVGS and Practical Action established a community-based early warning system for cross-border floods between India and Nepal in 45 Indian villages. The project will scale to 95 villages early 2016. The number of stakeholders and organizational levels of this system with four

  5. English Math For Kindergarten Bagi Guru-Guru Paud Nurul Ilmi Di Kecamatan Tembalang Semarang

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ririn Ambarini

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi yang akan di transfer kepada guru-guru PAUD Nurul Ilmi?é?á ?é?áSemarang adalah pelatihan bagaimana menerapkan pembelajaran English for Math untuk anak usia dini dan dengan materi Mathematics: What your Child Wil be Workig on in Kindergarten, Pembelajaran Matematika untuk Anak Usia Dini, Pembelajaran Bilingual untuk Anak Usia Dini, dan English Math for Early Childhood Education. Dengan adanya IbM English Math for Kindergarten Students?é?á?é?á sebagai game edukasi sekaligus?é?á ?é?áteaching aids maka diharapkan akan memberikan kontribusi bagi guru-guru PAUD untuk lebih mengembangkan ide-ide kreatif dalam mengajar sehingga suasana pembelajaran lebih menyenangkan selain juga memupuk kreatifitas dan mengembangkan potensi serta semangat belajar anak usia dini. ?é?á Kata kunci: English for Math, Pembelajaran, Anak Usia Dini.

  6. Early arthrosis of the digital joints

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fischer, E.

    1984-01-01

    Arthrosis of the digital joints begins predominantly on the volar joint surface and the volar-proximal margin of the head. Because of this localisation, and in order to obtain adequate contrast and definition, these early changes are best shown by means of low R.V. radiographs in three views. The early changes consist of the following local processes: intrachondral sclerosis, exomarginal and endomarginal subchondral sclerosis, discreet increase in the spongiosa; this leads to disrounding and hooklike form of the head; thickening or disappearance of the sub-marginal spongiosa and marginal defects. Artifacts produced by the projections or local bone variants must be recognised, as well as diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis. (orig.) [de

  7. Early arthrosis of the digital joints

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fischer, E.

    1984-05-01

    Arthrosis of the digital joints begins predominantly on the volar joint surface and the volar-proximal margin of the head. Because of this localisation, and in order to obtain adequate contrast and definition, these early changes are best shown by means of low R.V. radiographs in three views. The early changes consist of the following local processes: intrachondral sclerosis, exomarginal and endomarginal subchondral sclerosis, discreet increase in the spongiosa; this leads to disrounding and hooklike form of the head; thickening or disappearance of the sub-marginal spongiosa and marginal defects. Artifacts produced by the projections or local bone variants must be recognised, as well as diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis. 21 figs.

  8. Evaluation of Pacific Islands Early Childhood Caries Prevention Project: Republic of the Marshall Islands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milgrom, Peter; Tut, Ohnmar K

    2009-01-01

    This communication reports an outcomes evaluation of the Pacific Islands Early Childhood Caries Prevention Project. The evaluation includes children in three conditions: a) topical fluoride varnish three times per school year; b) varnish plus twice-per-day toothbrushing; and c) intervention 2 plus three-times-per-day xylitol containing gummy bear snacks at school and home visits to encourage parental involvement. For this evaluation, groups 2 and 3 have been combined. One year after project implementation, mean decayed, extracted, or filled primary teeth was 10.3 [standard deviation (SD)= 4.3] teeth for group 1, and 8.2 (SD = 4.0) teeth for the combination of groups 2 and 3 (P 0.05). Evaluation confirms the outcome of a program including both in-school twice-daily toothbrushing with fluoridated toothpaste and frequent applications of fluoride varnish.

  9. Recent Coverage of Early Childhood Education Approaches in Open Access Early Childhood Journals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keskin, Burhanettin

    2016-01-01

    A content analysis of the coverage of the major approaches to early childhood education in the early childhood research journals, published between 2010 and 2014, that are early childhood research oriented and have free online access were investigated. Among 21 journals in early childhood education, two journals were selected for the content…

  10. Kindergarten Children’s Growth Trajectories in Reading and Mathematics: Who Falls Increasingly Behind?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morgan, Paul L.; Farkas, George; Wu, Qiong

    2015-01-01

    We used a large sample of children (N ≈ 7,400) participating in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Kindergarten Cohort to estimate kindergarten children’s academic achievement growth trajectories in reading and mathematics. We were particularly interested in whether the growth trajectories of children with learning disabilities (LD) or speech language impairments (SLI)—as well as those of other groups of children—were consistent with a cumulative or compensatory developmental cycle. Both LD and SLI children displayed significantly lower levels of kindergarten reading achievement than non-disabled children. However, and over the subsequent five years of elementary school, only children with SLI lagged increasingly behind non-disabled peers in their reading skills growth. We observed a different pattern for mathematics achievement. Children with LD, but not SLI, lagged increasingly behind non-disabled children in their mathematics skills growth. We also observed some consistency in “poor-get-poorer” effects across reading and mathematic achievement for additional population subgroups. Those kindergarten children who were from lower socio-economic status (SES) families, who were African-American, and who more frequently displayed learning-related behaviors problems initially had lower levels of reading and mathematics achievement and also lagged increasingly behind in their acquisition of these skills over time. Some groups of children, including those with SLI, experience a cumulative rather than compensatory cycle of achievement growth. PMID:21856991

  11. Early Educational Intervention, Early Cumulative Risk, and the Early Home Environment as Predictors of Young Adult Outcomes within a High-Risk Sample

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pungello, Elizabeth P.; Kainz, Kirsten; Burchinal, Margaret; Wasik, Barbara H.; Sparling, Joseph J.; Ramey, Craig T.; Campbell, Frances A.

    2010-01-01

    The extent to which early educational intervention, early cumulative risk, and the early home environment were associated with young adult outcomes was investigated in a sample of 139 young adults (age 21) from high-risk families enrolled in randomized trials of early intervention. Positive effects of treatment were found for education attainment,…

  12. Early Transcendental Analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Cowell, Simon; Poulin, Philippe

    2015-01-01

    In Early Transcendentals (The American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 104, No 7) Steven Weintraub presents a rigorous justifcation of the "early transcendental" calculus textbook approach to the exponential and logarithmic functions. However, he uses tools such as term-by-term differentiation of infinite series. We present a rigorous treatment of the early transcendental approach suitable for a first course in analysis, using mainly the supremum property of the real numbers.

  13. Early puzzle play: a predictor of preschoolers' spatial transformation skill.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levine, Susan C; Ratliff, Kristin R; Huttenlocher, Janellen; Cannon, Joanna

    2012-03-01

    Individual differences in spatial skill emerge prior to kindergarten entry. However, little is known about the early experiences that may contribute to these differences. The current study examined the relation between children's early puzzle play and their spatial skill. Children and parents (n = 53) were observed at home for 90 min every 4 months (6 times) between 2 and 4 years of age (26 to 46 months). When children were 4 years 6 months old, they completed a spatial task involving mental transformations of 2-dimensional shapes. Children who were observed playing with puzzles performed better on this task than those who did not, controlling for parent education, income, and overall parent word types. Moreover, among those children who played with puzzles, frequency of puzzle play predicted performance on the spatial transformation task. Although the frequency of puzzle play did not differ for boys and girls, the quality of puzzle play (a composite of puzzle difficulty, parent engagement, and parent spatial language) was higher for boys than for girls. In addition, variation in puzzle play quality predicted performance on the spatial transformation task for girls but not for boys. Implications of these findings as well as future directions for research on the role of puzzle play in the development of spatial skill are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

  14. Early Puzzle Play: A predictor of preschoolers’ spatial transformation skill

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levine, S.C.; Ratliff, K.R.; Huttenlocher, J.; Cannon, J.

    2011-01-01

    Individual differences in spatial skill emerge prior to kindergarten entry. However, little is known about the early experiences that may contribute to these differences. The current study examines the relation between children’s early puzzle play and their spatial skill. Children and parents (n = 53) were observed at home for 90 minutes every four months (six times) between 2 and 4 years of age (26 to 46 months). When children were 4 years 6 months old, they completed a spatial task involving mental transformations of 2D shapes. Children who were observed playing with puzzles performed better on this task than those who did not, controlling for parent education, income, and overall parent word types. Moreover, among those children who played with puzzles, frequency of puzzle play predicted performance on the spatial transformation task. Although the frequency of puzzle play did not differ for boys and girls, the quality of puzzle play (a composite of puzzle difficulty, parent engagement, and parent spatial language) was higher for boys than girls. In addition, variation in puzzle play quality predicted performance on the spatial transformation task for girls but not boys. Implications of these findings as well as future directions for research on the role of the role of puzzle play in the development of spatial skill are discussed. PMID:22040312

  15. Understanding the biological concept "bird": A kindergarten case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buchholz, Dilek

    The purpose of this qualitative, multiple case study of 14 students in a metropolitan public school in the Deep South was to find out, during a period of three months, what these kindergarten-aged children knew about birds, whether this knowledge represented current scientific thought, if such science instruction meaningfully affected their prior knowledge, and if so, what the factors during instruction that seemed to influence their understanding of the concept of bird were. The research was conducted in three phases; preinstruction interviews, instruction, and postinstruction interviews. The theoretical framework for this research was based on the Human Constructivism theory of learning (Mintzes, Wandersee and Novak, 1997). Instructional materials consisted of carefully chosen books (both fiction and non-fiction), guest speakers, field trips, a live bird in the classroom, students' observation journals, teacher-made classification and sorting activities, and picture-based concept maps. The findings suggest that young children's knowledge of birds was limited chiefly to birds' anatomical and morphological characteristics, with repeated references being made by the children to human characteristics. There was a positive, significant difference in young children's pre- and postinstruction scientific knowledge of birds. Although performance varied from child to child after instruction, most children were able to identify some common birds by name. Just one child resisted conceptual change. Kindergarten children's basic knowledge of bird behavior was limited to flight and eating. Although the children had more conceptual knowledge at the end, understanding still appeared to be shallow. The children did develop their skill in observing markedly. It also became evident that these kindergarten children needed more (a) experience in asking questions, (b) practice in techniques of visual representation, and (c) language development in order to be able to explain what they

  16. Early or Premature Menopause

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... email updates Enter email Submit Early or premature menopause Menopause that happens before age 40 is called ... What is the difference between early and premature menopause? Early or premature menopause happens when ovaries stop ...

  17. Individual differences in the development of early peer aggression: Integrating contributions of self-regulation, theory of mind, and parenting

    Science.gov (United States)

    OLSON, SHERYL L.; LOPEZ-DURAN, NESTOR; LUNKENHEIMER, ERIKA S.; CHANG, HYEIN; SAMEROFF, ARNOLD J.

    2014-01-01

    This prospective longitudinal study focused on self-regulatory, social–cognitive, and parenting precursors of individual differences in children’s peer-directed aggression at early school age. Participants were 1993-year-old boys and girls who were reassessed following the transition to kindergarten (5.5–6 years). Peer aggression was assessed in preschool and school settings using naturalistic observations and teacher reports. Children’s self-regulation abilities and theory of mind understanding were assessed during a laboratory visit, and parenting risk (corporal punishment and low warmth/responsiveness) was assessed using interview-based and questionnaire measures. Individual differences in children’s peer aggression were moderately stable across the preschool to school transition. Preschool-age children who manifested high levels of aggressive peer interactions also showed lower levels of self-regulation and theory of mind understanding, and experienced higher levels of adverse parenting than others. Our main finding was that early corporal punishment was associated with increased levels of peer aggression across the transition from preschool to school, as was the interaction between low maternal emotional support and children’s early delays in theory of mind understanding. These data highlight the need for family-directed preventive efforts during the early preschool years. PMID:21262052

  18. News in early intervention in autism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geoffray, Marie-Maude; Thevenet, Marion; Georgieff, Nicolas

    2016-09-01

    Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental trouble which prevents the child from socio-communicative interaction, and learning from his environment. Non-medical early intervention attempts to improve prognosis. We will review the main current hypothesis, intervention models and scientific supports about early intervention. We conducted a search of the literature published on Medline between 2010 and 2015 related to intervention models provided to children with ASD aged less than 3 years. Data were extracted from systematic reviews and recent randomized controlled trials with moderate to high GRADE quality of evidence. Early intervention refers to brain plasticity theory. With the epidemiological studies of infant "at risk" there is an attempt to intervene earlier before full syndrome is present. Interventions tend to follow more on a developmental hierarchy of socio-communicative skills and to focus on the dyadic relation between the child and the caregivers to improve the core autistic symptoms. Over the last 6 years, there's been news and fine-tuned ways about early intervention, and more and more systematic evaluation. However, there are only few interventions which were evaluated in trial with a strong GRADE recommendation and all of them have methodological concerns. It is important to be cautious in recommendations for mental health politic, even if it is important to improve access to services for all children and their families, hence finance and design rigorous project in research.

  19. Relationship between creativity and laterality in Early Childhood Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rocío BERENGUER SÁNCHEZ

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available In primary education is essential to know and develop methodologies using the development of creativity and laterality in the process of teaching and learning in our student. It is an ideal place to study the relationship between these variables period. As we understand creativity as an integral part of all the languages in which student in early childhood education (verbal and written language, plastic body… are expressed, for all languages represent a creative process, a way to communicate with others, either verbal or written form, plastic. All these forms of communication is also related to another concept as laterality. It is essential to identify and examine the importance of laterality and dominations in kindergarten because all these processes are required before accessing other languages such as literacy. The objective of this study is to describe the relationship between creativity and laterality in Early Childhood Education. This has been evaluated 60 children in the second cycle of Infant Education and creativity variables defined and undefined laterality. In the development of this research test Torrance Creative Thinking (1974 of figurative expression and the test of laterality of the neuropsychological test (2011 it was applied. The results show that most of the student have defined laterality with 75%. These student earn higher average scores on each component of creativity, the group with undefined laterality and more creativity than the group with undefined laterality.

  20. Kindergarteners' self-reported social inhibition and observed social reticence: moderation by adult-reported social inhibition and social anxiety disorder symptoms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiel, Elizabeth J; Buss, Kristin A; Molitor, Joseph G

    2015-04-01

    Prevention of later anxiety problems would best be accomplished by identifying at-risk children early in development. For example, children who develop Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) may show social withdrawal in the form of social inhibition (i.e., shyness with unfamiliar adults and peers) at school entry. Although the use of children's perceptions of their own social inhibition would provide insight into early risk, the utility of young children's self-reports remains unclear. The current study examined whether children deemed more extreme on social inhibition or social anxiety by adult report provided self-report of social inhibition that related to observed social reticence in the laboratory. Participants included 85 kindergarten children (36 female, 49 male), their parents, and their teachers. Moderation analyses revealed that children's self-reported social inhibition related significantly to observed social reticence under the conditions of high parent-reported social inhibition, high teacher-reported social inhibition, and high SAD symptoms. These results suggest that the most inhibited children are aware of their behavior and can report it in a meaningfully way as young as kindergarten age.

  1. A longitudinal examination of socioemotional learning in African American and Latino boys across the transition from pre-K to kindergarten.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbarin, Oscar

    2013-01-01

    Questions about socioemotional learning in boys of color (BOC) arise in light of the disproportionate rates of school adjustment difficulties BOC experience by adolescence. Socioemotional competence in BOC is assessed in terms of self-regulation, interpersonal skills, and positive relationships with peers and teachers when they enter pre-K. Changes in competence are tracked until the end of kindergarten. Teachers from randomly selected early childhood programs in 11 states rated children's socioemotional competence in the fall and spring of pre-K. Children were followed through the end of kindergarten. Analyses compared Black (n = 278) and Latino (n = 347) boys to girls of color (n = 624) and White children (n = 1,209) while controlling for family poverty. Pre-K teachers rated a majority of BOC proficient on self-regulation and peer relations. BOC did not differ from White boys on initial competence ratings or on development over time, although boys as a group were rated as less competent than girls. Although gender mattered in the initial assessment of socioemotional competence, gender was unrelated to change in competence over time. The longitudinal analyses showed a decline in teacher ratings of socioemotional competence from pre-K to kindergarten. This decline was most likely attributable to the demands, structure, and didactic approaches common in kindergarten. Social competence did predict academic skills. Self-regulation of emotions was the domain most consistently related to academic functioning. The vulnerability BOC experience during adolescence is not evident in the levels of social competence they demonstrate early in their lives at school. © 2013 American Orthopsychiatric Association.

  2. Dyslexia and early intervention: what did we learn from the Dutch Dyslexia Programme?

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Leij, Aryan

    2013-11-01

    Part of the Dutch Dyslexia Programme has been dedicated to early intervention. The question of whether the genetically affected learning mechanism of children who are at familial risk (FR) of developing dyslexia could be influenced by training phoneme awareness and letter-sound associations in the prereading phase was investigated. The rationale was that intervention studies reveal insights about the weaknesses of the learning mechanisms of FR children. In addition, the studies aimed to gather practical insights to be used in the development of a system of early diagnosis and prevention. Focused on the last period of kindergarten before formal reading instruction starts in Grade 1, intervention methods with comparable samples and designs but differences in delivery mode (use of computer or manual), tutor (semi-professional or parent), location (at school or at home), and additional practices (serial rapid naming or simple word reading) have been executed to test the hypothesis that the incidence and degree of dyslexia can be reduced. The present position paper summarizes the Dutch Dyslexia Programme findings and relates them to findings of other studies. It is discussed that the Dutch studies provide evidence on why prevention of dyslexia is hard to accomplish. It is argued that effective intervention should not only start early but also be adapted to the individual and often long-lasting educational needs of children at risk of reading failure. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  3. Managing Risks? Early Warning Systems for Climate Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sitati, A. M.; Zommers, Z. A.; Habilov, M.

    2014-12-01

    Early warning systems are a tool with which to minimize risks posed by climate related hazards. Although great strides have been made in developing early warning systems most deal with one hazard, only provide short-term warnings and do not reach the most vulnerable. This presentation will review research results of the United Nations Environment Programme's CLIM-WARN project. The project seeks to identify how governments can better communicate risks by designing multi-hazard early warning systems that deliver actionable warnings across timescales. Household surveys and focus group discussions were conducted in 36 communities in Kenya, Ghana and Burkina Faso in order to identify relevant climate related hazards, current response strategies and early warning needs. Preliminary results show significant variability in both risks and needs within and between countries. For instance, floods are more frequent in rural western parts of Kenya. Droughts are frequent in the north while populations in urban areas face a range of hazards - floods, droughts, disease outbreaks - that sometimes occur simultaneously. The majority of the rural population, especially women, the disabled and the elderly, do not have access to modern media such as radio, television, or internet. While 55% of rural populace never watches television, 64% of urban respondents watch television on a daily basis. Communities have different concepts of how to design warning systems. It will be a challenge for national governments to create systems that accommodate such diversity yet provide standard quality of service to all. There is a need for flexible and forward-looking early warning systems that deliver broader information about risks. Information disseminated through the system could not only include details of hazards, but also long-term adaptation options, general education, and health information, thus increasingly both capabilities and response options.

  4. HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis and early antiretroviral treatment among female sex workers in South Africa: Results from a prospective observational demonstration project.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robyn Eakle

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Operational research is required to design delivery of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP and early antiretroviral treatment (ART. This paper presents the primary analysis of programmatic data, as well as demographic, behavioural, and clinical data, from the TAPS Demonstration Project, which offered both interventions to female sex workers (FSWs at 2 urban clinic sites in South Africa.The TAPS study was conducted between 30 March 2015 and 30 June 2017, with the enrolment period ending on 31 July 2016. TAPS was a prospective observational cohort study with 2 groups receiving interventions delivered in existing service settings: (1 PrEP as part of combination prevention for HIV-negative FSWs and (2 early ART for HIV-positive FSWs. The main outcome was programme retention at 12 months of follow-up. Of the 947 FSWs initially seen in clinic, 692 were HIV tested. HIV prevalence was 49%. Among those returning to clinic after HIV testing and clinical screening, 93% of the women who were HIV-negative were confirmed as clinically eligible for PrEP (n = 224/241, and 41% (n = 110/270 of the women who were HIV-positive had CD4 counts within National Department of Health ART initiation guidelines at assessment. Of the remaining women who were HIV-positive, 93% were eligible for early ART (n = 148/160. From those eligible, 98% (n = 219/224 and 94% (n = 139/148 took up PrEP and early ART, respectively. At baseline, a substantial fraction of women had a steady partner, worked in brothels, and were born in Zimbabwe. Of those enrolled, 22% on PrEP (n = 49/219 and 60% on early ART (n = 83/139 were seen at 12 months; we observed high rates of loss to follow-up: 71% (n = 156/219 and 30% (n = 42/139 in the PrEP and early ART groups, respectively. Little change over time was reported in consistent condom use or the number of sexual partners in the last 7 days, with high levels of consistent condom use with clients and low use with steady partners in both study groups

  5. Preparing beginning reading teachers: An experimental comparison of initial early literacy field experiences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Lake, Vickie E; Greulich, Luana; Folsom, Jessica S; Guidry, Lisa

    2012-01-01

    This randomized-control trial examined the learning of preservice teachers taking an initial Early Literacy course in an early childhood education program and of the kindergarten or first grade students they tutored in their field experience. Preservice teachers were randomly assigned to one of two tutoring programs: Book Buddies and Tutor Assisted Intensive Learning Strategies (TAILS), which provided identical meaning-focused instruction (shared book reading), but differed in the presentation of code-focused skills. TAILS used explicit, scripted lessons, and the Book Buddies required that code-focused instruction take place during shared book reading. Our research goal was to understand which tutoring program would be most effective in improving knowledge about reading, lead to broad and deep language and preparedness of the novice preservice teachers, and yield the most successful student reading outcomes. Findings indicate that all pre-service teachers demonstrated similar gains in knowledge, but preservice teachers in the TAILS program demonstrated broader and deeper application of knowledge and higher self-ratings of preparedness to teach reading. Students in both conditions made similar comprehension gains, but students tutored with TAILS showed significantly stronger decoding gains.

  6. Overview of Play: Its Uses and Importance in Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lifter, Karin; Foster-Sanda, Suzanne; Arzamarski, Caley; Briesch, Jacquelyn; McClure, Ellen

    2011-01-01

    Play is a natural activity of early childhood, which has great relevance to the fields of early intervention, early childhood special education, and early childhood education. Within these fields, ongoing tensions persist in how play is described and used. These tensions compromise activities of assessment, intervention, and curriculum development…

  7. Phonological Awareness and Rapid Automatized Naming Predicting Early Development in Reading and Spelling: Results from a Cross-Linguistic Longitudinal Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Furnes, Bjarte; Samuelsson, Stefan

    2010-01-01

    In this study, the relationship between latent constructs of phonological awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN) were investigated and related to later measures of reading and spelling in children learning to read in different alphabetic writing systems (i.e., Norwegian/Swedish vs. English). 750 U.S./Australian children and 230 Scandinavian children were followed longitudinally between kindergarten and 2nd grade. PA and RAN were measured in kindergarten and Grade 1, while word recognition, phonological decoding, and spelling were measured in kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2. In general, high stability was observed for the various reading and spelling measures, such that little additional variance was left open for PA and RAN. However, results demonstrated that RAN was more related to reading than spelling across orthographies, with the opposite pattern shown for PA. In addition, tests of measurement invariance show that the factor loadings of each observed indicator on the latent PA factor was the same across U.S./Australia and Scandinavia. Similar findings were obtained for RAN. In general, tests of structural invariance show that models of early literacy development are highly transferable across languages. PMID:21359098

  8. Business transactions and standards. Towards a system of concepts and a method for early problem identification in standard implementation projects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rukanova, B.D.

