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EECE
Early
Childhood
Research
Quarterly,
2, 97-101
(1987)
From ERKYEECE Summarized below are recent ERIC documents relating to the topics examined in this issue of the quarterly. JOURNAL
ARTICLES
“Encouraging Positive Social Interaction among Young Children,” by Dwight L. Rogers and Dorene D. Ross. (Young Children, Vol. 41, No. 3, 1986, p. 12-17). Stresses the value of early peer interaction among young children for future academic, social, and career development. Describes the components of social skills and suggests ways to help children become socially competent. “Profiles of Peer Competence in the Pre-School: Interrelations between Measures, Influence of Social Ecology, and Relation to Attachment History,” by Peter J. LaFreniere and Alan L. Sroufe. (Developmental Psycho/ogy, Vol. 21, No. 1, 1985, p. 56-69.) Peer competence in preschool children in two classes was assessed via teacher rankings of social competence, peer sociometrics, and behavioral measures of social participation. Affective expression and social behavior were classes; however, patterns of intercorrelations revealed substantial differences. “Reading in Kindergarten: Direct vs. Indirect Teaching,” by Mary K. Willert and Constance Kamii. (Young Children, May 1985, p. 3-9.) Describes children’s process of constructing their own knowledge by going through one level after another of being “wrong” and relates this process to reading. Describes six strategies children invent and discusses implications for teaching. ERIC DOCUMENTS
Feeling and Learning about a Critical Event: The Shuttle Explodes, by Gary R. Pettey and others. (ED 270 810, 1986, 29pp.) Part one of this two-part study collected data from 119 college undergraduates within 54 hours of the explosion of the Challenger through means of a questionnaire. Respondents were asked how they had reacted to the explosion, how they had heard about it, and other pertinent information. One week later the same students completed a general knowledge questionnaire covering a variety of news topics and the space program. Another 40 students 97
98
From
ERWEEEC
were asked to monitor the news in one of three media-radio, television, or newspapers in part two of the study. Findings showed that television-reliant students were more knowledgeable about the disaster than were newspaperor radio-reliant students. The television-reliant students possessed more accurate technical information and were more likely to recall accurately the details of the explosion. A model composed of expertise, diffusion variables, motivational factors, and affective reactions accounted for significant total variance in facts recalled. Tables and figures are provided. A Comparison of Traditional Preschool and Computer Play from a Social/ Cognitive Perspective, by Jeanne M. Hoover and Ann M. Berghout Austin.
(ED 270 220, 1986, 19pp.) Play in five play areas was observed according to the Parten-Smilansky social/cognitive play hierarchies for comparison of traditional preschool and computer play. Secondarily, the study looked at gender differences in duration and type of computer play and whether receptive language differences or sociometric status affected the use of the computer. No gender differences were found in the amount of time or type of play at the computer. Sociometric status did influence computer play with those children who engaged in more positive social interactions using the computer constructively. Group constructive play was the most significant type of play observed at all areas. This observation suggests that computers may foster socialization in young children. Document includes an extensive list of references. Tea for Two: Joint Mother-Child Symbolic Play, by Judy S. DeLoache and Beth Plaetzer. (ED 270 228, 1985, 2Opp.) Poses three questions about early symbolic or pretend play: (1) How does a child’s play differ when alone or with his mother? (2) How does a mother influence her child’s play? (3) What are the long-term consequences of joint mother-child play? Solitary and joint play sessions were videotaped to facilitate coding the play behavior on a 9-point scale. Generally, joint play was found to be more sophisticated than solitary play. And, to a great extent, mothers prompted or directed their children’s pretend play. Data demonstrated the plausibility of the hypothesis that joint play is an important developmental force. Constructive Play: Building tivity and Social Interacrion,
Symbolic
Competence
through
Physical
Ac-
by Linda Fennel. (ED 262 896, 1984, 25pp.) Whether physical activity and verbal communication would affect kindergarten students’ scores on the Metropolitan Readiness Tests (MRT) was investigated. Level I of the MRT was administered to 20 subjects when they entered kindergarten. Ten subjects were then placed in an experimental group that worked at constructive play tasks with various materials five
From
ERlClEEEC
99
days per week for four weeks. The 10 control subjects remained in their classroom, involved in small and whole group lessons. Level II of the MRT was administered as a posttest to all 20 subjects. Results indicate that, while experimental and control group pretest scores did not differ significantly and both group’s posttest scores improved significantly, the experimental group’s posttest scores were significantly greater than those of the control group. It is concluded that school readiness may be a more complex phenomenon than the maturity factor alone would indicate. Social Competence from rhe Arrachrnenr Perspective: A Model, by Victoria R. Fu and others. (ED 260 850, 1984, 17pp.) A developmental interactionist model for promoting social competence is proposed. It is argued that personal and social resources present in infancy are expanded, refined, and hierarchically reorganized throughout life as a function of development and experience. Social competence is seen as the result of integrating and organizing four component parts: social effectance, personal control, social perspective taking, and social-cognitive problem solving. Secure attachment relationships promote exploration in novel situations, exploration promotes later problem-solving skills, and problem solving is inherent in effective adaptation to the stresses and demands of life. The four component parts of social competence operate interactively and are mutually supportive. What Children Should Know about Print and Language before to Read, by Robert W. Bruinsma. (ED 253 852, 1984, 15pp.)