    2005-01-01

    To summarize, with respect to research question one we constructed a system of concepts, while in answer to research question two we proposed a method of how to apply this system of concepts in practice in order to identify potential problems in early stages of standard implementation projects.

  9. [Air pollutant exposure during pregnancy and fetal and early childhood development. Research protocol of the INMA (Childhood and Environment Project)].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esplugues, Ana; Fernández-Patier, Rosalía; Aguilera, Inma; Iñíguez, Carmen; García Dos Santos, Saúl; Aguirre Alfaro, Amelia; Lacasaña, Marina; Estarlich, Marisa; Grimalt, Joan O; Fernández, Marieta; Rebagliato, Marisa; Sala, María; Tardón, Adonina; Torrent, Maties; Martínez, María Dolores; Ribas-Fitó, Núria; Sunyer, Jordi; Ballester, Ferran

    2007-01-01

    The INMA (INfancia y Medio Ambiente [Spanish for Environment and Childhood]) project is a cooperative research network. This project aims to study the effects of environment and diet on fetal and early childhood development. This article aims to present the air pollutant exposure protocol during pregnancy and fetal and early childhood development of the INMA project. The information to assess air pollutant exposure during pregnancy is based on outdoor measurement of air pollutants (nitrogen dioxide [NO2], volatile organic compounds [VOC], ozone, particulate matter [PM10, PM2,5 ] and of their composition [polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons]); measurement of indoor and personal exposure (VOC and NO2); urinary measurement of a biological marker of hydrocarbon exposure (1-hydroxypyrene); and data gathered by questionnaires and geographic information systems. These data allow individual air pollutant exposure indexes to be developed, which can then be used to analyze the possible effects of exposure on fetal development and child health. This protocol and the type of study allow an approximation to individual air pollutant exposure to be obtained. Finally, the large number of participants (N = 4,000), as well as their geographic and social diversity, increases the study's potential.

  10. Early Quantitative Assessment of Non-Functional Requirements

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kassab, M.; Daneva, Maia; Ormandjieva, O.

    2007-01-01

    Non-functional requirements (NFRs) of software systems are a well known source of uncertainty in effort estimation. Yet, quantitatively approaching NFR early in a project is hard. This paper makes a step towards reducing the impact of uncertainty due to NRF. It offers a solution that incorporates

  11. Lived Experiences of Sex Life Difficulties in Men and Women with Early RA - The Swedish TIRA Project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Östlund, Gunnel; Björk, Mathilda; Valtersson, Eva; Sverker, Annette

    2015-12-01

    Men and women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) experience restrictions in everyday life, in spite of the development of new medications. Recent research has described in detail how participation limitations are experienced in everyday life from a patient perspective. However, knowledge of how sex and intimate relationships are affected is still scarce. The aim of the present study was to explore sex life experiences in relation to sexual function and sexual relationships in men and women with early RA. The study formed part of TIRA-2 (the Swedish acronym for the prospective multicentre early arthritis project). The data collection included 45 interviews with 21 men and 24 women, aged 20-63, which were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The critical incident technique was used to collect data, and content analysis to categorize the results. Half the participants stated that RA affected their sex life. The general descriptions formed five categories: sex life and tiredness; sex life and ageing; emotional consequences of impaired sexual function; facilitators of sexual function and sexual relationships; and strain on the sexual relationship. Sex life is affected in early RA, in spite of new effective treatment strategies. New strategies of communication, assessment and self-managing interventions concerning the sex lives of patients with RA need to be implemented by a multidisciplinary healthcare team. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  12. Early Maternal Time Investment and Early Child Outcomes

    OpenAIRE

    Del Bono, Emilia; Francesconi, Marco; Kelly, Yvonne; Sacker, Amanda

    2014-01-01

    Using large longitudinal survey data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, this paper estimates the relationship between maternal time inputs and early child development. We find that maternal time is a quantitatively important determinant of skill formation and that its effect declines with child age. There is evidence of long-term effects of early maternal time inputs on later outcomes, especially in the case of cognitive skill development. In the case of non-cognitive development, the evide...

  13. Earth's early biosphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Des Marais, D. J.

    1998-01-01

    Understanding our own early biosphere is essential to our search for life elsewhere, because life arose on Earth very early and rocky planets shared similar early histories. The biosphere arose before 3.8 Ga ago, was exclusively unicellular and was dominated by hyperthermophiles that utilized chemical sources of energy and employed a range of metabolic pathways for CO2 assimilation. Photosynthesis also arose very early. Oxygenic photosynthesis arose later but still prior to 2.7 Ga. The transition toward the modern global environment was paced by a decline in volcanic and hydrothermal activity. These developments allowed atmospheric O2 levels to increase. The O2 increase created new niches for aerobic life, most notably the more advanced Eukarya that eventually spawned the megascopic fauna and flora of our modern biosphere.

  14. 75 FR 20830 - Early Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-21

    ... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Early Learning AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Education... meetings and written submissions, is seeking input from State agencies responsible for early learning and... assistance providers, researchers of early learning, stakeholders who work with early learning and...

  15. Isolated Early-type Galaxies in the 2dFGRS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fuse, Christopher R.; Lamir, C.

    2014-01-01

    Isolated galaxies are systems that have experienced limited external perturbations, thus the properties of these galaxies are largely due to internal processes. The features of isolated early-type galaxies (IEGs) provide a baseline from which to compare early-type systems residing in higher-density environments. We use the Two-Degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) and the NASA Extragalactic Database (NED) to identify IEGs in the nearby universe. Search criteria in the 2dFGRS were chosen to insure that the IEGs have remained separated from neighboring galaxies for the majority of their lifetimes. Isolated galaxies are chosen utilizing a minimum projected physical separation of 1 Mpc from any neighboring non-dwarf galaxy brighter than Mb = -16.5 mags. A minimum redshift separation of 350 km/s between a candidate galaxy and a neighboring was imposed to further insure the candidate’s isolation. Early results of the search for isolated early-type galaxies in the southern sky are presented.

  16. Abnormal early cleavage events predict early embryo demise: sperm oxidative stress and early abnormal cleavage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burruel, Victoria; Klooster, Katie; Barker, Christopher M; Pera, Renee Reijo; Meyers, Stuart

    2014-10-13

    Human embryos resulting from abnormal early cleavage can result in aneuploidy and failure to develop normally to the blastocyst stage. The nature of paternal influence on early embryo development has not been directly demonstrated although many studies have suggested effects from spermatozoal chromatin packaging, DNA damage, centriolar and mitotic spindle integrity, and plasma membrane integrity. The goal of this study was to determine whether early developmental events were affected by oxidative damage to the fertilizing sperm. Survival analysis was used to compare patterns of blastocyst formation based on P2 duration. Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrate that relatively few embryos with short (P2 times reached blastocysts, and the two curves diverged beginning on day 4, with nearly all of the embryos with longer P2 times reaching blastocysts by day 6 (p < .01). We determined that duration of the 2nd to 3rd mitoses were sensitive periods in the presence of spermatozoal oxidative stress. Embryos that displayed either too long or too short cytokineses demonstrated an increased failure to reach blastocyst stage and therefore survive for further development. Although paternal-derived gene expression occurs later in development, this study suggests a specific role in early mitosis that is highly influenced by paternal factors.

  17. (More) Men in Early Childhood Education and Care

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wohlgemuth, Ulla Gerner

    2016-01-01

    on their profession. Obviously, attracting men to a BA study programme within care and Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is one thing, recruiting men afterwards to ECEC is quite another matter, especially when gender and ECEC hold so very strong gender associated expectations. The participants and especially......This article reports the results from five recently completed projects funded by the Danish Ministry for Children, Education and Gender Equality and based on an idea developed in cooperation with the Danish Union of Early Childhood and Youth Educators. The Danish government is obliged not only...... by European legislation but also by national resolutions and therefore is very interested in ways to break down the gender segregated labour market and the gender segregated choices of education. The five projects spread across Denmark in five different municipalities took place in day-care institutions...

  18. The communications in early warning network for radiation monitoring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oyoun, M.B.; Al-Hussin, Mohamad; Fares, Adnan; Al-Oulabi, Yasser; Othman, Ibrahim

    1992-07-01

    The objectives of early warning network are: The determination of gamma radiation (background) levels in air which depend on location and time, evaluation of any situation resulting from radiation or nuclear accident out of boarder, and after that reporting the emergency situation to relevant authorities on the national and international levels. Monitoring stations were installed using Gm tubes to cover boarder lines from south to north and east to west as follows: Damascus, Darra, Latakia, Tartous, Aleppo, Kamishly, Ragaa, and Qunitra. The following modes of communication: Telephone line, leased line, direct connection, and Syrian data network were used in the Syrian early network. This project was carried out in cooperation with IAEA under project no. RER/9/003. (author). 22 figs., 1 tab

  19. Testing a Nested Skills Model of the Relations among Invented Spelling, Accurate Spelling, and Word Reading, from Kindergarten to Grade 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sénéchal, Monique

    2017-01-01

    The goal was to assess the role of invented spelling to subsequent reading and spelling as proposed by the Nested Skills Model of Early Literacy Acquisition. 107 English-speaking children were tested at the beginning of kindergarten and grade 1, and at the end of grade 1. The findings provided support for the proposed model. First, the role played…

  20. Early Option Exercise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heje Pedersen, Lasse; Jensen, Mads Vestergaard

    A classic result by Merton (1973) is that, except just before expiration or dividend payments, one should never exercise a call option and never convert a convertible bond. We show theoretically that this result is overturned when investors face frictions. Early option exercise can be optimal when...... it reduces short-sale costs, transaction costs, or funding costs. We provide consistent empirical evidence, documenting billions of dollars of early exercise for options and convertible bonds using unique data on actual exercise decisions and frictions. Our model can explain as much as 98% of early exercises...

  1. Early Option Exercise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Mads Vestergaard; Heje Pedersen, Lasse

    2016-01-01

    A classic result by Merton (1973) is that, except just before expiration or dividend payments, one should never exercise a call option and never convert a convertible bond. We show theoretically that this result is overturned when investors face frictions. Early option exercise can be optimal when...... it reduces short-sale costs, transaction costs, or funding costs. We provide consistent empirical evidence, documenting billions of dollars of early exercise for options and convertible bonds using unique data on actual exercise decisions and frictions. Our model can explain as much as 98% of early exercises...

  2. Early mathematics intervention in a Danish municipality

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lindenskov, Lena; Weng, Peter

    2013-01-01

    We describe a pilot project 2009 – 2010 about early intervention in second grade mathematics (about 8 years old) in Frederiksberg, a Danish urban municipality. We shortly describe the background of the pilot project, aims and organisation in four design cycles. We explore the pilot teachers......' feedback during the pilot process, how pilot teacher feedback was applied in material production, and the relations between the feedback and the project’s theoretical basis. The project is based on original theory (Math Holes theory), but international frameworks, like Mathematics Recovery, serve...

  3. Early discharge following birth

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nilsson, Ingrid M. S.; Kronborg, Hanne; Knight, Christopher H.

    2017-01-01

    .26–0.48) and primiparous compared to multiparous had an OR of 0.22 (CI 0.17–0.29) for early discharge. Other predictors for early discharge were: no induction of labour, no epidural painkiller, bleeding less than 500 ml during delivery, higher gestational age, early expected discharge and positive breastfeeding experience...

  4. Viewing as little as 1 hour of TV daily is associated with higher change in BMI between kindergarten and first grade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peck, Travis; Scharf, Rebecca J; Conaway, Mark R; DeBoer, Mark D

    2015-08-01

    Evaluate associations between TV viewing and weight status in children from kindergarten to first grade. Linear and logistic regression was used to evaluate associations of TV-viewing time on BMI-z-score cross-sectionally at kindergarten and first grade and longitudinally in between, among a nationally representative sample of 14,645 children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort 2011. All analyses were adjusted for sex, race/ethnicity, parental education, and household income. Weekday TV-viewing time was correlated with BMI-z-score (P TV daily, children watching ≥1 h in kindergarten and first grade had a greater odds of overweight (1.50-1.60) and obesity (1.58-1.73). Children watching 1-TV had a greater odds of becoming overweight (1.39) and obese (1.86) between evaluations. Children watching as little as 1-TV daily were more likely to become overweight and obese over time. Physicians should encourage families to restrict TV-viewing time to reduce weight gain. © 2015 The Obesity Society.

  5. STRUCTURAL EVOLUTION OF EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES TO z = 2.5 IN CANDELS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Yu-Yen; Van der Wel, Arjen; Rix, Hans-Walter; Holden, Bradford; Faber, S. M.; Mozena, Mark; Guo Yicheng; Kocevski, Dale D.; Bell, Eric F.; McGrath, Elizabeth J.; Wuyts, Stijn; Häussler, Boris; Barden, Marco; Ferguson, Henry C.; Grogin, Norman A.; Koekemoer, Anton M.; Huang, Kuang-Han; Galametz, Audrey; Dekel, Avishai; Hathi, Nimish P.

    2013-01-01

    Projected axis ratio measurements of 880 early-type galaxies at redshifts 1 1 early-type galaxies show a variety of intrinsic shapes; even at a fixed mass, the projected axis ratio distributions cannot be explained by the random projection of a set of galaxies with very similar intrinsic shapes. However, a two-population model for the intrinsic shapes, consisting of a triaxial, fairly round population, combined with a flat (c/a ∼ 0.3) oblate population, adequately describes the projected axis ratio distributions of both present-day and z > 1 early-type galaxies. We find that the proportion of oblate versus triaxial galaxies depends both on the galaxies' stellar mass, and—at a given mass—on redshift. For present-day and z 1, this trend is much weaker over the mass range explored here (10 10 * /M ☉ 11 ), because the oblate fraction among massive (M * ∼ 10 11 M ☉ ) was much higher in the past: 0.59 ± 0.10 at z > 1, compared to 0.20 ± 0.02 at z ∼ 0.1. When combined with previous findings that the number density and sizes of early-type galaxies substantially increase over the same redshift range, this can be explained by the gradual emergence of merger-produced elliptical galaxies, at the expense of the destruction of pre-existing disks that were common among their high-redshift progenitors. In contrast, the oblate fraction among low-mass early-type galaxies (log (M * /M ☉ ) 1 to 0.72 ± 0.06 at z = 0. We speculate that this lower incidence of disks at early cosmic times can be attributed to two factors: low-mass, star-forming progenitors at z > 1 were not settled into stable disks to the same degree as at later cosmic times, and the stripping of gas from star-forming disk galaxies in dense environments is an increasingly important process at lower redshifts

  6. Approximated EU GHG inventory: Early estimates for 2011

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Herold, A. [Oeko-Institut (Oeko), Freiburg (Germany); Fernandez, R. [European Environment Agency (EEA), Copenhagen (Denmark)

    2012-10-15

    The objective of this report is to provide an early estimate of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the EU-15 and EU-27 for the year 2011. The official submission of 2011 data to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will occur in 2013. In recent years, the EEA and its European Topic Centre on Air Pollution and Climate Change Mitigation have developed a methodology to estimate GHG emissions using a bottom up approach - based on data or estimates for individual countries, sectors and gases - to derive EU GHG estimates in the preceding year (t-1). For transparency, this report shows the country-level GHG estimates from which the EU estimates have been derived. The 2011 estimates are based on the latest activity data available at country level and assume no change in emission factors or methodologies as compared to the official 2012 submissions to UNFCCC (which relate to emissions in 2010). Some Member States estimate and publish their own early estimates of GHG emissions for the preceding year. Where such estimates exist they are clearly referenced in this report in order to ensure complete transparency regarding the different GHG estimates available. Member State early estimates were also used for quality assurance and quality control of the EEA's GHG early estimates for 2011. Finally, the EEA has also used the early estimates of 2011 GHG emissions produced by EEA member countries to assess progress towards the Kyoto targets in its annual trends and projections report (due to be published alongside the present report). In that report, the EEA's early estimates for 2011 were only used for countries that lack their own early estimates to track progress towards national and EU targets. (LN)

  7. Approximated EU GHG inventory: Early estimates for 2010

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Herold, A.; Busche, J.; Hermann, H.; Joerss, W.; Scheffler, M. (OEko-Institut, Freiburg (Germany))

    2011-10-15

    The objective of this report is to provide an early estimate of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the EU-15 and EU-27 for the year 2010. The official submission of 2010 data to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will occur in 2012. In recent years, the EEA and its European Topic Centre on Air Pollution and Climate Change Mitigation have developed a methodology to estimate GHG emissions using a bottom up approach - based on data or estimates for individual countries, sectors and gases - to derive EU GHG estimates in the preceding year (t-1). For transparency, this report shows the country-level GHG estimates from which the EU estimates have been derived. The 2010 estimates are based on the latest activity data available at country level and assume no change in emission factors or methodologies as compared to the official 2011 submissions to UNFCCC (which re-late to emissions in 2009). Some Member States estimate and publish their own early estimates of GHG emissions for the preceding year. Where such estimates exist they are clearly referenced in this report in order to ensure complete transparency regarding the different GHG estimates available. Member State early estimates were also used for quality assurance and quality control of the EEA's GHG early estimates for 2010. Finally, EEA has also used the early estimates of 2010 GHG emissions produced by EEA member countries to assess progress towards the Kyoto targets in its annual trends and projections report (due to be published alongside the present report). In that report, the EEA's early estimates for 2010 were only used for countries that lack their own early estimates to track progress towards national and EU targets. (Author)

  8. Relations among motor, social, and cognitive skills in pre-kindergarten children with developmental disabilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Helyn; Carlson, Abby G; Curby, Timothy W; Winsler, Adam

    2016-01-01

    Despite the comorbidity between motor difficulties and certain disabilities, limited research has examined links between early motor, cognitive, and social skills in preschool-aged children with developmental disabilities. The present study examined the relative contributions of gross motor and fine motor skills to the prediction of improvements in children's cognitive and social skills among 2,027 pre-kindergarten children with developmental disabilities, including specific learning disorder, speech/language impairment, intellectual disability, and autism spectrum disorder. Results indicated that for pre-kindergarten children with developmental disabilities, fine motor skills, but not gross motor skills, were predictive of improvements in cognitive and social skills, even after controlling for demographic information and initial skill levels. Moreover, depending on the type of developmental disability, the pattern of prediction of gross motor and fine motor skills to improvements in children's cognitive and social skills differed. Implications are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. The hELENa project - I. Stellar populations of early-type galaxies linked with local environment and galaxy mass

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sybilska, A.; Lisker, T.; Kuntschner, H.; Vazdekis, A.; van de Ven, G.; Peletier, R.; Falcón-Barroso, J.; Vijayaraghavan, R.; Janz, J.

    2017-09-01

    We present the first in a series of papers in The role of Environment in shaping Low-mass Early-type Nearby galaxies (hELENa) project. In this paper, we combine our sample of 20 low-mass early types (dEs) with 258 massive early types (ETGs) from the ATLAS3D survey - all observed with the SAURON integral field unit - to investigate early-type galaxies' stellar population scaling relations and the dependence of the population properties on local environment, extended to the low-σ regime of dEs. The ages in our sample show more scatter at lower σ values, indicative of less massive galaxies being affected by the environment to a higher degree. The shape of the age-σ relations for cluster versus non-cluster galaxies suggests that cluster environment speeds up the placing of galaxies on the red sequence. While the scaling relations are tighter for cluster than for the field/group objects, we find no evidence for a difference in average population characteristics of the two samples. We investigate the properties of our sample in the Virgo cluster as a function of number density (rather than simple clustrocentric distance) and find that dE ages correlate with the local density such that galaxies in regions of lower density are younger, likely because they are later arrivals to the cluster or have experienced less pre-processing in groups, and consequently used up their gas reservoir more recently. Overall, dE properties correlate more strongly with density than those of massive ETGs, which was expected as less massive galaxies are more susceptible to external influences.

  10. Martin Mayman's early memories technique: bridging the gap between personality assessment and psychotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fowler, J C; Hilsenroth, M J; Handler, L

    2000-08-01

    In this article, we describe Martin Mayman's approach to early childhood memories as a projective technique, beginning with his scientific interest in learning theory, coupled with his interest in ego psychology and object relations theory. We describe Mayman's contributions to the use of the early memories technique to inform the psychotherapy process, tying assessment closely to psychotherapy and making assessment more useful in treatment. In this article, we describe a representative sample of research studies that demonstrate the reliability and validity of early memories, followed by case examples in which the early memories informed the therapy process, including issues of transference and countertransference.

  11. Cognitive Development in Early Readers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Briggs, Chari; Elkind, David

    Some studies of early readers are discussed. It is pointed out that study of early readers has relevance for practical and theoretical issues in psychology and education. Of interest in this document are the following questions: (1) Are there any special talents or traits distinguishing early from non-early readers? (2) Do children who read early…

  12. Early Dementia Screening

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter K. Panegyres

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available As the population of the world increases, there will be larger numbers of people with dementia and an emerging need for prompt diagnosis and treatment. Early dementia screening is the process by which a patient who might be in the prodromal phases of a dementing illness is determined as having, or not having, the hallmarks of a neurodegenerative condition. The concepts of mild cognitive impairment, or mild neurocognitive disorder, are useful in analyzing the patient in the prodromal phase of a dementing disease; however, the transformation to dementia may be as low as 10% per annum. The search for early dementia requires a comprehensive clinical evaluation, cognitive assessment, determination of functional status, corroborative history and imaging (including MRI, FDG-PET and maybe amyloid PET, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF examination assaying Aβ1–42, T-τ and P-τ might also be helpful. Primary care physicians are fundamental in the screening process and are vital in initiating specialist investigation and treatment. Early dementia screening is especially important in an age where there is a search for disease modifying therapies, where there is mounting evidence that treatment, if given early, might influence the natural history—hence the need for cost-effective screening measures for early dementia.

  13. Early Science Instruction and Academic Language Development Can Go Hand in Hand. The Promising Effects of a Low-Intensity Teacher-Focused Intervention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henrichs, Lotte F.; Leseman, Paul P. M.

    2014-11-01

    Early science instruction is important in order to lay a firm basis for learning scientific concepts and scientific thinking. In addition, young children enjoy science. However, science plays only a minor role in the kindergarten curriculum. It has been reported that teachers feel they need to prioritize language and literacy practices over science. In this paper, we investigate whether science lessons might be integrated with learning the language functional for school: academic language. The occurrence of scientific reasoning and sophisticated vocabulary in brief science lessons with 5-year-olds is evaluated. The aim of the study was twofold: first, to explore the nature of kindergarten science discourse without any researcher directions (pre-intervention observation). Second, in a randomized control trial, we evaluated the effect on science discourse of a brief teacher training session focused on academic language awareness. The science lessons focussed on air pressure and mirror reflection. Analyses showed that teachers from the intervention group increased their use of scientific reasoning and of domain-specific academic words in their science discourse, compared to the control group. For the use of general academic words and for lexical diversity, the effect was task-specific: these dependent measures only increased during the air pressure task. Implications of the study include the need to increase teachers' awareness of possibilities to combine early science instruction and academic language learning.

  14. Maternal Alcohol Consumption During the Perinatal and Early Parenting Period: A Longitudinal Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Weiwei; Mumford, Elizabeth A; Petras, Hanno

    2016-02-01

    Despite potential health risks for women and children, one in five women report alcohol use during pregnancy and a significant proportion of those who quit during pregnancy return to drinking post-delivery. This study seeks to understand the longitudinal patterns of alcohol consumption before, during pregnancy and post-delivery, and the role of maternal characteristics for purposes of informing prevention design. General growth mixture models were used to describe the average developmental patterns of maternal weekly drinking quantity at six time points, from preconception through child entering kindergarten, as well as heterogeneity in these patterns among 9100 mothers from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study representing the 2001 US national birth cohort. Four distinct classes of mothers were defined by their longitudinal alcohol consumption patterns: Low Probability Drinkers (50.3 %), Escalating Risk Drinkers (12.0 %), Escalating Low Risk Drinkers (27.4 %), and Early Parenting Quitters (10.2 %). Heterogeneous covariate associations were observed. For example, mothers who gave birth after age 36 were twice as likely to be Escalating Risk Drinkers and Escalating Low Risk Drinkers (vs Low Probability Drinkers), but not more likely to be Early Parenting Quitters, when compared to mothers who gave birth between the ages of 26 and 35. There is significant heterogeneity in maternal longitudinal alcohol use patterns during the perinatal period. Baseline maternal characteristics and behavior associated with these heterogeneous patterns provide valuable tools to identify potential risky drinkers during this critical time period and may be synthesized to tailor pre- and postnatal clinical counseling protocols.

  15. Tensions and dilemmas in body-pedagogy in kindergarten

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Herskind, Mia

    2010-01-01

      This paper concerns a research-based evaluation of Danish kindergarten employees and their experiences of an educational project ‘Moving Children' and the learning processes that followed in kindergarten in which they aimed to develop a body-pedagogy in order to increase the physical activity i...... on a phenomenological frame of reference (Merleau-Ponty 1964; Zahavi, 2003; van Manen, 1998; Moustakas, 1994; Spinelli, 2005) the study underlines the significance of bringing in the bodily narratives in investigations of body-pedagogy....

  16. Educating the Young Mathematician: The Twentieth Century and Beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saracho, Olivia N.; Spodek, Bernard

    2009-01-01

    Educational programs for young children emerged reasonably early in the history of the United States of America. The movements of Child-Centered Education, the Nursery School, the Project Method, Curriculum Reform, and contemporary research have all influenced mathematics in early childhood education. The Froebelian kindergarten and the Montessori…

  17. Early Dialysis and Adverse Outcomes After Hurricane Sandy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lurie, Nicole; Finne, Kristen; Worrall, Chris; Jauregui, Maria; Thaweethai, Tanayott; Margolis, Gregg; Kelman, Jeffrey

    2015-09-01

    Hemodialysis patients have historically experienced diminished access to care and increased adverse outcomes after natural disasters. Although "early dialysis" in advance of a storm is promoted as a best practice, evidence for its effectiveness as a protective measure is lacking. Building on prior work, we examined the relationship between the receipt of dialysis ahead of schedule before the storm (also known as early dialysis) and adverse outcomes of patients with end-stage renal disease in the areas most affected by Hurricane Sandy. Retrospective cohort analysis, using claims data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Datalink Project. Patients receiving long-term hemodialysis in New York City and the state of New Jersey, the areas most affected by Hurricane Sandy. Receipt of early dialysis compared to their usual treatment pattern in the week prior to the storm. Emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and 30-day mortality following the storm. Of 13,836 study patients, 8,256 (60%) received early dialysis. In unadjusted logistic regression models, patients who received early dialysis were found to have lower odds of ED visits (OR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.63-0.89; P=0.001) and hospitalizations (OR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.65-0.92; P=0.004) in the week of the storm and similar odds of 30-day mortality (OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.58-1.09; P=0.2). In adjusted multivariable logistic regression models, receipt of early dialysis was associated with lower odds of ED visits (OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.67-0.96; P=0.01) and hospitalizations (OR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.66-0.94; P=0.01) in the week of the storm and 30-day mortality (OR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.52-0.997; P=0.048). Inability to determine which patients were offered early dialysis and declined and whether important unmeasured patient characteristics are associated with receipt of early dialysis. Patients who received early dialysis had significantly lower odds of having an ED visit and hospitalization in the week of the storm and of

  18. Longitudinal Stability of Pre-Reading Skill Profiles of Kindergarten Children: Implications for Early Screening and Theories of Reading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozernov-Palchik, Ola; Norton, Elizabeth S.; Sideridis, Georgios; Beach, Sara D.; Wolf, Maryanne; Gabrieli, John D. E.; Gaab, Nadine

    2017-01-01

    Research suggests that early identification of developmental dyslexia is important for mitigating the negative effects of dyslexia, including reduced educational attainment and increased socioemotional difficulties. The strongest pre-literacy predictors of dyslexia are rapid automatized naming (RAN), phonological awareness (PA), letter knowledge,…

  19. Teaching the Arabic Alphabet to Kindergarteners

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Papadopoulos, Pantelis M.; Ibrahim, Zeinab; Karatsolis, Andreas

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents initial results regarding writing activities in the context of the ALADDIN project. The goal of the project is to teach Modern Standard Arabic in 5-year-old kindergarten students in Qatar. A total of 18 students, enrolled in the ‘Arabic Class’, participated for 9 weeks in the ...... computers affected students’ performance and attitude towards the Arabic class and, consequently, the Arabic language....

  20. Famines in Africa: is early warning early enough?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeeyon Janet Kim

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Following the second Sahelian famine in 1984–1985, major investments were made to establish Early Warning Systems. These systems help to ensure that timely warnings and vulnerability information are available to decision makers to anticipate and avert food crises. In the recent crisis in the Horn of Africa, alarming levels of acute malnutrition were documented from March 2010, and by August 2010, an impending food crisis was forecast. Despite these measures, the situation remained unrecognised, and further deteriorated causing malnutrition levels to grow in severity and scope. By the time the United Nations officially declared famine on 20 July 2011, and the humanitarian community sluggishly went into response mode, levels of malnutrition and mortality exceeded catastrophic levels. At this time, an estimated 11 million people were in desperate and immediate need for food. With warnings of food crises in the Sahel, South Sudan, and forecast of the drought returning to the Horn, there is an immediate need to institutionalize change in the health response during humanitarian emergencies. Early warning systems are only effective if they trigger an early response.

  1. Early stages of bipolar disorder: characterization and strategies for early intervention

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adiel C. Rios

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To characterize the early stages of bipolar disorder (BD, defined as the clinical prodrome/subsyndromal stage and first-episode phase, and strategies for their respective treatment. Methods: A selective literature search of the PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, and ISI databases from inception until March 2014 was performed. Included in this review were articles that a characterized prodromal and first-episode stages of BD or b detailed efficacy and safety/tolerability of interventions in patients considered prodromal for BD or those with only one episode of mania/hypomania. Results: As research has only recently focused on characterization of the early phase of BD, there is little evidence for the effectiveness of any treatment option in the early phase of BD. Case management; individual, group, and family therapy; supportive therapy; and group psychoeducation programs have been proposed. Most evidence-based treatment guidelines for BD do not address treatment specifically in the context of the early stages of illness. Evidence for pharmacotherapy is usually presented in relation to illness polarity (i.e., manic/mixed or depressed or treatment phase. Conclusions: Although early recognition and treatment are critical to preventing unfavorable outcomes, there is currently little evidence for interventions in these stages of BD.

  2. Employment and educational outcomes in early intervention programmes for early psychosis: a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bond, G R; Drake, R E; Luciano, A

    2015-10-01

    Young adults with early psychosis want to pursue normal roles - education and employment. This paper summarises the empirical literature on the effectiveness of early intervention programmes for employment and education outcomes. We conducted a systematic review of employment/education outcomes for early intervention programmes, distinguishing three programme types: (1) those providing supported employment, (2) those providing unspecified vocational services and (3) those without vocational services. We summarised findings for 28 studies. Eleven studies evaluated early intervention programmes providing supported employment. In eight studies that reported employment outcomes separately from education outcomes, the employment rate during follow-up for supported employment patients was 49%, compared with 29% for patients receiving usual services. The two groups did not differ on enrolment in education. In four controlled studies, meta-analysis showed that the employment rate for supported employment participants was significantly higher than for control participants, odds ratio = 3.66 [1.93-6.93], p < 0.0001. Five studies (four descriptive and one quasi-experimental) of early intervention programmes evaluating unspecified vocational services were inconclusive. Twelve studies of early intervention programmes without vocational services were methodologically heterogeneous, using diverse methods for evaluating vocational/educational outcomes and precluding a satisfactory meta-analytic synthesis. Among studies with comparison groups, 7 of 11 (64%) reported significant vocational/education outcomes favouring early intervention over usual services. In early intervention programmes, supported employment moderately increases employment rates but not rates of enrolment in education. These improvements are in addition to the modest effects early programmes alone have on vocational/educational outcomes compared with usual services.

  3. The Association between Early Conduct Problems and Early Marijuana Use in College Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Falls, Benjamin J.; Wish, Eric D.; Garnier, Laura M.; Caldeira, Kimberly M.; O'Grady, Kevin E.; Vincent, Kathryn B.; Arria, Amelia M.

    2011-01-01

    Early conduct problems have been linked to early marijuana use in adolescence. The present study examines this association in a sample of 1,076 college students that was divided into three groups: (1) early marijuana users (began marijuana use prior to age 15; N = 126), (2) late marijuana users (began marijuana use at or after age 15; N = 607),…

  4. External-environmental and internal-health early life predictors of adolescent development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartman, Sarah; Li, Zhi; Nettle, Daniel; Belsky, Jay

    2017-12-01

    A wealth of evidence documents associations between various aspects of the rearing environment and later development. Two evolutionary-inspired models advance explanations for why and how such early experiences shape later functioning: (a) the external-prediction model, which highlights the role of the early environment (e.g., parenting) in regulating children's development, and (b) the internal-prediction model, which emphasizes internal state (i.e., health) as the critical regulator. Thus, by using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, the current project draws from both models by investigating whether the effect of the early environment on later adolescent functioning is subject to an indirect effect by internal-health variables. Results showed a significant indirect effect of internal health on the relation between the early environment and adolescent behavior. Specifically, early environmental adversity during the first 5 years of life predicted lower quality health during childhood, which then led to problematic adolescent functioning and earlier age of menarche for girls. In addition, for girls, early adversity predicted lower quality health that forecasted earlier age of menarche leading to increased adolescent risk taking. The discussion highlights the importance of integrating both internal and external models to further understand the developmental processes that effect adolescent behavior.

  5. Ventriloquism as Early Literacy Practice: Making Meaning in Pretend Play

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bateman, Amanda

    2018-01-01

    This article discusses how children in New Zealand make meaning in their spontaneous pretend play from kindergarten (four years old) through to their first year of primary school (five years old). The findings discussed here are taken from a wider project investigating children's storytelling where 12 child participants were video recorded during…

  6. Early Learning Visual Impairment Services Training and Advancement (EL VISTA) Project: Leading the Way for a New Profession within a Profession

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landa-Vialard, Olaya; Ely, Mindy S.; Lartz, Maribeth Nelson

    2018-01-01

    The Frank Porter Graham (FPG) Child Development Institute, Early Intervention Training Center for Infants and Toddlers with Visual Impairments and Their Families, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was a national project that developed resources with the goal of building the capacity of colleges and universities to prepare personnel to…

  7. STRUCTURAL EVOLUTION OF EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES TO z = 2.5 IN CANDELS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chang, Yu-Yen; Van der Wel, Arjen; Rix, Hans-Walter [Max-Planck Institut fuer Astronomie, Koenigstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany); Holden, Bradford; Faber, S. M.; Mozena, Mark; Guo Yicheng; Kocevski, Dale D. [UCO/Lick Observatory, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Bell, Eric F. [Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); McGrath, Elizabeth J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Colby College, Waterville, ME 04901 (United States); Wuyts, Stijn [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Extraterrestrische Physik, Postfach 1312, Giessenbachstr., D-85741 Garching (Germany); Haeussler, Boris [Schools of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD (United Kingdom); Barden, Marco [Institute of Astro- and Particle Physics, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstrasse 25, A-6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Ferguson, Henry C.; Grogin, Norman A.; Koekemoer, Anton M.; Huang, Kuang-Han [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Galametz, Audrey [INAF-Osservatorio di Roma, Via Frascati 33, I-00040 Monteporzio (Italy); Dekel, Avishai [Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904 (Israel); Hathi, Nimish P., E-mail: chang@mpia.de [Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, Pasadena, CA (United States); and others

    2013-08-20

    Projected axis ratio measurements of 880 early-type galaxies at redshifts 1 < z < 2.5 selected from CANDELS are used to reconstruct and model their intrinsic shapes. The sample is selected on the basis of multiple rest-frame colors to reflect low star-formation activity. We demonstrate that these galaxies as an ensemble are dust-poor and transparent and therefore likely have smooth light profiles, similar to visually classified early-type galaxies. Similar to their present-day counterparts, the z > 1 early-type galaxies show a variety of intrinsic shapes; even at a fixed mass, the projected axis ratio distributions cannot be explained by the random projection of a set of galaxies with very similar intrinsic shapes. However, a two-population model for the intrinsic shapes, consisting of a triaxial, fairly round population, combined with a flat (c/a {approx} 0.3) oblate population, adequately describes the projected axis ratio distributions of both present-day and z > 1 early-type galaxies. We find that the proportion of oblate versus triaxial galaxies depends both on the galaxies' stellar mass, and-at a given mass-on redshift. For present-day and z < 1 early-type galaxies the oblate fraction strongly depends on galaxy mass. At z > 1, this trend is much weaker over the mass range explored here (10{sup 10} < M{sub *}/M{sub Sun} < 10{sup 11}), because the oblate fraction among massive (M{sub *} {approx} 10{sup 11} M{sub Sun }) was much higher in the past: 0.59 {+-} 0.10 at z > 1, compared to 0.20 {+-} 0.02 at z {approx} 0.1. When combined with previous findings that the number density and sizes of early-type galaxies substantially increase over the same redshift range, this can be explained by the gradual emergence of merger-produced elliptical galaxies, at the expense of the destruction of pre-existing disks that were common among their high-redshift progenitors. In contrast, the oblate fraction among low-mass early-type galaxies (log (M{sub *}/M{sub Sun }) < 10

  8. Restrictive educational placements increase adolescent risks for students with early-starting conduct problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powers, Christopher J; Bierman, Karen L; Coffman, Donna L

    2016-08-01

    Students with early-starting conduct problems often do poorly in school; they are disproportionately placed in restrictive educational placements outside of mainstream classrooms. Although intended to benefit students, research suggests that restrictive placements may exacerbate the maladjustment of youth with conduct problems. Mixed findings, small samples, and flawed designs limit the utility of existing research. This study examined the impact of restrictive educational placements on three adolescent outcomes (high school noncompletion, conduct disorder, depressive symptoms) in a sample of 861 students with early-starting conduct problems followed longitudinally from kindergarten (age 5-6). Causal modeling with propensity scores was used to adjust for confounding factors associated with restrictive placements. Analyses explored the timing of placement (elementary vs. secondary school) and moderation of impact by initial problem severity. Restrictive educational placement in secondary school (but not in elementary school) was iatrogenic, increasing the risk of high school noncompletion and the severity of adolescent conduct disorder. Negative effects were amplified for students with conduct problem behavior with less cognitive impairment. To avoid harm to students and to society, schools must find alternatives to restrictive placements for students with conduct problems in secondary school, particularly when these students do not have cognitive impairments that might warrant specialized educational supports. © 2015 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

  9. Comparing Self-Regulatory and Early Academic Skills as Predictors of Later Math, Reading, and Science Elementary School Achievement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murrah, William M., III

    The achievement score gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged children at school entry is a major problem in education today. Identifying the skills critical for school readiness is an important step in developing interventions aimed at addressing these score gaps. The purpose of this study is to compare a number of school readiness skills with an eye toward finding out which are the best predictors of later academic achievement in math, reading, and science. The predictors were early reading, math, general knowledge, socioemotional skills, and motor skills. Data were obtained from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of 1998 (NCES, 1998) database. While controlling for an extensive set of family characteristics, predictions were made across five years - from the end of kindergarten to the end of fifth grade. Consistent with current findings, reading and math skills predicted later achievement. Interestingly, general knowledge, attention, and fine motor skills also proved to be important predictors of later academic achievement, but socioemotional skills were not. The findings were interpreted from a neurobiological perspective involving the development of self-regulation. These school entry skills are used to predict later achievement in reading, math, and science. I argued that in addition to acquiring early academic knowledge, children need to regulate the use of this knowledge to meet academic goals.

  10. Early Retirement Payoff

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fitzpatrick, Maria D.; Lovenheim, Michael F.

    2014-01-01

    As public budgets have grown tighter over the past decade, states and school districts have sought ways to control the growth of spending. One increasingly common strategy employed to rein in costs is to offer experienced teachers with high salaries financial incentives to retire early. Although early retirement incentive (ERI) programs have been…

  11. A Cost-effectiveness Analysis of Early vs Late Tracheostomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, C Carrie; Rudmik, Luke

    2016-10-01

    The timing of tracheostomy in critically ill patients requiring mechanical ventilation is controversial. An important consideration that is currently missing in the literature is an evaluation of the economic impact of an early tracheostomy strategy vs a late tracheostomy strategy. To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the early tracheostomy strategy vs the late tracheostomy strategy. This economic analysis was performed using a decision tree model with a 90-day time horizon. The economic perspective was that of the US health care third-party payer. The primary outcome was the incremental cost per tracheostomy avoided. Probabilities were obtained from meta-analyses of randomized clinical trials. Costs were obtained from the published literature and the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project database. A multivariate probabilistic sensitivity analysis was performed to account for uncertainty surrounding mean values used in the reference case. The reference case demonstrated that the cost of the late tracheostomy strategy was $45 943.81 for 0.36 of effectiveness. The cost of the early tracheostomy strategy was $31 979.12 for 0.19 of effectiveness. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for the late tracheostomy strategy compared with the early tracheostomy strategy was $82 145.24 per tracheostomy avoided. With a willingness-to-pay threshold of $50 000, the early tracheostomy strategy is cost-effective with 56% certainty. The adaptation of an early vs a late tracheostomy strategy depends on the priorities of the decision-maker. Up to a willingness-to-pay threshold of $80 000 per tracheostomy avoided, the early tracheostomy strategy has a higher probability of being the more cost-effective intervention.

  12. Ultra-Fast Flash Observatory for observation of early photons from gamma ray bursts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Park, I. H.; Ahmad, S.; Barrillon, P.

    2012-01-01

    We describe the space project of Ultra-Fast Flash Observatory (UFFO) which will observe early optical photons from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with a sub-second optical response, for the first time. The UFFO will probe the early optical rise of GRBs, opening a completely new frontier in GRB and trans...

  13. Friendship conflict and the development of generalized physical aggression in the early school years: a genetically informed study of potential moderators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salvas, Marie-Claude; Vitaro, Frank; Brendgen, Mara; Dionne, Ginette; Tremblay, Richard E; Boivin, Michel

    2014-06-01

    Several authors consider high and frequent conflicts between friends during childhood as a serious risk for subsequent conduct problems such as generalized physical aggression toward others (e.g., Kupersmidt, Burchinal, & Patterson, 1995; Sebanc, 2003). Although it seems logical to assume that friendship conflict could have some negative consequences on children's behaviors, some scholars have suggested that a certain amount of conflict between friends may actually promote social adjustment (e.g., Laursen & Pursell, 2009). The aim of this study was to investigate the role of friendship conflict in regard to the development of generalized physical aggression toward others in the early school years (i.e., from kindergarten to Grade 1), as well as the moderating role of relational (i.e., shared positive affect and dyadic conflict resolution skills) and personal (i.e., children's sex and genetic liability for aggression) characteristics in this context. The sample included 745 twins assessed through teacher, peer, child, and friend ratings in kindergarten and Grade 1. Friendship conflict in kindergarten was linearly related to an increase in boys' but not girls' generalized physical aggression. However, shared positive affect and conflict resolution skills mitigated the prospective associations between friendship conflict and generalized physical aggression. These results were independent of children's sex, genetic risk for physical aggression, and initial levels of generalized physical aggression in kindergarten. Fostering a positive relationship between friends at school entry may buffer against the risk associated with experiencing friendship conflict. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  14. Who Gets Early Tracheostomy?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaw, Joshua J.

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Although the benefits of early tracheostomy in patients dependent on ventilators are well established, the reasons for variation in time from intubation to tracheostomy remain unclear. We identified clinical and demographic disparities in time to tracheostomy. METHODS: We performed a level 3 retrospective prognostic study by querying the University HealthSystem Consortium (2007-2010) for adult patients receiving a tracheostomy after initial intubation. Time to tracheostomy was designated early ( 10 days). Cohorts were stratified by time to tracheostomy and compared using univariate tests of association and multivariable adjusted models. RESULTS: A total of 49,191 patients underwent tracheostomy after initial intubation: 42% early (n = 21,029) and 58% late (n = 28,162). On both univariate and multivariable analyses, women, blacks, Hispanics, and patients receiving Medicaid were less likely to receive an early tracheostomy. Patients in the early group also experienced lower rates of mortality (OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.79-0.88). CONCLUSIONS: Early tracheostomy was associated with increased survival. Yet, there were still significant disparities in time to tracheostomy according to sex, race, and type of insurance. Application of evidence-based algorithms for tracheostomy may reduce unequal treatment and improve overall mortality rates. Additional research into this apparent bias in referral/rendering of tracheostomy is needed. PMID:26313324

  15. Early warnings of extreme winds using the ECMWF Extreme Forecast Index

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petroliagis, Thomas I.; Pinson, Pierre

    2014-01-01

    The European FP7 SafeWind Project aims at developing research towards a European vision of wind power forecasting, which requires advanced meteorological support concerning extreme wind events. This study is focused mainly on early warnings of extreme winds in the early medium-range. Three synoptic...... regimes. Overall, it becomes clear that the first indications of an extreme wind event might come from the ECMWF deterministic and/or probabilistic components capturing very intense weather systems (possible windstorms) in the medium term. For early warnings, all available EPS Extreme Forecast Index (EFI......) formulations were used, by linking daily maximum wind speeds to EFI values for different forecast horizons. From all possible EFI schemes deployed for issuing early warnings, the highest skill was found for the Gust Factor formulation (EFI-10FGI). Using EFI-10FGI, the corresponding 99% threshold could provide...