They Begin
Children’s awareness of the following five aspects of language and literacy are helpful, if not crucial, to reading readiness: (1) the oral language/ written language relationship; (2) the purpose and structure of books; (3) directional conventions of print; (4) the sounds of language; and (5) the meaning of the “reading instruction register” of linguistic terms such as word, letter, sound, sentence, beginning, end, and punctuation. Exploring the Relationship between Reading and Writing in Early Development, by Ruth J. Kurth. (ED 232 778, 1983, 2Opp.)
Literacy
Findings suggest that a child’s emerging literacy is based on three factors: a functional expectation for print to make logical sense; an expectation of how language operates in alternate contexts; and a growing control of orthography, wordness, directionality, grapheme-phoneme correspondences, and syntax. Findings also indicate that preschool children are aware that the purpose of language is to convey meaning and that the function of reading and writing is to generate meaning. Outcomes of one language encounter become data for predictions in subsequent encounters. Form follows meaning as children build their growing stock of literacy knowledge.
100
From
ERIC/EEEC
Developing the Art of Negotiation among Pre-School Children in the Unique Setting of Day Care, by Irene Munagian. (ED 263 012, 1980, 19pp.) A child caregiver searches for the sources of her skill in influencing children’s verbal behavior. Includes reflection on experiences in college child development classes, at work as a teacher, observing toddlers negotiating with peers in a family day care setting, and at home as a parent. Survey of Staff Preparation for Infant/Toddler Development Programs, by Molly C. Gorelick. (ED 171 389, 1978, 12pp.) This study surveyed agencies and individuals presently conducting infant/ toddler development (ITD) programs in the Los Angeles County area. The survey was conducted to determine: whether the agencies were operated by public or private organizations; the educational background of individuals staffing the programs; and respondents’ recommendations regarding the educational level, competencies, and academic preparation required of individuals seeking careers in the ITD field. The Relationship of Staffing Characteristics to Child Outcomes in Day Care, by Ura Jean Oyemade and Michele Chargois. (ED 156 350, 1977, 72~p.) Presents evidence of the need to apply specific levels of competence to day care center staff and describes the impact of these levels of competence on the children receiving care. Nine staff categories necessary for quality day care, the duties of each, and the experience and training requirements for direct caregivers are discussed, as well as the effects of staff personality characteristics and behavior on the development and academic achievement of children. Discusses staff-child ratios as an important variable in child development. ABOUT ERIC Funded by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, ERIC (the Educational Resources Information Center) is the largest education database in the world. Included in the ERIC system are 16 clearinghouses, each responsible for collecting and disseminating information on a specific area in education. The ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education (ERIWEECE) deals specifically with information relating to the education and development of children from birth through age 12. Other clearinghouses cover reading, higher education, testing, and other areas in education. Each month, abstracts and bibliographic information for more than 1,200 documents and 1,500 journal articles on all phases of education are entered into the ERIC database and listed in two publications: Resources in Educa-
From
ERIUEEEC
101
tion (RIE) and Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE). RIE lists ERIC documents, most of which can be read on microfiche in libraries and information centers. CIJE provides access to journal articles, which may be read in the periodicals in which they were originally published. Documents and articles in ERIC on specific topics can be retrieved by manually searching the RIE and CIJE indexes or by conducting a computer search. The ERIC documents cited in this column are available in paper copy and/or on microfiche from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS), 3900 Wheeler Ave., Alexandria, VA 22304. For complete ordering information, please consult the most recent issue of RIE. Ordering information, as well as further information on the ERIC system and ERIC/EECE, is also available from ERIC/EECE Information Services (ECRQ), University of Illinois, College of Education, 805 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Urbana, IL 61801 (Telephone 217-333-1386).