  16. Motor development skills of 1- to 4-year-old Iranian children with early treated phenylketonuria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nazi, Sepideh; Rohani, Farzaneh; Sajedi, Firoozeh; Biglarian, Akbar; Setoodeh, Arya

    2014-01-01

    Objective : To gauge the gross and fine motor development of early treated phenylketonuria (ETPKU) in children in the age range of 1-4 years. Methods : A cross-sectional analytic study was conducted in PKU clinics (reference clinics for PKU follow-up), Tehran, Iran. Seventy children with ETPKU were selected as the case group for the study. ETPKU children were those with early and continuous treatment with a phenylalanine-restricted diet (the mean of blood phenylalanine level during the recent 6 months was 2-6 mg/dL or 120-360 μmol/L). Also, 100 healthy and normal children matched with the ETPKU group for age were randomly selected from 4 kindergartens in four parts of Tehran as a control group. The measurements consisted of a demographic questionnaire, Peabody Developmental Motor Scale-2 (PDMS-2), and pediatrician assessment. Motor quotients were determined by PDMS-2 and then compared in both groups by two independent samples t-test. Results : The mean ages in case and control group were 28.5 (± 11.6) and 29.7 (± 11.3) months, respectively. Comparison of the mean fine, gross, and total developmental motor quotients (DMQs) showed statistically significant differences between the two groups (p fine and total DMQs of ETPKU children were also correlated with age. In addition, there was a negative correlation between the phenylalanine level and fine (p motor development. It is recommended to plan programs for early detection and intervention of developmental delays in these children.

  17. Beyond adoption status: Post-adoptive parental involvement and children's reading and math performance from kindergarten to first grade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Tony Xing; Kim, Eun Sook; Baggerly, Jennifer; Mahoney, E Emily; Rice, Jessica

    2017-01-01

    In this study, we went beyond adoption status to examine the associations between postadoption parental involvement and children's reading and math performance from kindergarten to first grade. Secondary data on a sample of adopted children and nonadopted children were drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998 to 1999 (ECLS-K). Weighted data on the children's reading performance were available for 13,900 children (181 were adopted); weighted data on the children's math performance were available for 14,128 children (184 were adopted). Descriptive data showed no group difference in reading scores at all 3 Waves but adopted children scored lower than nonadopted children in math at Wave 2 (Spring of kindergarten) and Wave 3 (Spring of first grade). However, controlling for 6 covariates, latent growth modeling showed that adoption status was unrelated to Wave 1 reading and math scores or subsequent growth rate. Rather, parents' beliefs on skills needed to succeed in kindergarten were a significant predictor of reading and math performance at Wave 1 and subsequent growth rates, and parents' educational expectation was a significant predictor of growth rate in reading and math. Our findings highlight the importance of parental involvement in adopted children's learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  18. Hypereutectoid steel in early medieval sword production in Europe

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kucypera, P.; Hošek, Jiří

    2014-01-01

    Roč. 27, [1] (2014), s. 31-39 ISSN 0860-0007 R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP405/12/2289 Institutional support: RVO:67985912 Keywords : swords * Early Middle Ages * hypereutectoid steel Subject RIV: AC - Archeology, Anthropology, Ethnology

  19. 52 years of kindergarten – the structure has proved successful and must not disappear – let’s save our nursery and school together!

    CERN Multimedia

    Staff Association

    2017-01-01

    Since the beginning of 2016, the Staff Association has been in discussions with the Management to save and sustain our Nursery and School, located on the CERN site in Meyrin. Where are we now with the discussions and what does the future hold for our Children’s Day-Care Centre and School (EVEE)? A closer look at the creation of the Kindergarten and its management A group of parents founded the Kindergarten at CERN in the 1960s, and in 1969, the CERN Staff Association took the structure under its aegis. This change in management resulted in a partnership agreement between CERN and the Staff Association. The agreement defined the rights and duties of both parties with regard to the Staff Association operating a kindergarten on the CERN site. Since then, the Staff Association has been the employer and manager of the structure providing early childhood services. Development of the structure over time In 1977, the Kindergarten changed premises and a new agreement was signed between CERN and the Staff As...

  20. 23 CFR 771.111 - Early coordination, public involvement, and project development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... RIGHT-OF-WAY AND ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AND RELATED PROCEDURES § 771.111 Early coordination... applicant for incorporation into the environmental assessment (EA) or draft EIS. (f) In order to ensure... obtained from: Director, Office of Human and Natural Environment, Federal Transit Administration...

  1. Early intervention in psychosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Csillag, Claudio; Nordentoft, Merete; Mizuno, Masafumi

    2017-01-01

    AIM: Early intervention in psychosis (EIP) is a well-established approach with the intention of early detection and treatment of psychotic disorders. Its clinical and economic benefits are well documented. This paper presents basic aspects of EIP services, discusses challenges to their implementa......AIM: Early intervention in psychosis (EIP) is a well-established approach with the intention of early detection and treatment of psychotic disorders. Its clinical and economic benefits are well documented. This paper presents basic aspects of EIP services, discusses challenges...... benefits alone is not enough to promote implementation, as economic arguments and political and social pressure have shown to be important elements in efforts to achieve implementation. CONCLUSIONS: Users' narratives, close collaboration with community organizations and support from policy-makers and known...

  2. Observing preschoolers' social-emotional behavior: structure, foundations, and prediction of early school success.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denham, Susanne A; Bassett, Hideko Hamada; Thayer, Sara K; Mincic, Melissa S; Sirotkin, Yana S; Zinsser, Katherine

    2012-01-01

    Social-emotional behavior of 352 3- and 4-year-olds attending private child-care and Head Start programs was observed using the Minnesota Preschool Affect Checklist, Revised (MPAC-R). Goals of the investigation included (a) using MPAC-R data to extract a shortened version, MPAC-R/S, comparing structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and stability of both versions; and, using the shortened measure, to examine (b) age, gender, and risk status differences in social-emotional behaviors; (c) contributions of emotion knowledge and executive function to social-emotional behaviors; and (d) contributions of social-emotional behaviors to early school adjustment and kindergarten academic success. Results show that reliability of MPAC-R/S was as good, or better, than the MPAC-R. MPAC-R/S structure, at both times of observation, included emotionally negative/aggressive, emotionally regulated/prosocial, and emotionally positive/productive behaviors; MPAC-R structure was similar but less replicable over time. Age, gender, and risk differences were found. Children's emotion knowledge contributed to later emotionally regulated/prosocial behavior. Finally, preschool emotionally negative/aggressive behaviors were associated with concurrent and kindergarten school success, and there was evidence of social-emotional behavior mediating relations between emotion knowledge or executive function, and school outcomes. The importance of portable, empirically supported observation measures of social-emotional behaviors is discussed along with possible applications, teacher utilization, and implementation barriers.

  3. Three-dimensional DNA image cytometry by optical projection tomographic microscopy for early cancer diagnosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agarwal, Nitin; Biancardi, Alberto M; Patten, Florence W; Reeves, Anthony P; Seibel, Eric J

    2014-04-01

    Aneuploidy is typically assessed by flow cytometry (FCM) and image cytometry (ICM). We used optical projection tomographic microscopy (OPTM) for assessing cellular DNA content using absorption and fluorescence stains. OPTM combines some of the attributes of both FCM and ICM and generates isometric high-resolution three-dimensional (3-D) images of single cells. Although the depth of field of the microscope objective was in the submicron range, it was extended by scanning the objective's focal plane. The extended depth of field image is similar to a projection in a conventional x-ray computed tomography. These projections were later reconstructed using computed tomography methods to form a 3-D image. We also present an automated method for 3-D nuclear segmentation. Nuclei of chicken, trout, and triploid trout erythrocyte were used to calibrate OPTM. Ratios of integrated optical densities extracted from 50 images of each standard were compared to ratios of DNA indices from FCM. A comparison of mean square errors with thionin, hematoxylin, Feulgen, and SYTOX green was done. Feulgen technique was preferred as it showed highest stoichiometry, least variance, and preserved nuclear morphology in 3-D. The addition of this quantitative biomarker could further strengthen existing classifiers and improve early diagnosis of cancer using 3-D microscopy.

  4. Teaching Expository Comprehension Skills in Early Childhood Classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Culatta, Barbara; Hall-Kenyon, Kendra M.; Black, Sharon

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: This pilot project implemented and evaluated a theme-based unit designed to teach expository comprehension skills to young children in four preschool classrooms. Method: The program and the unit were collaborative efforts of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and early childhood educators. Within topically related units, 71 children ages…

  5. Early cosmology constrained

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Verde, Licia; Jimenez, Raul [Institute of Cosmos Sciences, University of Barcelona, IEEC-UB, Martí Franquès, 1, E08028 Barcelona (Spain); Bellini, Emilio [University of Oxford, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Pigozzo, Cassio [Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA (Brazil); Heavens, Alan F., E-mail: liciaverde@icc.ub.edu, E-mail: emilio.bellini@physics.ox.ac.uk, E-mail: cpigozzo@ufba.br, E-mail: a.heavens@imperial.ac.uk, E-mail: raul.jimenez@icc.ub.edu [Imperial Centre for Inference and Cosmology (ICIC), Imperial College, Blackett Laboratory, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)

    2017-04-01

    We investigate our knowledge of early universe cosmology by exploring how much additional energy density can be placed in different components beyond those in the ΛCDM model. To do this we use a method to separate early- and late-universe information enclosed in observational data, thus markedly reducing the model-dependency of the conclusions. We find that the 95% credibility regions for extra energy components of the early universe at recombination are: non-accelerating additional fluid density parameter Ω{sub MR} < 0.006 and extra radiation parameterised as extra effective neutrino species 2.3 < N {sub eff} < 3.2 when imposing flatness. Our constraints thus show that even when analyzing the data in this largely model-independent way, the possibility of hiding extra energy components beyond ΛCDM in the early universe is seriously constrained by current observations. We also find that the standard ruler, the sound horizon at radiation drag, can be well determined in a way that does not depend on late-time Universe assumptions, but depends strongly on early-time physics and in particular on additional components that behave like radiation. We find that the standard ruler length determined in this way is r {sub s} = 147.4 ± 0.7 Mpc if the radiation and neutrino components are standard, but the uncertainty increases by an order of magnitude when non-standard dark radiation components are allowed, to r {sub s} = 150 ± 5 Mpc.

  6. Safety early warning research for highway construction based on case-based reasoning and variable fuzzy sets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yan; Yi, Ting-Hua; Xu, Zhen-Jun

    2013-01-01

    As a high-risk subindustry involved in construction projects, highway construction safety has experienced major developments in the past 20 years, mainly due to the lack of safe early warnings in Chinese construction projects. By combining the current state of early warning technology with the requirements of the State Administration of Work Safety and using case-based reasoning (CBR), this paper expounds on the concept and flow of highway construction safety early warnings based on CBR. The present study provides solutions to three key issues, index selection, accident cause association analysis, and warning degree forecasting implementation, through the use of association rule mining, support vector machine classifiers, and variable fuzzy qualitative and quantitative change criterion modes, which fully cover the needs of safe early warning systems. Using a detailed description of the principles and advantages of each method and by proving the methods' effectiveness and ability to act together in safe early warning applications, effective means and intelligent technology for a safe highway construction early warning system are established.

  7. Safety Early Warning Research for Highway Construction Based on Case-Based Reasoning and Variable Fuzzy Sets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yan Liu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available As a high-risk subindustry involved in construction projects, highway construction safety has experienced major developments in the past 20 years, mainly due to the lack of safe early warnings in Chinese construction projects. By combining the current state of early warning technology with the requirements of the State Administration of Work Safety and using case-based reasoning (CBR, this paper expounds on the concept and flow of highway construction safety early warnings based on CBR. The present study provides solutions to three key issues, index selection, accident cause association analysis, and warning degree forecasting implementation, through the use of association rule mining, support vector machine classifiers, and variable fuzzy qualitative and quantitative change criterion modes, which fully cover the needs of safe early warning systems. Using a detailed description of the principles and advantages of each method and by proving the methods’ effectiveness and ability to act together in safe early warning applications, effective means and intelligent technology for a safe highway construction early warning system are established.

  8. Working with children with special needs in Finnish kindergartens: Professionals and/or specialists?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mari Nislin

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The aim is to investigate the links between job satisfaction of Finnish early childhood professionals (ECPs and the appreciation they receive for their work, and how these are associated with their competence to work with children with diverse needs and backgrounds. Data was collected via nationwide online survey for practitioners (n = 885 working in Finnish kindergartens. The main findings show that ECPs experience their work as satisfactory and receive appreciation from colleagues, friends and the children’s parents. It was also evident form the data that ECPs felt themselves to be incompetent to work with children with disabilities or children who had experienced trauma. This may reflect that more in-service training regarding these special education issues is needed. We argue that satisfaction, appreciation and competence, are key factors in the development of a strong professional identity, enhanced well-being at work and in other domains of life and particularly for high quality and inclusive early childhood education.

  9. The effectiveness of early foreign language learning in the Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Bot, Kees

    2014-01-01

    This article reports on a number of projects on early English teaching in the Netherlands. The focus of these projects has been on the impact of English on the development of the mother tongue and the development of skills in the foreign language. Overall the results show that there is no negative

  10. Effects of Web-Mediated Teacher Professional Development on the Language and Literacy Skills of Children Enrolled in Pre-Kindergarten Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Downer, Jason; Pianta, Robert; Fan, Xitao; Hamre, Bridget; Mashburn, Andrew; Justice, Laura

    2012-01-01

    As early education grows in the United States, in-service professional development in key instructional and interaction skills is a core component of capacity-building in early childhood education. In this paper, we describe results from an evaluation of the effects of MyTeachingPartner, a web-based system of professional development, on language and literacy development during pre-kindergarten for 1338 children in 161 teachers’ classrooms. High levels of support for teachers’ implementation of language/literacy activities showed modest but significant effects for improving early language and literacy for children in classrooms in which English was the dominant language spoken by the students and teachers. The combination of web-based supports, including video-based consultation and web-based video teaching exemplars, was more effective at improving children’s literacy and language skills than was only making available to teachers a set of instructional materials and detailed lesson guides. These results suggest the importance of targeted, practice-focused supports for teachers in designing professional development systems for effective teaching in early childhood programs. PMID:23144591

  11. Early awareness of emerging risks associated with food and feed production: Synopsis of pertinent work carried out within the SAFE FOODS project

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Marvin, H.J.P.; Kleter, G.A.

    2009-01-01

    This introduction to the journal¿s supplement on emerging food and feed safety issues summarizes the objectives and activities of the EU-funded SAFE FOODS project in general and its work package focusing on the early identification of emerging food safety risks, in particular. Within this work

  12. Studying the early modern landscape in the Czech republic

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Chodějovská, Eva

    2012-01-01

    Roč. 38, č. 1 (2012), s. 63-98 ISSN 0323-0988 R&D Projects : GA ČR(CZ) GBP410/12/G113 Institutional support: RVO:67985963 Keywords : historical landscape * early modern period * czech research Subject RIV: AB - History

  13. Forensic Study of Early Failures with Unbonded Concrete Overlays

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-11-01

    A forensic investigation was conducted to identify failure mechanisms responsible for early failures of unbonded concrete overlays on selected projects in Ohio, including I-70 in Madison County, I-77 in Washington and Noble Counties, and I-90 in Lake...

  14. Redefining early gastric cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barreto, Savio G; Windsor, John A

    2016-01-01

    The problem is that current definitions of early gastric cancer allow the inclusion of regional lymph node metastases. The increasing use of endoscopic submucosal dissection to treat early gastric cancer is a concern because regional lymph nodes are not addressed. The aim of the study was thus to critically evaluate current evidence with regard to tumour-specific factors associated with lymph node metastases in "early gastric cancer" to develop a more precise definition and improve clinical management. A systematic and comprehensive search of major reference databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed and the Cochrane Library) was undertaken using a combination of text words "early gastric cancer", "lymph node metastasis", "factors", "endoscopy", "surgery", "lymphadenectomy" "mucosa", "submucosa", "lymphovascular invasion", "differentiated", "undifferentiated" and "ulcer". All available publications that described tumour-related factors associated with lymph node metastases in early gastric cancer were included. The initial search yielded 1494 studies, of which 42 studies were included in the final analysis. Over time, the definition of early gastric cancer has broadened and the indications for endoscopic treatment have widened. The mean frequency of lymph node metastases increased on the basis of depth of infiltration (mucosa 6% vs. submucosa 28%), presence of lymphovascular invasion (absence 9% vs. presence 53%), tumour differentiation (differentiated 13% vs. undifferentiated 34%) and macroscopic type (elevated 13% vs. flat 26%) and tumour diameter (≤2 cm 8% vs. >2 cm 25%). There is a need to re-examine the diagnosis and staging of early gastric cancer to ensure that patients with one or more identifiable risk factor for lymph node metastases are not denied appropriate chemotherapy and surgical resection.

  15. Differences of Fundamental Motor Skills Stunting and Non Stunting Preschool Children in Kindergarten in North Padang

    Science.gov (United States)

    Komaini, A.; Mardela, R.

    2018-04-01

    The problem that emerged is based on the result of research done by the writer in kindergarten in North Padang Sub-district which concluded that: there were kindergarten students in this sub-district who were still lack of motor ability, research data shows that 59 people (37,34%) and then 34 people (21, 52%) were in very good category, 35 people (22.15%), were in moderate category, 22 people (13.92%) were in the poor category, and 5 (5,06%) were in the very poor category. Based on this data, the authors thought that the dominant factors that affect the above situation was a nutritional factor. It could be seen from the physical appearance of kindergarten children who tend to slow growth. The purpose of this study is to explain the description and differences in stunting and non stunting Fundamental motor skills capabilities in early childhood (preschool) children. This research is comparative study with cross sectional approach. The population in this study was the students of Kindergarten of Perwari II which consisted of 60 people consisting of 37 children of stunting and 23 non stunting children in Kindergarten of North Padang Sub district, the sample was taken as a whole. The data were collected with Fundamental motor skills tests including jumping, walking, running, balance exercises, throwing and catching the ball. Technique of data analysis in this research was descriptive statistic. The result of data analysis shows that there is difference of Fundamental motor skills between stunting and non stunting children. Fundamental motor skills of non stunting or normal children are better than those who were stunting or short. While the results of Fundamental motor skills of kindergarten children in North Padang District as a whole is at a good level.

  16. Early psychosis workforce development: Core competencies for mental health professionals working in the early psychosis field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osman, Helen; Jorm, Anthony F; Killackey, Eoin; Francey, Shona; Mulcahy, Dianne

    2017-08-09

    The aim of this study was to identify the core competencies required of mental health professionals working in the early psychosis field, which could function as an evidence-based tool to support the early psychosis workforce and in turn assist early psychosis service implementation and strengthen early psychosis model fidelity. The Delphi method was used to establish expert consensus on the core competencies. In the first stage, a systematic literature search was conducted to generate competency items. In the second stage, a panel consisting of expert early psychosis clinicians from around the world was formed. Panel members then rated each of the competency items on how essential they are to the clinical practice of all early psychosis clinicians. In total, 1023 pieces of literature including textbooks, journal articles and grey literature were reviewed. A final 542 competency items were identified for inclusion in the questionnaire. A total of 63 early psychosis experts participated in 3 rating rounds. Of the 542 competency items, 242 were endorsed as the required core competencies. There were 29 competency items that were endorsed by 62 or more experts, and these may be considered the foundational competencies for early psychosis practice. The study generated a set of core competencies that provide a common language for early psychosis clinicians across professional disciplines and country of practice, and potentially are a useful professional resource to support early psychosis workforce development and service reform. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  17. Early breastfeeding problems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Feenstra, Maria Monberg; Kirkeby, Mette Jørgine; Thygesen, Marianne

    2018-01-01

    Objectives Breastfeeding problems are common and associated with early cessation. Stilllength of postpartum hospital stay has been reduced. This leaves new mothers to establish breastfeeding at home with less support from health care professionals. The objective was to explore mothers’ perspectives...... on when breastfeeding problems were the most challenging and prominent early postnatal. The aim was also toidentify possible factors associated with the breastfeeding problems. Methods In a cross-sectional study, a mixed method approach was used to analyse postal survey data from 1437 mothers with full...... term singleton infants. Content analysis was used to analyse mothers’ open text descriptions of their most challenging breastfeeding problem. Multiple logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios for early breastfeeding problems according to sociodemographic- and psychosocial factors. Results...

  18. Trends in Early Childhood Obesity in a Large Urban School District in the Southwestern United States, 2007-2014.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cantarero, Andrea; Myers, Orrin; Scharmen, Thomas; Kinyua, Peter; Jimenez, Elizabeth Yakes

    2016-06-02

    Although recent studies indicate that rates of childhood obesity and severe obesity may be declining, few studies have reported prevalence trends in early childhood or differences in trends across sociodemographic groups. The primary aim of this study was to report trends in prevalence of early childhood obesity and severe obesity 2007 through 2014 in a diverse, metropolitan school district in the southwestern United States and determine whether these trends vary by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and disability status. We analyzed height, weight and demographic data from 43,113 kindergarteners enrolled in a large, urban school district in the southwestern United States for 7 school years. Adjusted odds of obesity and severe obesity were calculated to assess changes in prevalence for non-Hispanic white, Hispanic, and American Indian students; free or reduced-price lunch participants and nonparticipants; and students with and without disabilities. To test for differences in obesity trends, interaction terms were added to the logistic regressions between school year and sex, race/ethnicity, free or reduced-price lunch participation, and disability status. The adjusted prevalence of both obesity (from 13.1% in 2007-2008 to 12.0% in 2013-20014) and severe obesity (from 2.4% in 2007-2008 to 1.2% in 2013-2014) declined overall. We found no significant interactions between the adjusted prevalence of obesity over time and any of the sociodemographic subgroups. Obesity prevalence declined more among American Indian students than among Hispanic or non-Hispanic white students. In this district, from 2007 through 2014, severe obesity decreased and obesity did not increase, overall and across all sociodemographic subpopulations for kindergarten students.

  19. EARLY CHILDHOOD PREDICTORS OF LOW-INCOME BOYS' PATHWAYS TO ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN CHILDHOOD, ADOLESCENCE, AND EARLY ADULTHOOD.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaw, Daniel S; Gilliam, Mary

    2017-01-01

    Guided by a bridging model of pathways leading to low-income boys' early starting and persistent trajectories of antisocial behavior, the current article reviews evidence supporting the model from early childhood through early adulthood. Using primarily a cohort of 310 low-income boys of families recruited from Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Supplement centers in a large metropolitan area followed from infancy to early adulthood and a smaller cohort of boys and girls followed through early childhood, we provide evidence supporting the critical role of parenting, maternal depression, and other proximal family risk factors in early childhood that are prospectively linked to trajectories of parent-reported conduct problems in early and middle childhood, youth-reported antisocial behavior during adolescence and early adulthood, and court-reported violent offending in adolescence. The findings are discussed in terms of the need to identify at-risk boys in early childhood and methods and platforms for engaging families in healthcare settings not previously used to implement preventive mental health services. © 2016 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

  20. Early Reading and Concrete Operations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polk, Cindy L. Howes; Goldstein, David

    1980-01-01

    Indicated that early readers are more likely to be advanced in cognitive development than are nonearly-reading peers. After one year of formal reading instruction, early readers maintained their advantage in reading achievement. Measures of concrete operations were found to predict reading achievement for early and nonearly readers. (Author/DB)

  1. Individual differences in early adolescents' latent trait cortisol: Interaction of early adversity and 5-HTTLPR.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Frances R; Stroud, Catherine B; Vrshek-Schallhorn, Suzanne; Doane, Leah D; Granger, Douglas A

    2017-10-01

    The present study aimed to examine the interaction of 5-HTTLPR and early adversity on trait-like levels of cortisol. A community sample of 117 early adolescent girls (M age=12.39years) provided DNA samples for 5-HTTLPR genotyping, and saliva samples for assessing cortisol 3 times a day (waking, 30min post-waking, and bedtime) over a three-day period. Latent trait cortisol (LTC) was modeled using the first 2 samples of each day. Early adversity was assessed with objective contextual stress interviews with adolescents and their mothers. A significant 5-HTTLPR×early adversity interaction indicated that greater early adversity was associated with lower LTC levels, but only among individuals with either L/L or S/L genotype. Findings suggest that serotonergic genetic variation may influence the impact of early adversity on individual differences in HPA-axis regulation. Future research should explore whether this interaction contributes to the development of psychopathology through HPA axis functioning. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Flood early warning system : Design, implementation and computational modules

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Krzhizhanovskaya, V.V.; Shirshov, G.S.; Melnikova, N.B.; Belleman, R.G.; Rusadi, F.I.; Broekhuijsen, B.J.; Gouldby, B.P.; Lhomme, J.; Balis, B.; Bubak, M.; Pyayt, A.L.; Mokhov, I.I.; Ozhigin, A.V.; Lang, B.; Meijer, R.J.

    2011-01-01

    We present a prototype of the flood early warning system (EWS) developed within the UrbanFlood FP7 project. The system monitors sensor networks installed in flood defenses (dikes, dams, embankments, etc.), detects sensor signal abnormalities, calculates dike failure probability, and simulates

  3. Early warnings of extreme winds using the ECMWF Extreme Forecast Index

    OpenAIRE

    Petroliagis, Thomas I.; Pinson, Pierre

    2014-01-01

    The European FP7 SafeWind Project aims at developing research towards a European vision of wind power forecasting, which requires advanced meteorological support concerning extreme wind events. This study is focused mainly on early warnings of extreme winds in the early medium-range. Three synoptic stations (airports) of North Germany (Bremen, Hamburg and Hannover) were considered for the construction of time series of daily maximum wind speeds. All daily wind extremes were found to be linked...

  4. Data Analysis for ARRA Early Fuel Cell Market Demonstrations (Presentation)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kurtz, J.; Wipke, K.; Sprik, S.; Ramsden, T.

    2010-05-01

    Presentation about ARRA Early Fuel Cell Market Demonstrations, including an overview of the ARRE Fuel Cell Project, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's data analysis objectives, deployment composite data products, and planned analyses.

  5. Clarifying Parent-Child Reciprocities during Early Childhood: The Early Childhood Coercion Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scaramella, Laura V.; Leve, Leslie D.

    2004-01-01

    Consistent with existing theory, the quality of parent-child interactions during early childhood affects children's social relationships and behavioral adjustment during middle childhood and adolescence. Harsh parenting and a propensity toward emotional overarousal interact very early in life to affect risk for later conduct problems. Less…

  6. The early universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Steigman, G.

    1989-01-01

    The author discusses the physics of the early universe: the production and survival of relics from the big bang. The author comments on relic WIMPs as the dark matter in the universe. The remainder of this discussion is devoted to a review of the status of the only predictions from the early evolution of the universe that are accessible to astronomical observation: primordial nucleosynthesis

  7. Risk of early surgery for Crohn's disease: implications for early treatment strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sands, Bruce E; Arsenault, Joanne E; Rosen, Michael J; Alsahli, Mazen; Bailen, Laurence; Banks, Peter; Bensen, Steven; Bousvaros, Athos; Cave, David; Cooley, Jeffrey S; Cooper, Herbert L; Edwards, Susan T; Farrell, Richard J; Griffin, Michael J; Hay, David W; John, Alex; Lidofsky, Sheldon; Olans, Lori B; Peppercorn, Mark A; Rothstein, Richard I; Roy, Michael A; Saletta, Michael J; Shah, Samir A; Warner, Andrew S; Wolf, Jacqueline L; Vecchio, James; Winter, Harland S; Zawacki, John K

    2003-12-01

    In this study we aimed to define the rate of early surgery for Crohn's disease and to identify risk factors associated with early surgery as a basis for subsequent studies of early intervention in Crohn's disease. We assembled a retrospective cohort of patients with Crohn's disease diagnosed between 1991 and 1997 and followed for at least 3 yr, who were identified in 16 community and referral-based practices in New England. Chart review was performed for each patient. Details of baseline demographic and disease features were recorded. Surgical history including date of surgery, indication, and procedure were also noted. Risk factors for early surgery (defined as major surgery for Crohn's disease within 3 yr of diagnosis, exclusive of major surgery at time of diagnosis) were identified by univariate analysis. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify independent risk factors. Of 345 eligible patients, 69 (20.1%) required surgery within 3 yr of diagnosis, excluding the 14 patients (4.1%) who had major surgery at the time of diagnosis. Overall, the interval between diagnosis and surgery was short; one half of all patients who required surgery underwent operation within 6 months of diagnosis. Risk factors identified by univariate analysis as significantly associated with early surgery included the following: smoking; disease of small bowel without colonic involvement; nausea and vomiting or abdominal pain on presentation; neutrophil count; and steroid use in the first 6 months. Disease localized to the colon only, blood in the stool, use of 5-aminosalicylate, and lymphocyte count were inversely associated with risk of early surgery. Logistic regression confirmed independent associations with smoking as a positive risk factor and involvement of colon without small bowel as a negative risk factor for early surgery. The rate of surgery is high in the first 3 yr after diagnosis of Crohn's disease, particularly in the first 6 months. These results suggest that

  8. Precursors of adolescent substance use from early childhood and early adolescence: testing a developmental cascade model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sitnick, Stephanie L; Shaw, Daniel S; Hyde, Luke W

    2014-02-01

    This study examined developmentally salient risk and protective factors of adolescent substance use assessed during early childhood and early adolescence using a sample of 310 low-income boys. Child problem behavior and proximal family risk and protective factors (i.e., parenting and maternal depression) during early childhood, as well as child and family factors and peer deviant behavior during adolescence, were explored as potential precursors to later substance use during adolescence using structural equation modeling. Results revealed that early childhood risk and protective factors (i.e., child externalizing problems, mothers' depressive symptomatology, and nurturant parenting) were indirectly related to substance use at the age of 17 via risk and protective factors during early and middle adolescence (i.e., parental knowledge and externalizing problems). The implications of these findings for early prevention and intervention are discussed.

  9. Early Islamic Syria

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Walmsley, Alan

    After more than a century of neglect, a profound revolution is occurring in the way archaeology addresses and interprets developments in the social history of early Islamic Syria-Palestine. This concise book offers an innovative assessment of social and economic developments in Syria-Palestine sh......After more than a century of neglect, a profound revolution is occurring in the way archaeology addresses and interprets developments in the social history of early Islamic Syria-Palestine. This concise book offers an innovative assessment of social and economic developments in Syria......-Palestine shortly before, and in the two centuries after, the Islamic expansion (the later sixth to the early ninth century AD), drawing on a wide range of new evidence from recent archaeological work. Alan Walmsley challenges conventional explanations for social change with the arrival of Islam, arguing...

  10. The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development's International Early Learning Study: Opening for Debate and Contestation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moss, Peter; Dahlberg, Gunilla; Grieshaber, Susan; Mantovani, Susanna; May, Helen; Pence, Alan; Rayna, Sylvie; Swadener, Beth Blue; Vandenbroeck, Michel

    2016-01-01

    The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is initiating the International Early Learning Study, a cross-national assessment of early learning outcomes involving the testing of 5-year-old children in participating countries. The authors use this colloquium to inform members of the early childhood community about this project and to…

  11. Racial/Ethnic Patterns of Kindergarten School Enrollment in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawrence, Elizabeth; Mollborn, Stefanie

    2017-09-01

    Enrollment into unequal schools at the start of formal education is an important mechanism for the reproduction of racial/ethnic educational inequalities. We examine whether there are racial/ethnic differences in school enrollment options at kindergarten, the start of schooling. We use nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) to model whether parents seek information about their child's school before enrolling, whether parents move to a location so that a child can attend a certain school, or whether parents enroll their child in a school other than the assigned public school. Results indicate that enrollment patterns differ greatly across race/ethnicity. Whereas Black families are the most likely to seek information on a school's performance, White families are the most likely to use the elite option of choosing their residential location to access a particular school. These differences persist when controlling for socioeconomic status and sociogeographic location. Kindergarten enrollment patterns preserve the advantages of White families, perpetuating racial/ethnic disparities through multiple institutions and contributing to intergenerational processes of social stratification. Research should continue to examine specific educational consequences of housing inequities and residential segregation.

  12. 5 CFR 831.114 - Voluntary early retirement-substantial delayering, reorganization, reduction in force, transfer...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... authority, and the changes in organizational structure it expects to make as the result of projected... description of the types of personnel actions anticipated as a result of the agency's need for voluntary early... voluntary early retirement, which may be made based on the following criteria: (A) 1 or more organizational...

  13. Growth and change in attention problems, disruptive behavior, and achievement from kindergarten to fifth grade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Claessens, Amy; Dowsett, Chantelle

    2014-12-01

    Despite widespread interest in children's adjustment problems, existing research does not provide conclusive evidence regarding the direction of the associations of achievement with classroom attention problems and disruptive behavior over the course of elementary school. Using a nationally representative sample of 16,260 kindergarteners, this study examined the temporal sequence of achievement, classroom attention problems, and disruptive behavior, focusing on how changes in skills and problems unfold across key periods between kindergarten and fifth grade. Results indicate that improvements in attention during the earliest years of schooling predict achievement gains through third grade. However, changes in disruptive behavior do not predict subsequent changes in achievement. Evidence linking changes in achievement to changes in classroom attention problems and disruptive behavior was less consistent. These findings point to the need to develop and examine early interventions that can improve attention skills as a mechanism for improving children's academic trajectories in elementary school. © The Author(s) 2014.

  14. Resilience in mathematics after early brain injury: The roles of parental input and early plasticity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dana E. Glenn

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Children with early focal unilateral brain injury show remarkable plasticity in language development. However, little is known about how early brain injury influences mathematical learning. Here, we examine early number understanding, comparing cardinal number knowledge of typically developing children (TD and children with pre- and perinatal lesions (BI between 42 and 50 months of age. We also examine how this knowledge relates to the number words children hear from their primary caregivers early in life. We find that children with BI, are, on average, slightly behind TD children in both cardinal number knowledge and later mathematical performance, and show slightly slower learning rates than TD children in cardinal number knowledge during the preschool years. We also find that parents’ “number talk” to their toddlers predicts later mathematical ability for both TD children and children with BI. These findings suggest a relatively optimistic story in which neural plasticity is at play in children’s mathematical development following early brain injury. Further, the effects of early number input suggest that intervening to enrich the number talk that children with BI hear during the preschool years could narrow the math achievement gap. Keywords: Plasticity, Early unilateral brain injury, Mathematical skill, Cardinality, Parent input

  15. Early risk pathways to physical versus relational peer aggression: The interplay of externalizing behavior and corporal punishment varies by child sex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zulauf, Courtney A; Sokolovsky, Alexander W; Grabell, Adam S; Olson, Sheryl L

    2018-03-01

    Children who aggress against their peers may use physical or relational forms, yet little research has looked at early childhood risk factors and characteristics that uniquely predict high levels of relational versus physical aggression in preadolescence. Accordingly, the main aim of our study was to link early corporal punishment and externalizing behavior to children's physical and relational peer aggression during preadolescence and to examine how these pathways differed by sex. Participants were 193, 3-year-old boys (39%) and girls who were reassessed following the transition to kindergarten (5.5 years) and preadolescence (10.5 years). A series of autoregressive, cross-lagged path analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between child externalizing problems and corporal punishment at ages 3 and 5.5 years, and their association with physical and relational aggression at age 10.5. Multiple group analysis was used to determine whether pathways differed by sex. Three developmental pathways were identified: (i) direct associations between stable childhood externalizing problems and later physical aggression; (ii) a direct pathway from early corporal punishment to preadolescent relational and physical peer aggression; and (iii) an indirect pathway from early corporal punishment to later physical aggression via continuing externalizing problems in middle childhood. Child sex moderated the nature of these pathways, as well as the direction of association between risk and outcome variables. These data advance our understanding of the etiology of distinct forms of peer aggression and highlight the potential for more efficacious prevention and intervention efforts in the early childhood years. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Topical Collection: Climate-change research by early-career hydrogeologists

    Science.gov (United States)

    Re, Viviana; Maldaner, Carlos H.; Gurdak, Jason J.; Leblanc, Marc; Resende, Tales Carvalho; Stigter, Tibor Y.

    2018-05-01

    Scientific outreach, international networking, collaboration and adequate courses are needed in both developed and developing countries to enable early-career hydrogeologists to promote long-term multidisciplinary approaches to cope with climate-change issues and emphasize the importance of groundwater in a global strategy for adaptation. One such collaboration has involved the Early Career Hydrogeologists' Network of the International Association of Hydrogeologists (ECHN-IAH) and the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme's (IHP) Groundwater Resources Assessment under the Pressures of Humanity and Climate Changes (GRAPHIC) project. This collaboration seeks to foster the education and involvement of the future generation of water leaders in the debate over groundwater and climate change.

  17. Disease management of early childhood caries: results of a pilot quality improvement project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, Man Wai; Torresyap, Gay; White, Alex; Melvin, Patrice; Graham, Dionne; Kane, Daniel; Scoville, Richard; Ohiomoba, Henry

    2012-08-01

    The purpose is to report findings of a quality improvement (QI) project implemented at two hospital-based dental clinics that care for children with early childhood caries (ECC). We tested a disease management (DM) approach in children younger than age 60 months with ECC. After 30 months, for the 403 and 234 DM patients at Children's Hospital Boston (CHB) and Saint Joseph Hospital (SJH) who returned for at least two visits, rates of new cavitation, pain, and referrals to the OR were 26.1, 13.4 and 10.9% for CHB and 41.0, 7.3 and 14.9% for SJH. Rates of new cavitation, pain, and referrals to the OR for historical controls were 75.2, 21.7, and 20.9% for CHB and 71.3, 31.3, and 25.0% for SJH. A risk-based DM approach utilizing QI strategies to address ECC can be implemented into practice and has the potential to improve care and health outcomes.

  18. EARLY ENGLISH PRINTING AND THE HANDS OF COMPOSITORS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Satoko Tokunaga

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines soine distinctive uses of typefaces by Caxton's compositors in his early products at Westminster and illustrates how useful such examples are in revealing the chronology of actual book production, as well as in identifying the compositors at work on individual volumes. An exhaustive analysis of early printed books can provide us with information about compositors at work in England's earliest printing house. This paper therefore argues that it is inost definitely worth considering such 'inechaiiical' aspects of book design as typography when editing any printed text, and introduces most recent research results contributed by a project at Keio University, which airns to establish a semiautomatic system that can transcribe every feature of the printed text including even minute differences in types.

  19. Guys and Dolls: A Qualitative Study of Teachers' Views of Gendered Play in Kindergarten

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lynch, M.

    2015-01-01

    Drawing on data collected for a larger study investigating kindergarten teachers' online discussions of play, the present qualitative study examines teachers' discussions of gender. Findings suggest that teachers' project onto their kindergarten students many of their own gender prejudices about play. These teachers reinforced gendered attitudes…

  20. Early detection of psychosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Tor Ketil; Melle, Ingrid; Auestad, B.

    2011-01-01

    Background During the last decades we have seen a new focus on early treatment of psychosis. Several reviews have shown that duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is correlated to better outcome. However, it is still unknown whether early treatment will lead to a better long-term outcome....... This study reports the effects of reducing DUP on 5-year course and outcome. Method During 1997–2000 a total of 281 consecutive patients aged >17 years with first episode non-affective psychosis were recruited, of which 192 participated in the 5-year follow-up. A comprehensive early detection (ED) programme...... and cognitive factors and for global assessment of functioning for social functioning at 5-year follow-up. The ED group also had more contacts with friends. Regression analysis did not find that these differences could be explained by confounders. Conclusions Early treatment had positive effects on clinical...

  1. Young stellar populations in early-type galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nolan, Louisa A.; Raychaudhury, Somak; Kabán, Ata

    2007-02-01

    We use a purely data-driven rectified factor analysis to identify early-type galaxies with recent star formation in Data Release 4 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Spectroscopic Catalogue. We compare the spectra and environment of these galaxies with those of `normal' early-type galaxies, and a sample of independently selected E+A galaxies. We calculate the projected local galaxy surface density from the nearest five and 10 neighbours (Σ5 and Σ10) for each galaxy in our sample, and find that the dependence on projected local density, of the properties of E+A galaxies, is not significantly different from that of early-type galaxies with young stellar populations, dropping off rapidly towards denser environments, and flattening off at densities ~10 per cent of the stellar mass in these galaxies. This, together with the similarity of the environments in which this `E+F' population and the E+A galaxy sample are found, suggests that E+F galaxies used to be E+A galaxies, but have evolved by a further ~ one to a few Gyr. Our rectified factor analysis is sensitive enough to identify this hidden population, which allows us to study the global and intrinsic properties of early-type galaxies created in major mergers or interactions, and compare them with those early-types which have had the bulk of their stars in place since a much earlier epoch.

  2. Early life vaccination

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nazerai, Loulieta; Bassi, Maria Rosaria; Uddbäck, Ida Elin Maria

    2016-01-01

    Intracellular pathogens represent a serious threat during early life. Importantly, even though the immune system of newborns may be characterized as developmentally immature, with a propensity to develop Th2 immunity, significant CD8+ T-cell responses may still be elicited in the context of optimal...... the first period of life and provide a pertinent alternative in infant vaccinology. To address this, infant mice were vaccinated with three different adenoviral vectors and the CD8+ T-cell response after early life vaccination was explored. We assessed the frequency, polyfunctionality and in vivo...... cytotoxicity of the elicited memory CD8+ T cells, as well as the potential of these cells to respond to secondary infections and confer protection. We further tested the impact of maternal immunity against our replication-deficient adenoviral vector during early life vaccination. Overall, our results indicate...

  3. Early anaerobic metabolisms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Canfield, Donald Eugene; Rosing, Minik T; Bjerrum, Christian

    2006-01-01

    probably driven by the cycling of H2 and Fe2+ through primary production conducted by anoxygenic phototrophs. Interesting and dynamic ecosystems would have also been driven by the microbial cycling of sulphur and nitrogen species, but their activity levels were probably not so great. Despite the diversity......Before the advent of oxygenic photosynthesis, the biosphere was driven by anaerobic metabolisms. We catalogue and quantify the source strengths of the most probable electron donors and electron acceptors that would have been available to fuel early-Earth ecosystems. The most active ecosystems were...... of potential early ecosystems, rates of primary production in the early-Earth anaerobic biosphere were probably well below those rates observed in the marine environment. We shift our attention to the Earth environment at 3.8Gyr ago, where the earliest marine sediments are preserved. We calculate, consistent...

  4. Scientists not Sponges: STEM Interest and Inquiry in Early Childhood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jipson, J. L.; Callanan, M. A.; Schultz, G.; Hurst, A.

    2014-07-01

    Young children are fascinated by the natural world. They explore endlessly, with both a sense of wonder and determination, usually in self-directed investigations or informal interactions with peers and adults. Capitalizing on this early period of spontaneous interest and inquiry is critical to efforts to promote lifelong STEM literacy. To inform education and public outreach efforts, it is important to consider common assumptions about how children of this age learn and consider how such assumptions influence the ways we support children's learning. Four metaphors for children learning are investigated in this paper: the young child as sponge, the young child as unlit match, the young child as scientist, and the young child as apprentice. As we critically evaluate these views on learning, we share research findings from developmental psychology that demonstrate that children's engagement with STEM begins well before kindergarten, that children between three and five years of age develop surprisingly sophisticated scientific reasoning capacities and conceptual knowledge, and that parents play an important role in structuring and supporting preschool children's learning.

  5. Early Modern Philosophical Systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    L. van Bunge (Wiep)

    2014-01-01

    textabstractThe occurrence of an entry on early modern philosophical systems in an encyclopaedia of Neo-Latin studies is fraught with complications, if only on account of the gradual disappearance during the early modern period of Latin as the main vehicle of philosophical communication. What

  6. Practices for Parent Participation in Early Intervention/ Early Childhood Special Education

    OpenAIRE

    Acar, Serra; Akamoğlu, Yusuf

    2014-01-01

    The authors examined the extent to which practices for parent participation in early intervention/ early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) programs. The role of parents in the EI/ECSE is important and supported through the literature. The changing traditional family picture in the classrooms, the importance of evolving laws and regulations and recommended practices regarding parent participation are highlighted. The conceptual framework is based on the children, parents, and practitioners...

  7. Early markets for hydrogen vehicles. Bridging the gap between R and D and commercialisation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Godfroij, P.; Jeeninga, H.; Ros, M.E.; Bunzeck, I.G.

    2007-05-01

    Early markets for hydrogen vehicles are important to bridge the gap between the phase of R and D and mass-market introduction. New technologies do not necessarily need to comply with the high demanding preference of mass-market users from the start, though they can be first deployed in protected markets where their relative advantage can be utilised most efficiently. Within the EU funded HyLights project the potential of early markets for hydrogen vehicles are assessed by mapping potential users of early market applications and by defining their minimal performance level. To compare this minimal performance level with the current performance level of hydrogen technologies, conclusions can be drawn about potential early markets. As hydrogen technologies will develop in time the type of early markets could change in time as well: early markets will evolve gradually towards mass-market application. In order to describe both the requirements of the potential early market users and the performance of the technology analogously, key performance indicators are defined. These indicators describe those aspects of the technology that are of importance for the end user

  8. The Effectiveness of Early Foreign Language Learning in the Netherlands

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Bot, Kees

    2014-01-01

    This article reports on a number of projects on early English teaching in the Netherlands. The focus of these projects has been on the impact of English on the development of the mother tongue and the development of skills in the foreign language. Overall the results show that there is no negative effect on the mother tongue and that the gains in…

  9. Perencanaan Strategik Pembentukan Karakter Anak Usia Dini di TK Islam Al-Irsyad Purwokerto

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Novan Ardy Wiyani

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper is intended to obtain a description of the strategic planning process to shape the character of younger children in kindergarten Islam al-Irsyad Purwokerto. case study research method was selected and used to obtain these goals. The results showed that there are seven steps involved in strategic planning for early childhood shape the character. First, to accommodate the wishes and needs of parents based on the results of environmental monitoring process. Second, develop a vision, mission, and objectives of TK Islam that focuses on character building early childhood. Third, set the value of the character to be internalized in early childhood in kindergarten Islam. Fourth, prepare quality assurance Islamic kindergarten graduates. Fifth, organize the activities empowerment of children in kindergarten Islam towards achieving quality assurance Islamic kindergarten graduates. Sixth, develop programs and strategies for early childhood character formation towards achieving quality assurance Islamic kindergarten graduates. Seventh, develop instruments assessment program for early childhood character formation that leads to the achievement of quality assurance Islamic kindergarten graduates

  10. Early Intervention in Budapest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallai, Maria; Katona, Ferenc; Balogh, Erzsebet; Schultheisz, Judit; Deveny, Anna; Borbely, Sjoukje

    2000-01-01

    This article presents five models of early intervention used in Budapest. Diagnostic and treatment methods used by the Pediatric Institute and the Conductive Education System are described, along with the Deveny Special Manual Technique and Gymnastic Method, the Gezenguz method and techniques used in the Early Developmental Center. (CR)

  11. 78 FR 48863 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Evaluation of the Early Warning and...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-08-12

    ... processes and student outcomes. The project responds to a need expressed by members of the REL Midwest's Ohio Dropout Prevention Alliance for clear information about the efficacy of early warning systems. Despite the strong foundational research on the use of early indicators to identify students who are at...

  12. Implementing drought early warning systems: policy lessons and future needs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iglesias, Ana; Werner, Micha; Maia, Rodrigo; Garrote, Luis; Nyabeze, Washington

    2014-05-01

    Drought forecasting and Warning provides the potential of reducing impacts to society due to drought events. The implementation of effective drought forecasting and warning, however, requires not only science to support reliable forecasting, but also adequate policy and societal response. Here we propose a protocol to develop drought forecasting and early warning based in the international cooperation of African and European institutions in the DEWFORA project (EC, 7th Framework Programme). The protocol includes four major phases that address the scientific knowledge and the social capacity to use the knowledge: (a) What is the science available? Evaluating how signs of impending drought can be detected and predicted, defining risk levels, and analysing of the signs of drought in an integrated vulnerability approach. (b) What are the societal capacities? In this the institutional framework that enables policy development is evaluated. The protocol gathers information on vulnerability and pending hazard in advance so that early warnings can be declared at sufficient lead time and drought mitigation planning can be implemented at an early stage. (c) How can science be translated into policy? Linking science indicators into the actions/interventions that society needs to implement, and evaluating how policy is implemented. Key limitations to planning for drought are the social capacities to implement early warning systems. Vulnerability assessment contributes to identify these limitations and therefore provides crucial information to policy development. Based on the assessment of vulnerability we suggest thresholds for management actions to respond to drought forecasts and link predictive indicators to relevant potential mitigation strategies. Vulnerability assessment is crucial to identify relief, coping and management responses that contribute to a more resilient society. (d) How can society benefit from the forecast? Evaluating how information is provided to

  13. Classroom Quality at Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten and Children’s Social Skills and Behavior Problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broekhuizen, Martine L.; Mokrova, Irina L.; Burchinal, Margaret R.; Garrett-Peters, Patricia T.

    2016-01-01

    Focusing on the continuity in the quality of classroom environments as children transition from preschool into elementary school, this study examined the associations between classroom quality in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten and children’s social skills and behavior problems in kindergarten and first grade. Participants included 1175 ethnically-diverse children (43% African American) living in low-wealth rural communities of the US. Results indicated that children who experienced higher levels of emotional and organizational classroom quality in both pre-kindergarten and kindergarten demonstrated better social skills and fewer behavior problems in both kindergarten and first grade comparing to children who did not experience higher classroom quality. The examination of the first grade results indicated that the emotional and organizational quality of pre-kindergarten classrooms was the strongest predictor of children’s first grade social skills and behavior problems. The study results are discussed from theoretical, practical, and policy perspectives. PMID:26949286

  14. Preventive child health care findings on early childhood predict peer-group social status in early adolescence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaspers, Merlijne; de Winter, Andrea F; Veenstra, René; Ormel, Johan; Verhulst, Frank C; Reijneveld, Sijmen A

    2012-12-01

    A disputed social status among peers puts children and adolescents at risk for developing a wide range of problems, such as being bullied. However, there is a lack of knowledge about which early predictors could be used to identify (young) adolescents at risk for a disputed social status. The aim of this study was to assess whether preventive child health care (PCH) findings on early childhood predict neglected and rejected status in early adolescence in a large longitudinal community-based sample. Data came from 898 participants who participated in TRAILS, a longitudinal study. Information on early childhood factors was extracted from the charts of routine PCH visits registered between infancy and age of 4 years. To assess social status, peer nominations were used at age of 10-12 years. Multinomial logistic regression showed that children who had a low birth weight, motor problems, and sleep problems; children of parents with a low educational level (odds ratios [ORs] between 1.71 and 2.90); and those with fewer attention hyperactivity problems (ORs = .43) were more likely to have a neglected status in early adolescence. Boys, children of parents with a low educational level, and children with early externalizing problems were more likely to have a rejected status in early adolescence (ORs between 1.69 and 2.56). PCH findings on early childhood-on motor and social development-are predictive of a neglected and a rejected status in early adolescence. PCH is a good setting to monitor risk factors that predict the social status of young adolescents. Copyright © 2012 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Early Intervention in Bipolar Disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vieta, Eduard; Salagre, Estela; Grande, Iria; Carvalho, André F; Fernandes, Brisa S; Berk, Michael; Birmaher, Boris; Tohen, Mauricio; Suppes, Trisha

    2018-05-01

    Bipolar disorder is a recurrent disorder that affects more than 1% of the world population and usually has its onset during youth. Its chronic course is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality, making bipolar disorder one of the main causes of disability among young and working-age people. The implementation of early intervention strategies may help to change the outcome of the illness and avert potentially irreversible harm to patients with bipolar disorder, as early phases may be more responsive to treatment and may need less aggressive therapies. Early intervention in bipolar disorder is gaining momentum. Current evidence emerging from longitudinal studies indicates that parental early-onset bipolar disorder is the most consistent risk factor for bipolar disorder. Longitudinal studies also indicate that a full-blown manic episode is often preceded by a variety of prodromal symptoms, particularly subsyndromal manic symptoms, therefore supporting the existence of an at-risk state in bipolar disorder that could be targeted through early intervention. There are also identifiable risk factors that influence the course of bipolar disorder, some of them potentially modifiable. Valid biomarkers or diagnosis tools to help clinicians identify individuals at high risk of conversion to bipolar disorder are still lacking, although there are some promising early results. Pending more solid evidence on the best treatment strategy in early phases of bipolar disorder, physicians should carefully weigh the risks and benefits of each intervention. Further studies will provide the evidence needed to finish shaping the concept of early intervention. AJP AT 175 Remembering Our Past As We Envision Our Future April 1925: Interpretations of Manic-Depressive Phases Earl Bond and G.E. Partridge reviewed a number of patients with manic-depressive illness in search of a unifying endo-psychic conflict. They concluded that understanding either phase of illness was "elusive" and

  16. Iteration in Early-Elementary Engineering Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    McFarland Kendall, Amber Leigh

    K-12 standards and curricula are beginning to include engineering design as a key practice within Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. However, there is little research on how the youngest students engage in engineering design within the elementary classroom. This dissertation focuses on iteration as an essential aspect of engineering design, and because research at the college and professional level suggests iteration improves the designer's understanding of problems and the quality of design solutions. My research presents qualitative case studies of students in kindergarten and third-grade as they engage in classroom engineering design challenges which integrate with traditional curricula standards in mathematics, science, and literature. I discuss my results through the lens of activity theory, emphasizing practices, goals, and mediating resources. Through three chapters, I provide insight into how early-elementary students iterate upon their designs by characterizing the ways in which lesson design impacts testing and revision, by analyzing the plan-driven and experimentation-driven approaches that student groups use when solving engineering design challenges, and by investigating how students attend to constraints within the challenge. I connect these findings to teacher practices and curriculum design in order to suggest methods of promoting iteration within open-ended, classroom-based engineering design challenges. This dissertation contributes to the field of engineering education by providing evidence of productive engineering practices in young students and support for the value of engineering design challenges in developing students' participation and agency in these practices.

  17. Academic and Behavioral Design Parameters for Cluster Randomized Trials in Kindergarten: An Analysis of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study 2011 Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K 2011).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hedberg, E C

    2016-06-28

    There is an increased focus on randomized trials for proximal behavioral outcomes in early childhood research. However, planning sample sizes for such designs requires extant information on the size of effect, variance decomposition, and effectiveness of covariates. The purpose of this article is to employ a recent large representative sample of early childhood longitudinal study kindergartners to estimate design parameters for use in planning cluster randomized trials. A secondary objective is to compare the results of math and reading with the previous kindergartner cohort of 1999. For each measure, fall-spring gains in effect size units are calculated. In addition, multilevel models are fit to estimate variance components that are used to calculate intraclass correlations (ICCs) and R 2 statistics. The implications of the reported parameters are summarized in tables of required school sample sizes to detect small effects. The outcomes include information about student scores regarding learning behaviors, general behaviors, and academic abilities. Aside from math and reading, there were small gains in these measures from fall to spring, leading to effect sizes between about .1 and .2. In addition, the nonacademic ICCs are smaller than the academic ICCs but are still nontrivial. Use of a pretest covariate is generally effective in reducing the required sample size in power analyses. The ICCs for math and reading are smaller for the current sample compared with the 1999 sample. © The Author(s) 2016.

  18. Classroom quality at pre-kindergarten and kindergarten and children's social skills and behavior problems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Broekhuizen, Martine L.; Mokrova, Irina L.; Burchinal, Margaret R.; Garrett-Peters, Patricia T.

    2016-01-01

    Focusing on the continuity in the quality of classroom environments as children transition from preschool into elementary school, this study examined the associations between classroom quality in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten and children's social skills and behavior problems in kindergarten and

  19. Children's early helping in action: Piagetian developmental theory and early prosocial behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hammond, Stuart I

    2014-01-01

    After a brief overview of recent research on early helping, outlining some central problems, and issues, this paper examines children's early helping through the lens of Piagetian moral and developmental theory, drawing on Piaget's "Moral Judgment of the Child" (Piaget, 1932/1997), "Play, Dreams, and Imitation in Childhood" (Piaget, 1945/1951), and the "Grasp of Consciousness" (Piaget, 1976). Piaget refers to a level of moral development in action that precedes heteronomous and autonomous moral reasoning. This action level allows children to begin to interact with people and objects. In his later work, Piaget explores the gradual construction of understanding from this activity level. Taken together, these elements of Piagetian theory provide a promising conceptual framework for understanding the development of early helping.

  20. Early Childhood Educators' Perceived and Actual Metalinguistic Knowledge, Beliefs and Enacted Practice about Teaching Early Reading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hammond, Lorraine

    2015-01-01

    Results of influential reports on early literacy have drawn attention to the need for early childhood educators to take up a more explicit, teacher-directed approach to beginning reading. Positive classroom results however are in part dependent upon teacher knowledge and this study investigated the relationship between early childhood educators'…

  1. Spatio-Temporal Gene Expression Profiling during In Vivo Early Ovarian Folliculogenesis: Integrated Transcriptomic Study and Molecular Signature of Early Follicular Growth.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agnes Bonnet

    Full Text Available The successful achievement of early ovarian folliculogenesis is important for fertility and reproductive life span. This complex biological process requires the appropriate expression of numerous genes at each developmental stage, in each follicular compartment. Relatively little is known at present about the molecular mechanisms that drive this process, and most gene expression studies have been performed in rodents and without considering the different follicular compartments.We used RNA-seq technology to explore the sheep transcriptome during early ovarian follicular development in the two main compartments: oocytes and granulosa cells. We documented the differential expression of 3,015 genes during this phase and described the gene expression dynamic specific to these compartments. We showed that important steps occurred during primary/secondary transition in sheep. We also described the in vivo molecular course of a number of pathways. In oocytes, these pathways documented the chronology of the acquisition of meiotic competence, migration and cellular organization, while in granulosa cells they concerned adhesion, the formation of cytoplasmic projections and steroid synthesis. This study proposes the involvement in this process of several members of the integrin and BMP families. The expression of genes such as Kruppel-like factor 9 (KLF9 and BMP binding endothelial regulator (BMPER was highlighted for the first time during early follicular development, and their proteins were also predicted to be involved in gene regulation. Finally, we selected a data set of 24 biomarkers that enabled the discrimination of early follicular stages and thus offer a molecular signature of early follicular growth. This set of biomarkers includes known genes such as SPO11 meiotic protein covalently bound to DSB (SPO11, bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15 and WEE1 homolog 2 (S. pombe(WEE2 which play critical roles in follicular development but other biomarkers

  2. Paediatric Early Warning Score - A multi-center randomized controlled intervention study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Claus Sixtus; Aagaard, Hanne; Olesen, Hanne Vebert

    Paediatric Early Warning System on evolving critical illness and intervention in hospitalised children; a regional multicentre study on implementation of a Paediatric Early Warning System Background: Critical illness in the patient and death can potentially be predicted and prevented. Deterioration...... is critically ill are related to the child’s symptoms of serious illness often being uncharacteristic. Children can seem relatively unaffected until a short time before circulatory insufficiency and cardiac arrest. Thus, there is a need for developing and investigating if an Paediatric Early Warning System...... of the intervention and evaluation. The study involves all paediatric departments and some acute departments in Central Denmark Region. The project both includes quantitative studies and a qualitative evaluation study. The studies will have different designs: • Registry study - exploring and describing life...

  3. Early presentation of primary glioblastoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faguer, R; Tanguy, J-Y; Rousseau, A; Clavreul, A; Menei, P

    2014-08-01

    Clinical and neuroimaging findings of glioblastomas (GBM) at an early stage have rarely been described and those tumors are most probably under-diagnosed. Furthermore, their genetic alterations, to our knowledge, have never been previously reported. We report the clinical as well as neuroimaging findings of four early cases of patients with GBM. In our series, early stage GBM occurred at a mean age of 57 years. All patients had seizures as their first symptom. In all early stages, MRI showed a hyperintense signal on T2-weighted sequences and an enhancement on GdE-T1WI sequences. A hyperintense signal on diffusion sequences with a low ADC value was also found. These early observed occurrences of GBM developed rapidly and presented the MRI characteristics of classic GBM within a few weeks. The GBM size was multiplied by 32 in one month. Immunohistochemical analysis indicated the de novo nature of these tumors, i.e. absence of mutant IDH1 R132H protein expression, which is a diagnostic marker of low-grade diffuse glioma and secondary GBM. A better knowledge of early GBM presentation would allow a more suitable management of the patients and may improve their prognosis. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  4. Fundamental motor skill, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in socioeconomically disadvantaged kindergarteners.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gu, Xiangli

    2016-10-01

    Guided by Stodden et al's conceptual model, the main purpose of the study was to examine the relation between fundamental motor skills (FMS; locomotor and objective control skills), different intensity levels of physical activity (light PA [LPA], moderate-to-vigorous PA [MVPA], and vigorous PA[VPA]), and sedentary behavior (SB) in socioeconomically disadvantaged kindergarteners. A prospective design was used in this study and the data were collected across the 2013-2014 academic school year. Participants were 256 (129 boys; 127 girls; Mage = 5.37, SD = 0.48) kindergarteners recruited from three public schools in the southern United States. Results found that FMS were significantly related to LPA, MVPA, VPA, and SB. Regression analyses indicate that locomotor skills explained significant variance for LPA (6.4%; p < .01), MVPA (7.9%; p < .001), and VPA (5.3%; p < .01) after controlling for weight status. Mediational analysis supports the significant indirect effect of MVPA on the relation between FMS and SB (95% CI: [-0.019, -0.006]). Adequate FMS development during early childhood may result in participating in more varied physical activities, thus leading to lower risk of obesity-related behaviors.

  5. Testing Students’ Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy as an Early Predictor of Entrepreneurial Activities. Evidence From the SEAS Project

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Krzysztof Zięba

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Over the last forty years, since Bandura (1977 introduced the concept of selfefcacy, there have been a constantly growing number of research publicatons using this concept. Its early development resulted in the creaton of a new construct of entrepreneurial self-efcacy (ESE proposed for the frst tme by (Chen et al. 1998. Since then, many different groups of research concerning ESE have emerged - one of them is the study of ESE of students. With regard to this partcular group, a recent tendency to study ESE in a pre-post setng can be notced i.a. Karlsson, Moberg (2013, Shinnar, Hsu, Powell (2014, Ismail, Zain, Zulihar (2015. Due to the increasing interest in entrepreneurial self-efcacy research and the need to fll the gap in the literature with regard to European post-communist countries (and partcularly – Poland (Drnovsek, Wincent, Cardon, 2010, in this paper we present a brief overview of ESE research and pose the queston whether ESE of Polish students can serve as an early predictor of their subsequent entrepreneurial actvites, potentally leading them to nascent entrepreneurship. The research material was collected from the SEAS (Survey on Entrepreneurial Attudes of Students Project carried out at the Faculty of Management and Economics, Gdańsk University of Technology. The research sample was composed of 72 students - ESE was measured in a pre-post setng using a single item based on a fve-point Likert scale. One of the research conclusions is that ESE manifested by student-beginners seems to influence their later entrepreneurial behavior in a statstcally signifcant way - potentally making ESE a valuable early predictor of future entrepreneurial actvites. In the concluding part of the study, limitatons are discussed and future study developments are indicated.

  6. Early detection of COPD in primary care--the Copenhagen COPD Screening Project

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lyngsø, Anne Marie; Backer, Vibeke; Gottlieb, Vibeke

    2010-01-01

    Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is among the leading causes of death in the world, and further increases in the prevalence and mortality are predicted. Delay in diagnosing COPD appears frequently even though current consensus guidelines emphasize the importance of early detection...

  7. The basics of integrating environmental and engineering in early wind farm siting

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alberti, A. [Tetra Tech Inc., Oakville, ON (Canada)

    2010-07-01

    This PowerPoint presentation discussed methods of integrating environmental and engineering studies into the early phases of wind farm siting plans. Most renewable energy development projects begin by an assessment of the transmission capability and renewable resources, followed by engineering and environmental screening procedures. Transmission screening is conducted to identify preliminary interconnection corridors between potential development sites and potential interconnecting transmission lines. Critical issues analysis (CIA) studies identify conditions, siting issues, and potential environmental and engineering tasks related to early scheduling and budget procedures. The components of a CIA include desktop and field studies that are conducted to document issues that warrant special consideration. Team members are comprised of qualified experts who are familiar with the geographic region and are able to collaborate at an early stage in the project. However, many CIA studies do not consider engineering constructability issues or develop strategies for ensuring community support for wind power projects. Conceptual layouts for wind power facilities include information related to turbine locations, access roads, and transmission lines and equipment. Engineering studies are used to evaluate conditions and potential hazards. Issues related to agricultural sites must also be considered. The final locations of turbines must be checked to ensure constructability and energy production potential. tabs., figs.

  8. Earthquakes in the kindergarten educate for risk mitigation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mata, Isabel; Rodrigues, Isabel; Matias, Luis

    2016-04-01

    "Earthquakes in the kindergarten educate for risk mitigation" Isabel Rodrigues, Jardim de Infância D. Dinis, Odivelas, Isabel Mata, Secondary School Adelaide Cabette, Odivelas Luis Matias (UL / IDL), Instituto Dom Luiz, Universityof Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal In Portugal Education for risk is now recognized as a child training component and young learners should develop the right skills in the first years of life. School can have an important role in this process, as a privileged actor in the mobilization of every society, providing and promoting dynamic and educational practices aimed at the wider spectrum of education for citizenship, the adoption of safety behaviours, prevention and adequate management of risk. The Group of Schools Adelaide Cabette in Odivelas is now a set of schools, from Kindergarten to Secondary. Aiming at educating for risk prevention, we developed an experiment with a pre-school class directed to the seismic risk, which was extended to Earth Sciences because it is difficult to teach this topic to the youngest learners, either from Kindergarten or from Primary School, as they haven't learned enough about planet Earth (many don't even know that it is not flat but round like a ball). This experiment involved a working project 1, which was initially developed in one of the classrooms, in kindergarten D. Dinis, and many questions have been asked by the students. The explanation for the students' questions gave origin to a set of experiences developed in the Secondary school. The same class concluded the project in their own classroom. In this project the young learners could have contact with pre-school teachers, secondary and university researchers, thus promoting the sharing of different knowledge, including the scientific linked to the educational one. We would like to share our poster summarizing our experience which we feltwas not only a great challenge, but also a rewarding way to disseminate science to the youngest learners. 1. Keywords

  9. Early awareness of emerging risks associated with food and feed production: synopsis of pertinent work carried out within the SAFE FOODS project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marvin, H J P; Kleter, G A

    2009-05-01

    This introduction to the journal's supplement on emerging food and feed safety issues summarizes the objectives and activities of the EU-funded SAFE FOODS project in general and its work package focusing on the early identification of emerging food safety risks, in particular. Within this work package, a number of studies have been carried out on methods enabling the early awareness, identification, and prevention of emerging issues before they can become real risks. The various reviews in this supplement explore the background of the emergence of known food safety risks, both of microbial and chemical/biochemical nature, as well the methods that can be used to identify such risks. Another review identifies a number of chemical and microbiological hazards that are likely to be affected by a changing climate. A major conclusion from these explorative reviews is that monitoring and information exchange systems or procedures are in place to detect, in an early phase, the emergence of potential food safety risks linked to known hazards. Additional systems are needed to predict the development of new potential food safety risks, which are linked to either new hazards or known hazards to which exposure has been altered.

  10. Behavior of boys in kindergarten and the onset of substance use during adolescence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Màsse, L C; Tremblay, R E

    1997-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of personality dimensions measured at ages 6 and 10 years in predicting early onset of cigarette smoking, alcohol abuse, and other drug use in boys. In addition, the stability of the prediction between the measurements at ages 6 and 10 years was investigated. Data from a large longitudinal study of boys were used to assess the relation between childhood personality and the onset of substance use from 10 to 15 years of age. Childhood personalities were assessed by teachers' ratings of behaviors. Self-reports of smoking cigarettes, getting drunk, and using other drugs provided the measurement of substance use. Discrete-time survival analysis was used for the statistical analyses. High novelty-seeking and low harm avoidance significantly predict early onset of substance use (eg, cigarettes, alcohol, and other drugs), but reward dependence was unrelated to any of the outcomes studied. The results also indicated that either set of predictors (ie, the personality dimensions measured at ages 6 and 10 years) could be used to predict onset of cigarette smoking, getting drunk, and other drug use, because the power of prediction was similar between the measurements at ages 6 and 10 years. High novelty-seeking and low harm avoidance lead to early onset of substance use in boys. The stability of the prediction between ages 6 and 10 years suggests that the kindergarten assessments may be used for preventive efforts at school entry instead of waiting until early adolescence.

  11. Accounting for Epistemic and Aleatory Uncertainty in Early System Design, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This project extends Probability Bounds Analysis to model epistemic and aleatory uncertainty during early design of engineered systems in an Integrated Concurrent...

  12. Early warning system of drought for risk assessment and risk management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chub, V.E.; Agaltseva, N.A.; Myagkov, S.V.

    2004-01-01

    In Article 10 point 2 of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and Drought it is pointed out that the National Action Plans 'envisage the strengthening of the national basis of the climatic, meteorological and hydrological studies and the extending the possibilities for the creation of the system of the early drought forecasting'. The Pilot Project << Early warning system of Drought,, was executed in Uzbekistan at support of Germany project on Convention to combat Desertification (GTZ-CCD). The objective of the project is the creation of the regional automated information system for the early drought warning (AISEWS). In the framework of the project it is proposed to fulfil the main following tasks: - development of concepts of preparing the databases on drought factors and keeping on the databank of drought conditions on territory of Republic Uzbekistan; - the creation of the regional informational basis of the hydro meteorological and agrometeorological information and the system of its keeping on the basis of GIS technique; - analysis of hydro meteorological situations causing the drought in the Aral sea basin; - experimental agrometeorological (in the course of the field studies) and numerical estimation of the parameters of the model of the runoff formation and soil drought; - adaptation of the models complex set of the runoff formation for hydrological objects; - development of out the technique for the long-term drought forecasting basing on the mathematical models of the runoff formation in the river basin; -development of the computer information system for the early drought forecasting with the elements of the operational information transfer to the users. For the Central Asian region the drought means, first of all, the deficit of the water resources that is why the forecasting of the water availability in rivers in the years with the water deficit is of the utmost importance. The following tasks should be fulfilled for the achieving the designed

  13. History of early atomic clocks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ramsey, N.F.

    2005-01-01

    This review of the history of early atomic clocks includes early atomic beam magnetic resonance, methods of separated and successive oscillatory fields, microwave absorption, optical pumping and atomic masers. (author)

  14. Resilience in mathematics after early brain injury: The roles of parental input and early plasticity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glenn, Dana E; Demir-Lira, Özlem Ece; Gibson, Dominic J; Congdon, Eliza L; Levine, Susan C

    2018-04-01

    Children with early focal unilateral brain injury show remarkable plasticity in language development. However, little is known about how early brain injury influences mathematical learning. Here, we examine early number understanding, comparing cardinal number knowledge of typically developing children (TD) and children with pre- and perinatal lesions (BI) between 42 and 50 months of age. We also examine how this knowledge relates to the number words children hear from their primary caregivers early in life. We find that children with BI, are, on average, slightly behind TD children in both cardinal number knowledge and later mathematical performance, and show slightly slower learning rates than TD children in cardinal number knowledge during the preschool years. We also find that parents' "number talk" to their toddlers predicts later mathematical ability for both TD children and children with BI. These findings suggest a relatively optimistic story in which neural plasticity is at play in children's mathematical development following early brain injury. Further, the effects of early number input suggest that intervening to enrich the number talk that children with BI hear during the preschool years could narrow the math achievement gap. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  15. Homologous series of induced early mutants in indican rice. Pt.1. The production of homologous series of early mutants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Xiulan; Yang Hefeng; He Zhentian; Han Yuepeng; Liu Xueyu

    1999-01-01

    The percentage of homologous series of early mutants induced from the same Indican rice variety were almost the same (1.37%∼1.64%) in 1983∼1993, but the ones from the different eco-typical varieties were different. The early variety was 0.73%, the mid variety was 1.51%, and the late variety was 1.97%. The percentage of homologous series of early mutants from the varieties with the same pedigree and relationship were similar, but the one from the cog nation were lower than those from distant varieties. There are basic laws and characters in the homologous series of early mutants: 1. The inhibited phenotype is the basic of the homologous series of early mutants; 2. The production of the homologous series of early mutants is closely related with the growing period of the parent; 3. The parallel mutation of the stem and leaves are simultaneously happened with the variation of early or late maturing; 4. The occurrence of the homologous series of early mutants is in a state of imbalance. According to the law of parallel variability, the production of homologous series of early mutants can be predicted as long as the parents' classification of plant, pedigree and ecological type are identified. Therefore, the early breeding can be guided by the law of homologous series of early mutants

  16. Stellar Kinematics and Structural Properties of Virgo Cluster Dwarf Early-Type Galaxies from the SMAKCED Project

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Toloba, Elisa; Guhathakurta, Puragra; Peletier, Reynier; Boselli, Alessandro; Lisker, Thorsten; Emsellem, Eric; Simon, Joshua D.; van de Ven, Glenn; Smakced Collaboration, [Unknown

    2015-01-01

    We analyze the stellar kinematics of 39 dwarf early-type galaxies (dEs) in the Virgo cluster. This is the largest survey conducted so far on spatially resolved kinematics of dEs. This sample is representative of the early-type population in the absolute magnitude range -19.0

  17. Executive Function in Adolescence: Associations with Child and Family Risk Factors and Self-Regulation in Early Childhood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berthelsen, Donna; Hayes, Nicole; White, Sonia L J; Williams, Kate E

    2017-01-01

    Executive functions are important higher-order cognitive skills for goal-directed thought and action. These capacities contribute to successful school achievement and lifelong wellbeing. The importance of executive functions to children's education begins in early childhood and continues throughout development. This study explores contributions of child and family factors in early childhood to the development of executive function in adolescence. Analyses draw on data from the nationally representative study, Growing up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children . Participants are 4819 children in the Kindergarten Cohort who were recruited at age 4-5 years. Path analyses were employed to examine contributions of early childhood factors, including family socio-economic position (SEP), parenting behaviors, maternal mental health, and a child behavioral risk index, to the development of executive function in adolescence. The influence of children's early self-regulatory behaviors (attentional regulation at 4-5 years and approaches to learning at 6-7 years) were also taken into account. A composite score for the outcome measure of executive function was constructed from scores on three Cogstate computerized tasks for assessing cognition and measured visual attention, visual working memory, and spatial problem-solving. Covariates included child gender, age at assessment of executive function, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, speaking a language other than English at home, and child's receptive vocabulary skills. There were significant indirect effects involving child and family risk factors measured at 4-5 years on executive function at age 14-15 years, mediated by measures of self-regulatory behavior. Child behavioral risk, family SEP and parenting behaviors (anger, warmth, and consistency) were associated with attentional regulation at 4-5 years which, in turn, was significantly associated with approaches to learning at 6-7 years. Both

  18. Early Life Exposures and Cancer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Early-life events and exposures have important consequences for cancer development later in life, however, epidemiological studies of early-life factors and cancer development later in life have had significant methodological challenges.

  19. Sensitivity of CA 15-3, CEA and serum HER2 in the early detection of recurrence of breast cancer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Eriksen, Ann Christina; Sørensen, Patricia Diana; Jacobsen, Erik Hugger

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this project was to investigate the sensitivity of CA 15-3, CEA and HER2 in the early diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer.......The aim of this project was to investigate the sensitivity of CA 15-3, CEA and HER2 in the early diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer....

  20. Maternal separation with early weaning: a novel mouse model of early life neglect

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elwafi Hani M

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Childhood adversity is associated with increased risk for mood, anxiety, impulse control, and substance disorders. Although genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development of such disorders, the neurobiological mechanisms involved are poorly understood. A reliable mouse model of early life adversity leading to lasting behavioral changes would facilitate progress in elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying these adverse effects. Maternal separation is a commonly used model of early life neglect, but has led to inconsistent results in the mouse. Results In an effort to develop a mouse model of early life neglect with long-lasting behavioral effects in C57BL/6 mice, we designed a new maternal separation paradigm that we call Maternal Separation with Early Weaning (MSEW. We tested the effects of MSEW on C57BL/6 mice as well as the genetically distinct DBA/2 strain and found significant MSEW effects on several behavioral tasks (i.e., the open field, elevated plus maze, and forced swim test when assessed more than two months following the MSEW procedure. Our findings are consistent with MSEW causing effects within multiple behavioral domains in both strains, and suggest increased anxiety, hyperactivity, and behavioral despair in the MSEW offspring. Analysis of pup weights and metabolic parameters showed no evidence for malnutrition in the MSEW pups. Additionally, strain differences in many of the behavioral tests suggest a role for genetic factors in the response to early life neglect. Conclusions These results suggest that MSEW may serve as a useful model to examine the complex behavioral abnormalities often apparent in individuals with histories of early life neglect, and may lead to greater understanding of these later life outcomes and offer insight into novel therapeutic strategies.

  1. Early anthropometric indices predict short stature and overweight status in a cohort of Peruvians in early adolescence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sterling, Robie; Miranda, J Jaime; Gilman, Robert H; Cabrera, Lilia; Sterling, Charles R; Bern, Caryn; Checkley, William

    2014-01-01

    While childhood malnutrition is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, less well understood is how early childhood growth influences height and body composition later in life. We revisited 152 Peruvian children who participated in a birth cohort study between 1995 and 1998, and obtained anthropometric and bioimpedance measurements 11 to 14 years later. We used multivariable regression models to study the effects of childhood anthropometric indices on height and body composition in early adolescence. Each standard deviation decrease in length-for-age at birth was associated with a decrease in adolescent height-for-age of 0.7 SD in both boys and girls (all poverweight in early adolescence. Linear growth retardation in early childhood is a strong determinant of adolescent stature, indicating that, in developing countries, growth failure in height during early childhood persists through early adolescence. Interventions addressing linear growth retardation in childhood are likely to improve adolescent stature and related-health outcomes in adulthood. PMID:22552904

  2. Early Identification of Reading Difficulties

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Poulsen, Mads; Nielsen, Anne-Mette Veber; Juul, Holger

    2017-01-01

    Early screening for reading difficulties before the onset of instruction is desirable because it allows intervention that is targeted at prevention rather than remediation of reading difficulties. However, early screening may be too inaccurate to effectively allocate resources to those who need...... them. The present study compared the accuracy of early screening before the onset of formal reading instruction with late screening six months into the first year of instruction. The study followed 164 Danish students from the end of Grade 0 to the end of Grade 2. Early screening included measures...... of phonemic awareness, rapid naming, letter knowledge, paired associate learning, and reading. Late screening included only reading. Results indicated that reading measures improved substantially as predictors over the first six months of Grade 1, to the point where late reading measures alone provided...

  3. Early- versus Late-Onset Dysthymia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sansone, Lori A.

    2009-01-01

    In the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, dysthymic disorder is categorized as either early-onset or late-onset, based upon the emergence of symptoms before or after the age of 21, respectively. Does this diagnostic distinction have any meaningful clinical implications? In this edition of The Interface, we present empirical studies that have, within a single study, compared individuals with early-versus late-onset dysthymia. In this review, we found that, compared to those with late-onset dysthymia, early-onset patients are more likely to harbor psychiatric comorbidity both on Axis I and II, exhibit less psychological resilience, and have more prominent family loadings for mood disorders. These findings suggest that this distinction is meaningful and that the early-onset subtype of dysthymia is more difficult to effectively treat. PMID:20049145

  4. Transition to Kindergarten for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Focus Group Study With Ethnically Diverse Parents, Teachers, and Early Intervention Service Providers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Starr, Elizabeth M.; Martini, Tanya S.; Kuo, Ben C. H.

    2016-01-01

    Despite the stated importance of a successful kindergarten transition (TTK) for future school success, no research has addressed this transition for culturally/ethnically diverse families having children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). To address this gap, six focus groups (three with ethnically diverse parents, one with kindergarten…

  5. Towards a certification process for tsunami early warning systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Löwe, Peter; Wächter, Jochen; Hammitzsch, Martin

    2013-04-01

    The natural disaster of the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 was followed by an information catastrophe. Crucial early warning information could not be delivered to the communities under imminent threat, resulting in over 240,000 casualties in 14 countries. This tragedy sparked the development of a new generation of integrated modular Tsunami Early Warning Systems (TEWS). While significant advances were accomplished in the past years, recent events, like the Chile 2010 and the Tohoku 2011 tsunami demonstrate that the key technical challenge for Tsunami Early Warning research on the supranational scale still lies in the timely issuing of status information and reliable early warning messages in a proven workflow. A second challenge stems from the main objective of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC) Tsunami Programme, the integration of national TEWS towards ocean-wide networks: Each of the increasing number of integrated Tsunami Early Warning Centres has to cope with the continuing evolution of sensors, hardware and software while having to maintain reliable inter-center information exchange services. To avoid future information catastrophes, the performance of all components, ranging from individual sensors, to Warning Centers within their particular end-to-end Warning System Environments, and up to federated Systems of Tsunami Warning Systems has to be regularly validated against defined criteria. Since 2004, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) has built up expertise in the field of TEWS. Within GFZ, the Centre for GeoInformation Technology (CeGIT) has focused its work on the geoinformatics aspects of TEWS in two projects already, being the German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) and the Distant Early Warning System (DEWS). This activity is continued in the TRIDEC project (Collaborative, Complex, and Critical Decision Processes in Evolving Crises) funded under the European Union's seventh Framework Programme (FP7

  6. Effect of socioeconomic status disparity on child language and neural outcome: how early is early?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurt, Hallam; Betancourt, Laura M

    2016-01-01

    It is not news that poverty adversely affects child outcome. The literature is replete with reports of deleterious effects on developmental outcome, cognitive function, and school performance in children and youth. Causative factors include poor nutrition, exposure to toxins, inadequate parenting, lack of cognitive stimulation, unstable social support, genetics, and toxic environments. Less is known regarding how early in life adverse effects may be detected. This review proposes to elucidate "how early is early" through discussion of seminal articles related to the effect of socioeconomic status on language outcome and a discussion of the emerging literature on effects of socioeconomic status disparity on brain structure in very young children. Given the young ages at which such outcomes are detected, the critical need for early targeted interventions for our youngest is underscored. Further, the fiscal reasonableness of initiating quality interventions supports these initiatives. As early life adversity produces lasting and deleterious effects on developmental outcome and brain structure, increased focus on programs and policies directed to reducing the impact of socioeconomic disparities is essential.

  7. Predicting Readmission at Early Hospitalization Using Electronic Clinical Data: An Early Readmission Risk Score.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tabak, Ying P; Sun, Xiaowu; Nunez, Carlos M; Gupta, Vikas; Johannes, Richard S

    2017-03-01

    Identifying patients at high risk for readmission early during hospitalization may aid efforts in reducing readmissions. We sought to develop an early readmission risk predictive model using automated clinical data available at hospital admission. We developed an early readmission risk model using a derivation cohort and validated the model with a validation cohort. We used a published Acute Laboratory Risk of Mortality Score as an aggregated measure of clinical severity at admission and the number of hospital discharges in the previous 90 days as a measure of disease progression. We then evaluated the administrative data-enhanced model by adding principal and secondary diagnoses and other variables. We examined the c-statistic change when additional variables were added to the model. There were 1,195,640 adult discharges from 70 hospitals with 39.8% male and the median age of 63 years (first and third quartile: 43, 78). The 30-day readmission rate was 11.9% (n=142,211). The early readmission model yielded a graded relationship of readmission and the Acute Laboratory Risk of Mortality Score and the number of previous discharges within 90 days. The model c-statistic was 0.697 with good calibration. When administrative variables were added to the model, the c-statistic increased to 0.722. Automated clinical data can generate a readmission risk score early at hospitalization with fair discrimination. It may have applied value to aid early care transition. Adding administrative data increases predictive accuracy. The administrative data-enhanced model may be used for hospital comparison and outcome research.

  8. Attitudes toward stuttering of nonstuttering preschool and kindergarten children: A comparison using a standard instrument prototype.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weidner, Mary E; St Louis, Kenneth O; Burgess, Megan E; LeMasters, Staci N

    2015-06-01

    This study investigated attitudes of nonstuttering preschool and kindergarten children toward peers who stutter in order to identify differences by age groups and better understand the genesis of stuttering attitudes. The study also examined the use of a new stuttering attitudes instrument designed for use with young children. The newly developed Public Opinion Survey on Human Attributes-Stuttering/Child was verbally administered to 27 preschool and 24 kindergarten children who do not stutter in the mid-Atlantic region of the USA. Overall, preschoolers held more negative stuttering attitudes than kindergarteners, but results were not uniformly in that direction. In both groups, the attribute of stuttering was viewed more negatively than individuals who stutter. Children viewed the potential of peers who stutter as quite positive, whereas their knowledge about and experience with stuttering were generally limited and some of their beliefs quite negative. Negative or uninformed stuttering attitudes among nonstuttering children begin as early as the preschool years. This study provides empirical evidence for the need to educate young children about the nature of stuttering and how to respond appropriately to peers who stutter. Readers should be able to: (a) describe attitudinal differences between kindergarteners and preschoolers toward peers who stutter; (b) describe the parameters of the POSHA-S/Child; (c) describe the nature of stuttering attitudes in young children relative to their beliefs and self reactions; and (d) describe the implications and future direction of stuttering attitude research in young children. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Early College for All: Efforts to Scale up Early Colleges in Multiple Settings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edmunds, Julie A.

    2016-01-01

    Given the positive impacts of the small, stand-alone early college model and the desire to provide those benefits to more students, organizations have begun efforts to scale up the early college model in a variety of settings. These efforts have been supported by the federal government, particularly by the Investing in Innovation (i3) program.…

  10. Differential effects of parenting in preterm and full-term children on developmental outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maupin, Angela N; Fine, Jodene Goldenring

    2014-12-01

    To examine the relations between preterm birth, parenting behavior during early childhood, cognitive development, and social-emotional outcomes at Kindergarten entry, and to determine whether parenting behavior differentially influences this developing system in children born preterm compared to children born full-term. The nationally representative sample comprised 3600 full-term and 1300 preterm children born in the US in the year 2001. All children who entered Kindergarten and who participated in data collection at 9 months, 24 months, and Kindergarten entry were included in the study. Measures of parenting behavior were collected at 9 and 24 months and cognitive development at 24 months via home visits. Social-emotional outcomes were assessed at Kindergarten entry via parent and teacher report. Multiple-sample Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyze group differences in a model whereby early childhood parenting behavior predicted cognitive outcomes, and social-emotional outcomes at Kindergarten entry, and indirectly predicted social-emotional outcomes via early cognitive processes. The full sample developmental model indicated excellent fit to the data. Preterm birth status indirectly influenced social-emotional outcomes at Kindergarten entry via its effect on early childhood parenting behavior and cognitive development. The multi-sample model revealed significant differences in the way in which early parenting behavior exerted its influence on outcomes at Kindergarten entry in preterm children compared to full-term children. For preterm children, parenting indirectly influenced social-emotional outcomes via early cognitive functioning. Findings highlight the importance of early identification and targeted parenting programs to support early cognitive development in preterm children. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Positioning and early mobilisation in stroke.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keating, Moira; Penney, Maree; Russell, Petra; Bailey, Emma

    Stroke unit care, providing early rehabilitation, improves long-term outcomes for patients following a stroke. Early mobilisation and good positioning are recognised as key aspects of care in stroke units. Nurses working on stroke units have an important role because they are able to implement positioning and early mobilisation strategies 24 hours a day, reducing the risk of complications and improving functional recovery. Patients benefit if nurses work effectively with the therapy team in positioning and early mobilisation. Nurses also need appropriate training and expertise to make best use of specialist equipment.

  12. Early College High Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dessoff, Alan

    2011-01-01

    For at-risk students who stand little chance of going to college, or even finishing high school, a growing number of districts have found a solution: Give them an early start in college while they still are in high school. The early college high school (ECHS) movement that began with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 10 years ago…

  13. "Someone Had to Have Faith in Them as Professionals": An Evaluation of an Action Research Project to Develop Educational Leadership across the Early Years

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henderson, Linda

    2017-01-01

    This article reports on an evaluation of three action research projects developed by a group of teachers working across the early years in three independent schools. The article examines the role of action research in developing educational leadership capabilities. Drawing on the educational leadership literature, concepts and ideas of action and…

  14. Research Disclosure Procedures for the Kamehameha Early Education Project. Technical Report #21.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Omori, Sharon; And Others

    This report describes research disclosure procedures and materials developed for the Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP) to fulfill the informed consent principle of the ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association. A requirement for registration of children in the program is that parents attend one of two disclosure…

  15. Environmental Influences on Independent Collaborative Play

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mawson, Brent

    2010-01-01

    Data from two qualitative research projects indicated a relationship between the type of early childhood setting and children's independent collaborative play. The first research project involved 22 three and four-year-old children in a daylong setting and 47 children four-year-old children in a sessional kindergarten. The second project involved…

  16. Performance IQ in children is associated with blood cadmium concentration in early pregnancy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeong, Kyoung Sook; Park, Hyewon; Ha, Eunhee; Hong, Yun-Chul; Ha, Mina; Park, Hyesook; Kim, Bung-Nyun; Lee, Bo-Eun; Lee, Soo-Jeong; Lee, Kyung Yeon; Kim, Ja Hyeong; Kim, Yangho

    2015-04-01

    To investigate whether performance IQ in children is associated with maternal blood cadmium concentration in early pregnancy. The present study is a component of the Mothers' and Children's Environmental Health (MOCEH) study, a multi-center birth cohort project in Korea that began in 2006. The study cohort consisted of 119 children whose mothers underwent testing of blood cadmium during early pregnancy. All children were evaluated using the Korean version of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, revised edition (WPPSI-R), at 60 months of age. Multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to analyze the correlation between IQ in children and maternal blood cadmium concentration in early pregnancy, after adjustment for covariates. Maternal blood cadmium concentration during early pregnancy was inversely associated with performance IQ, after adjustment for covariates such as sex, educational levels of both parents, family income, and maternal BMI. Maternal blood cadmium concentration, however, was not associated with cognitive IQ. Performance IQ in children is associated with maternal blood cadmium concentration in early pregnancy. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  17. Long-term Consequences of Early Parenthood

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johansen, Eva Rye; Nielsen, Helena Skyt; Verner, Mette

    (and to lesser extent employment), as fathers appear to support the family, especially when early parenthood is combined with cohabitation with the mother and the child. Heterogeneous effects reveal that individuals with a more favorable socioeconomic background are affected more severely than......Having children at an early age is known to be associated with unfavorable economic outcomes, such as lower education, employment and earnings. In this paper, we study the long-term consequences of early parenthood for mothers and fathers. Our study is based on rich register-based data that......, importantly, merges all childbirths to the children’s mothers and fathers, allowing us to study the consequences of early parenthood for both parents. We perform a sibling fixed effects analysis in order to account for unobserved family attributes that are possibly correlated with early parenthood...

  18. PROJECTED ROTATIONAL VELOCITIES OF 136 EARLY B-TYPE STARS IN THE OUTER GALACTIC DISK

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Garmany, C. D.; Glaspey, J. W. [National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States); Bragança, G. A.; Daflon, S.; Fernandes, M. Borges; Cunha, K. [Observatório Nacional-MCTI, Rua José Cristino, 77. CEP: 20921-400, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Oey, M. S. [University of Michigan, Department of Astronomy, 311 West Hall, 1085 S. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI: 48109-1107 (United States); Bensby, T., E-mail: garmany@noao.edu [Lund Observatory, Department of Astronomy and Theoretical Physics, Box 43, SE-22100, Lund (Sweden)

    2015-08-15

    We have determined projected rotational velocities, v sin i, from Magellan/MIKE echelle spectra for a sample of 136 early B-type stars having large Galactocentric distances. The target selection was done independently of their possible membership in clusters, associations or field stars. We subsequently examined the literature and assigned each star as Field, Association, or Cluster. Our v sin i results are consistent with a difference in aggregate v sin i with stellar density. We fit bimodal Maxwellian distributions to the Field, Association, and Cluster subsamples representing sharp-lined and broad-lined components. The first two distributions, in particular, for the Field and Association are consistent with strong bimodality in v sin i. Radial velocities are also presented, which are useful for further studies of binarity in B-type stars, and we also identify a sample of possible new double-lined spectroscopic binaries. In addition, we find 18 candidate Be stars showing emission at Hα.

  19. Cyanotype: Workshops for people with early dementia

    OpenAIRE

    Moreno Sáez, María del Carmen; Gutiérrez-Párraga, Teresa; Saavedra Macías, Francisco Javier (Coordinador); Español Nogueiro, Alicia (Coordinador); Arias Sánchez, Samuel (Coordinador); Calderón García, Marina (Coordinador)

    2017-01-01

    The workshop "Cyanotype: Workshops for people with early dementia", carried out at the 5th International Conference on Health Humanities introduced the cyanotype. The cyanotype is a 19th century photographic technique that the research project used as a way for preventing the decline of faculties of people living with diseases that provoke memory loss. The activities carried out in the cyanotype workshop at the Conference were based on the creation of photographic images that could be interve...

  20. Modelling production system architectures in the early phases of product development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Guðlaugsson, Tómas Vignir; Ravn, Poul Martin; Mortensen, Niels Henrik

    2016-01-01

    are needed and appropriate to enable determination of obtainable product quality. In order to meet this challenge, it is suggested that a visual modelling framework be adopted that clarifies which product and production features are known at a specific time of the project and which features will be worked...... on – leading to an improved basis for prioritizing activities in the project. Requirements for the contents of the framework are presented, and literature on production and system models is reviewed. The production system architecture modelling framework is founded on methods and approaches in literature......This article suggests a framework for modelling a production system architecture in the early phases of product development.The challenge in these phases is that the products to be produced are not completely defined and yet decisions need to be made early in the process on what investments...

  1. Processes of early stroke care and hospital costs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Svendsen, Marie Louise; Ehlers, Lars H; Hundborg, Heidi H; Ingeman, Annette; Johnsen, Søren P

    2014-08-01

    The relationship between processes of early stroke care and hospital costs remains unclear. We therefore examined the association in a population based cohort study. We identified 5909 stroke patients who were admitted to stroke units in a Danish county between 2005 and 2010.The examined recommended processes of care included early admission to a stroke unit, early initiation of antiplatelet or anticoagulant therapy, early computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (CT/MRI) scan, early physiotherapy and occupational therapy, early assessment of nutritional risk, constipation risk and of swallowing function, early mobilization,early catheterization, and early thromboembolism prophylaxis.Hospital costs were assessed for each patient based on the number of days spent in different in-hospital facilities using local hospital charges. The mean costs of hospitalization were $23 352 (standard deviation 27 827). The relationship between receiving more relevant processes of early stroke care and lower hospital costs followed a dose–response relationship. The adjusted costs were $24 566 (95% confidence interval 19 364–29 769) lower for patients who received 75–100% of the relevant processes of care compared with patients receiving 0–24%. All processes of care were associated with potential cost savings, except for early catheterization and early thromboembolism prophylaxis. Early care in agreement with key guidelines recommendations for the management of patients with stroke may be associated with hospital savings.

  2. Availability and Reliability of Disaster Early Warning Systems and the IT Infrastructure Library

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wächter, J.; Loewe, P.

    2012-12-01

    The Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 caused an information catastrophy. Crucial early warning information could not be delivered to the communities under imminent threat, resulting in over 240,000 casualties in 14 countries. This tragedy sparked the development of a new generation of integrated modular Tsunami Early Warning Systems (TEWS). While significant advances were accomplished in the past years, recent events, like the Chile 2010 and the Tohoku 2011 tsunami demonstrate that the key technical challenge for Tsunami Early Warning research on the supranational scale still lies in the timely issuing of status information and reliable early warning messages. A key challenge stems from the main objective of the IOC Tsunami Programme, the integration of national TEWS towards ocean-wide networks: Each of the increasing number of integrated Tsunami Early Warning Centres has to cope with the continuing evolution of sensors, hardware and software while having to maintain reliable inter-center information exchange services. To avoid future information catastrophes, the performance of all components, ranging from sensors to Warning Centers, has to be regularly validated against defined criteria. This task is complicated by the fact that in term of ICT system life cycles tsunami are very rare event resulting in very difficult framing conditions to safeguard the availability and reliability of TWS. Since 2004, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) has built up expertise in the field of TEWS. Within GFZ, the Centre for GeoInformation Technology (CEGIT) has focused its work on the geoinformatics aspects of TEWS in two projects already: The German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Distant Early Warning System (DEWS), a European project funded under the sixth Framework Programme (FP6). These developments are continued in the TRIDEC project (Collaborative, Complex, and Critical

  3. Ultrasonographic findings of early abortion: suggested predictors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jun, Soon Ae; Ahn, Myoung Ock; Cha, Kwang Yul; Lee, Young Doo

    1992-01-01

    To investigate predictable ultrasonographic findings of early abortion. To investigate objective rules for the screening of abortion. Ultrasonographic examination of 111 early pregnancies between the sixth and ninth week in women who had regular 28 day menstrual cycles was performed. Ultrasonographic measurements of the gestational sac, crown rump length and fetal heart rate were performed using a linear array real time transducer with doppler ultrasonogram. All measurements of 17 early abortions were compared to those of 94 normal pregnancies. Most of early aborted pregnancies were classified correctly by discriminant analysis with G-SAC and CRL (G-SAC=0.5 CRL + 15, sensitivity 76.5%, specificity 96.8%). With the addition of FHR, 94.1% of early abortions could be predicted. In conclusion, ultrasonographic findings of early intrauterine growth retardation, small gestational sac and bradycardia can be predictable signs suggestive of poor prognosis of early pregnancies

  4. [Autism: An early neurodevelopmental disorder].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonnet-Brilhault, F

    2017-04-01

    With approximately 67 million individuals affected worldwide, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the fastest growing neurodevelopmental disorder (United Nations, 2011), with a prevalence estimated to be 1/100. In France ASD affects approximately 600,000 individuals (from childhood to adulthood, half of whom are also mentally retarded), who thus have a major handicap in communication and in adapting to daily life, which leads autism to be recognized as a national public health priority. ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects several domains (i.e., socio-emotional, language, sensori-motor, executive functioning). These disorders are expressed early in life with an age of onset around 18 months. Despite evidence suggesting a strong genetic link with ASD, the genetic determinant remains unclear. The clinical picture is characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication and the presence of restrictive and repetitive behaviors (DSM-5, ICD-10). However, in addition to these two main dimensions there is significant comorbidity between ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or with genetic and medical conditions. One of the diagnostic features of ASD is its early emergence: symptoms must begin in early childhood for a diagnosis to be given. Due to brain plasticity, early interventions are essential to facilitate clinical improvement. Therefore, general practitioners and pediatricians are on the front line to detect early signs of ASD and to guide both medical explorations and early rehabilitation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  5. EARLY ENTRANCE COPRODUCTION PLANT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    John S. Abughazaleh; Mushtaq Ahmed; Ashok Anand; John H. Anderson; Charles Benham; Fred D. Brent; Thomas E. Chance; William K. Davis; Raymond F. Drnevich; Larry Hall; Ming He; Stephen A. Lang; David Mintner; Wendy Moore; Jimmy O. Ong; George Potoczniak; Adela G. Sanchez; Charles H. Schrader; Lalit S. Shah; Kalapi D. Sheth; Phil J. Shires; Rae Song

    2001-05-17

    The overall objective of this project is the three-phase development of an Early Entrance Coproduction Plant (EECP) that produces at least one product from at least two of the following three categories: Electric power (or heat); Fuels; and Chemicals. The objective is to have these products produced by technologies capable of using synthesis gas derived from coal and/or some other carbonaceous feedstock, such as petroleum coke. The objective of Phase I was to determine the feasibility and define the concept for the EECP located at a specific site and to develop a Research, Development, and Testing (RD and T) Plan for implementation in Phase II. This objective has now been accomplished. A specific site, Motiva Refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, has been selected as the location best suited for the EECP. The accomplishments of Phase I are discussed in detail in this Phase I Concept Report. A RD and T Plan and a preliminary project financing plan have been developed and are submitted separately from this report.

  6. Teachers' Beliefs on Foreign Language Teaching Practices in Early Childhood Education: A case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mustafa Caner

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the study was to examine whether teacher beliefs would play a role in their actual practices while teaching target language in early phases of primary education, principally, in kindergarten and first grades in a state school. As it is a very broad research area, the researchers exclusively analyzed teaching practices and teaching activities of two teachers and their beliefs about teaching English to young children within the frame of early childhood education principles. One of the data gathering instruments in this case study was a questionnaire that inquires the participants beliefs related to the classroom practices and how these beliefs influence their classroom practices in early childhood education. In addition to the questionnaire, semi structured interviews with participants were held to examine their beliefs in detail. Finally, in order to see whether participants’ beliefs matched with their actual practices in their classrooms or not, the sample courses of the participants were observed and video-recorded for triangulation for the data. The classroom observations of the courses as well as video recordings of those courses were also examined by the researchers, and the findings were verified by another co-rater in order to increase the trustworthiness of the data. The analysis of responses of participants to the questionnaire, video-recorded classroom observations and interviews were presented qualitatively in the findings section. The results showed that both of the teachers took into account how their students could learn best with regards to their age, level and interest through using different activities and materials suitable for teaching English to young learners. It was also observed that teachers placed room for repetition, role-play, singing songs, picture drawings and coloring in their classes with young learners

  7. Sprites and Early ionospheric VLF perturbations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haldoupis, Christos; Amvrosiadi, Nino; Cotts, Ben; van der Velde, Oscar; Chanrion, Olivier; Neubert, Torsten

    2010-05-01

    Past studies have shown a correlation between sprites and early VLF perturbations, but the reported correlation varies widely from ~ 50% to 100%. The present study resolves these large discrepancies by analyzing several case studies of sprite and narrowband VLF observations, in which multiple transmitter-receiver VLF links with great circle paths (GCPs) passing near a sprite-producing thunderstorm were available. In this setup, the multiple links act in a complementary way that makes the detection of early VLF perturbations much more probable compared to a single VLF link that can miss several of them, a fact that was overlooked in past studies. The evidence shows that sprites are accompanied by early VLF perturbations in a one-to-one correspondence. This implies that the sprite generation mechanism may cause also sub-ionospheric conductivity disturbances that produce early VLF events. However, the one-to-one "sprite to early" event relationship, if viewed conversely as "early to sprite", appears not to be always reciprocal. This is because the number of early events detected in some cases was considerably larger than the number of sprites. Since the great majority of the early events not accompanied by sprites was caused by positive cloud to ground (+CG) lightning discharges, it is possible that sprites or sprite halos were concurrently present in these events as well but were missed by the sprite-watch detection system. In order for this option to be resolved we need more studies using highly sensitive optical systems capable of detecting weaker sprites, sprite halos and elves.

  8. Do preschool special education services make a difference in kindergarten reading and mathematics skills?: A propensity score weighting analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sullivan, Amanda L; Field, Samuel

    2013-04-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the average treatment effect of preschool special education services on children's kindergarten academic skills. Using data from a nationally representative sample of United States children who participated in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, we examined the effectiveness of preschool special education services by comparing reading and math outcomes for children who received special education services at preschool-age to a propensity-score-weighted sample of children who did not receive these services. Results indicated that the receipt of these special education services had a statistically significant moderate negative effect on children's kindergarten skills in both reading (d=-0.21) and mathematics (d=-0.29). These findings have implications for the implementation and evaluation of services for young children experiencing developmental delays or disabilities. Copyright © 2012 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. [The early pregnancy factor (EPF) as an early marker of disorders in pregnancy].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Straube, W; Römer, T; Zeenni, L; Loh, M

    1995-01-01

    The early pregnancy factor (EPF) seems to be very helpful in clinical applications such as early detection of pregnancy, differential diagnosis of failure of fertilization or implementation and prognosis of a fertilized ovum. Our purpose was to investigate the diagnostic value of single and serial measurement of EPF, especially in the differential diagnosis of abortion and extrauterine pregnancy. Women with a history of 6-16 weeks amenorrhoea with/without vaginal bleeding were included in the prospective study. The EPF-test system was carried out by means of the rosette inhibition method. EPF proved to be always positive in normal pregnant women and always negative in nonpregnant controls. In case of threatened abortion the prognosis was good, when the EPF values were positive, and poor when they became negative. Patients suffering from spontaneous and missed abortion mostly showed negative EPF-values. This was also true in ectopic pregnancies. The sensitivity and specificity of EPF-test system were 83%. The positive predictive value was observed to be 54% and the negative predictive value 95%. The EPF as an early embryonic signal may be a suitable parameter for the clinical use detecting pregnancy disturbances very early.

  10. Assimilation of spatio-temporal distribution of radionuclides in early phase of radiation accident

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Hofman, Radek; Šmídl, Václav

    2010-01-01

    Roč. 18, 7/8 (2010), s. 226-228 ISSN 1210-7085 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) 1M0572; GA ČR(CZ) GA102/07/1596 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10750506 Keywords : decision support * early phase * Gaussian model * radioactive pollution transport Subject RIV: DL - Nuclear Waste, Radioactive Pollution ; Quality http://library.utia.cas.cz/separaty/2010/AS/hofman-assimilation of spatio-temporal distribution of radionuclides in early phase of radiation accident .pdf

  11. Capturing early signs of deterioration: the dutch-early-nurse-worry-indicator-score and its value in the Rapid Response System

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Douw, G.; Huisman-de Waal, G.J.; Zanten, A.R. van; Hoeven, J.G. van der; Schoonhoven, L.

    2017-01-01

    AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To determine the predictive value of individual and combined dutch-early-nurse-worry-indicator-score indicators at various Early Warning Score levels, differentiating between Early Warning Scores reaching the trigger threshold to call a rapid response team and Early Warning

  12. Rethinking Early Learning and Development Standards in the Ugandan Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ejuu, Godfrey

    2013-01-01

    Concerns that the African child is being tailored to be a "global child," alongside other homogenizing and dominating projections, such as early learning and development standards (ELDS), have increased. African communities need to be assured that global standards and global indicators will not further homogenize nations and thereby risk…

  13. Dyadic Processes in Early Marriage: Attributions, Behavior, and Marital Quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durtschi, Jared A.; Fincham, Frank D.; Cui, Ming; Lorenz, Frederick O.; Conger, Rand D.

    2011-01-01

    Marital processes in early marriage are important for understanding couples' future marital quality. Spouses' attributions about a partner's behavior have been linked to marital quality, yet the mechanisms underlying this association remain largely unknown. When we used couple data from the Family Transitions Project (N = 280 couples) across the…

  14. Marital conflict and early adolescents' self-evaluation: the role of parenting quality and early adolescents' appraisals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siffert, Andrea; Schwarz, Beate; Stutz, Melanie

    2012-06-01

    Cognitive appraisals and family dynamics have been identified as mediators of the relationship between marital conflict and children's adjustment. Surprisingly little research has investigated both meditational processes in the same study. Guided by the cognitive-contextual framework and the spillover hypothesis, the present study integrated factors from both theories early adolescents' appraisals of threat and self-blame, as well as perceived parenting quality as mediators of the link between early adolescents' perception of marital conflict and their self-evaluations (self-esteem and scholastic competence). Analyses were based on the first two waves of an ongoing longitudinal study. Participants were 176 two-parent families, and their early adolescents (50.5% girls) whose mean age was 10.61 years at Time 1 (SD =0.40) and 11.63 years at Time 2 (SD=0.39). Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that parenting quality and early adolescents' perceived threat provided indirect pathways between marital conflict and early adolescents' self-esteem 1 year later when controlling for their initial level of self-esteem. With respect to scholastic competence, only fathers' parenting was an indirect link. Self-blame did not play a role. Implications for understanding the mechanisms by which exposure to marital conflict predicts early adolescents' maladjustment are discussed.

  15. Capturing early signs of deterioration: the dutch-early-nurse-worry-indicator-score and its value in the Rapid Response System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Douw, Gooske; Huisman-de Waal, Getty; van Zanten, Arthur R H; van der Hoeven, Johannes G; Schoonhoven, Lisette

    2017-09-01

    To determine the predictive value of individual and combined dutch-early-nurse-worry-indicator-score indicators at various Early Warning Score levels, differentiating between Early Warning Scores reaching the trigger threshold to call a rapid response team and Early Warning Score levels not reaching this point. Dutch-early-nurse-worry-indicator-score comprises nine indicators underlying nurses' 'worry' about a patient's condition. All indicators independently show significant association with unplanned intensive care/high dependency unit admission or unexpected mortality. Prediction of this outcome improved by adding the dutch-early-nurse-worry-indicator-score indicators to an Early Warning Score based on vital signs. An observational cohort study was conducted on three surgical wards in a tertiary university-affiliated teaching hospital. Included were surgical, native-speaking, adult patients. Nurses scored presence of 'worry' and/or dutch-early-nurse-worry-indicator-score indicators every shift or when worried. Vital signs were measured according to the prevailing protocol. Unplanned intensive care/high dependency unit admission or unexpected mortality was the composite endpoint. Percentages of 'worry' and dutch-early-nurse-worry-indicator-score indicators were calculated at various Early Warning Score levels in control and event groups. Entering all dutch-early-nurse-worry-indicator-score indicators in a multiple logistic regression analysis, we calculated a weighted score and calculated sensitivity, specificity, positive predicted value and negative predicted value for each possible total score. In 3522 patients, 102 (2·9%) had an unplanned intensive care/high dependency unit admissions (n = 97) or unexpected mortality (n = 5). Patients with such events and only slightly changed vital signs had significantly higher percentages of 'worry' and dutch-early-nurse-worry-indicator-score indicators expressed than patients in the control group. Increasing number

  16. Causes of Early Age Cracking on Concrete Bridge Deck Expansion Joint Repair Sections

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jared R. Wright

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Cracking of newly placed binary Portland cement-slag concrete adjacent to bridge deck expansion dam replacements has been observed on several newly rehabilitated sections of bridge decks. This paper investigates the causes of cracking by assessing the concrete mixtures specified for bridge deck rehabilitation projects, as well as reviewing the structural design of decks and the construction and curing methods implemented by the contractors. The work consists of (1 a comprehensive literature review of the causes of cracking on bridge decks, (2 a review of previous bridge deck rehabilitation projects that experienced early-age cracking along with construction observations of active deck rehabilitation projects, and (3 an experimental evaluation of the two most commonly used bridge deck concrete mixtures. Based on the literature review, the causes of concrete bridge deck cracking can be classified into three categories: concrete material properties, construction practices, and structural design factors. The most likely causes of the observed early-age cracking were found to be inadequate curing and failure to properly eliminate the risk of plastic shrinkage cracking. These results underscore the significance of proper moist curing methods for concrete bridge decks, including repair sections. This document also provides a blueprint for future researchers to investigate early-age cracking of concrete structures.

  17. Early-stage mantle cell lymphoma

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dabaja, B S; Zelenetz, A D; Ng, A K

    2017-01-01

    Background: Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) rarely presents as early-stage disease, but clinical observations suggest that patients who present with early-stage disease may have better outcomes than those with advanced-stage disease. Patients and methods: In this 13-institution study, we examined...

  18. Early determinants of mental health

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Räikkönen, Katri; Pesonen, Anu-Katriina; Roseboom, Tessa J.; Eriksson, Johan G.

    2012-01-01

    Environmental adversities in pre- and early postnatal life may have life-long consequences. Based upon a series of epidemiological and clinical studies and natural experiments, this review describes how the early life environment may affect psychological functions and mental disorders later in life.

  19. Early Archaean collapse basins, a habitat for early bacterial life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nijman, W.

    case of the North Pole Chert huge barite growths, are juxtaposed with the otherwise generally low-energy sediments. Such localities are interpreted as sites of hydrothermal vents. Within this large-scale geological context, many environments on the micro-scale were habitable for life, such as hydrothermal vents and their vicinities, volcanic rock surfaces, subsurface sediments and sediment surfaces. These early collapse basins, hosting this bacterial life, are only partially comparable to Earthly analogues. A resemblance with Venus' coronae and the chaos terranes on Mars is suggested. This study forms part of an international project on Earth's Earliest Sedimentary Basins, supported by the Dutch Foundation Dr. Schürmannfonds. 2

  20. Early onset type 2 diabetes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bo, A; Thomsen, R W; Nielsen, J S

    2018-01-01

    was more frequent and meeting physical activity recommendations less likely in persons with early-onset type 2 DM. CONCLUSIONS: We found a clear age-gradient, with increasing prevalence of clinical and behavioural risk factors the younger the onset age of type 2 DM. Younger persons with early-onset type 2......AIM: To examine the association between early onset of type 2 diabetes (DM) and clinical and behavioural risk factors for later diabetes complications. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 5115 persons with incident type 2 DM enrolled during 2010-2015 in the Danish Centre for Strategic...... Research in Type 2 Diabetes-cohort. We compared risk factors at time of diagnosis among those diagnosed at ≤45 years (early-onset) with diagnosis age 46-55, 56-65 (average-onset = reference), 66-75, and >75 years (late-onset). Prevalence ratios (PRs) were computed using Poisson regression. RESULTS: Poor...