Childhood
Research
Quarterly,
2, 97-101
(1987)
From ERKYEECE Summarized below are recent ERIC documents relating to the topics examined in this issue of the quarterly. JOURNAL
ARTICLES
“Encouraging Positive Social Interaction among Young Children,” by Dwight L. Rogers and Dorene D. Ross. (Young Children, Vol. 41, No. 3, 1986, p. 12-17). Stresses the value of early peer interaction among young children for future academic, social, and career development. Describes the components of social skills and suggests ways to help children become socially competent. “Profiles of Peer Competence in the Pre-School: Interrelations between Measures, Influence of Social Ecology, and Relation to Attachment History,” by Peter J. LaFreniere and Alan L. Sroufe. (Developmental Psycho/ogy, Vol. 21, No. 1, 1985, p. 56-69.) Peer competence in preschool children in two classes was assessed via teacher rankings of social competence, peer sociometrics, and behavioral measures of social participation. Affective expression and social behavior were classes; however, patterns of intercorrelations revealed substantial differences. “Reading in Kindergarten: Direct vs. Indirect Teaching,” by Mary K. Willert and Constance Kamii. (Young Children, May 1985, p. 3-9.) Describes children’s process of constructing their own knowledge by going through one level after another of being “wrong” and relates this process to reading. Describes six strategies children invent and discusses implications for teaching. ERIC DOCUMENTS
Feeling and Learning about a Critical Event: The Shuttle Explodes, by Gary R. Pettey and others. (ED 270 810, 1986, 29pp.) Part one of this two-part study collected data from 119 college undergraduates within 54 hours of the explosion of the Challenger through means of a questionnaire. Respondents were asked how they had reacted to the explosion, how they had heard about it, and other pertinent information. One week later the same students completed a general knowledge questionnaire covering a variety of news topics and the space program. Another 40 students 97
98
From
ERWEEEC
were asked to monitor the news in one of three media-radio, television, or newspapers in part two of the study. Findings showed that television-reliant students were more knowledgeable about the disaster than were newspaperor radio-reliant students. The television-reliant students possessed more accurate technical information and were more likely to recall accurately the details of the explosion. A model composed of expertise, diffusion variables, motivational factors, and affective reactions accounted for significant total variance in facts recalled. Tables and figures are provided. A Comparison of Traditional Preschool and Computer Play from a Social/ Cognitive Perspective, by Jeanne M. Hoover and Ann M. Berghout Austin.
(ED 270 220, 1986, 19pp.) Play in five play areas was observed according to the Parten-Smilansky social/cognitive play hierarchies for comparison of traditional preschool and computer play. Secondarily, the study looked at gender differences in duration and type of computer play and whether receptive language differences or sociometric status affected the use of the computer. No gender differences were found in the amount of time or type of play at the computer. Sociometric status did influence computer play with those children who engaged in more positive social interactions using the computer constructively. Group constructive play was the most significant type of play observed at all areas. This observation suggests that computers may foster socialization in young children. Document includes an extensive list of references. Tea for Two: Joint Mother-Child Symbolic Play, by Judy S. DeLoache and Beth Plaetzer. (ED 270 228, 1985, 2Opp.) Poses three questions about early symbolic or pretend play: (1) How does a child’s play differ when alone or with his mother? (2) How does a mother influence her child’s play? (3) What are the long-term consequences of joint mother-child play? Solitary and joint play sessions were videotaped to facilitate coding the play behavior on a 9-point scale. Generally, joint play was found to be more sophisticated than solitary play. And, to a great extent, mothers prompted or directed their children’s pretend play. Data demonstrated the plausibility of the hypothesis that joint play is an important developmental force. Constructive Play: Building tivity and Social Interacrion,
Symbolic
Competence
through
Physical
Ac-
by Linda Fennel. (ED 262 896, 1984, 25pp.) Whether physical activity and verbal communication would affect kindergarten students’ scores on the Metropolitan Readiness Tests (MRT) was investigated. Level I of the MRT was administered to 20 subjects when they entered kindergarten. Ten subjects were then placed in an experimental group that worked at constructive play tasks with various materials five
From
ERlClEEEC
99
days per week for four weeks. The 10 control subjects remained in their classroom, involved in small and whole group lessons. Level II of the MRT was administered as a posttest to all 20 subjects. Results indicate that, while experimental and control group pretest scores did not differ significantly and both group’s posttest scores improved significantly, the experimental group’s posttest scores were significantly greater than those of the control group. It is concluded that school readiness may be a more complex phenomenon than the maturity factor alone would indicate. Social Competence from rhe Arrachrnenr Perspective: A Model, by Victoria R. Fu and others. (ED 260 850, 1984, 17pp.) A developmental interactionist model for promoting social competence is proposed. It is argued that personal and social resources present in infancy are expanded, refined, and hierarchically reorganized throughout life as a function of development and experience. Social competence is seen as the result of integrating and organizing four component parts: social effectance, personal control, social perspective taking, and social-cognitive problem solving. Secure attachment relationships promote exploration in novel situations, exploration promotes later problem-solving skills, and problem solving is inherent in effective adaptation to the stresses and demands of life. The four component parts of social competence operate interactively and are mutually supportive. What Children Should Know about Print and Language before to Read, by Robert W. Bruinsma. (ED 253 852, 1984, 15pp.)
They Begin
Children’s awareness of the following five aspects of language and literacy are helpful, if not crucial, to reading readiness: (1) the oral language/ written language relationship; (2) the purpose and structure of books; (3) directional conventions of print; (4) the sounds of language; and (5) the meaning of the “reading instruction register” of linguistic terms such as word, letter, sound, sentence, beginning, end, and punctuation. Exploring the Relationship between Reading and Writing in Early Development, by Ruth J. Kurth. (ED 232 778, 1983, 2Opp.)
Literacy
Findings suggest that a child’s emerging literacy is based on three factors: a functional expectation for print to make logical sense; an expectation of how language operates in alternate contexts; and a growing control of orthography, wordness, directionality, grapheme-phoneme correspondences, and syntax. Findings also indicate that preschool children are aware that the purpose of language is to convey meaning and that the function of reading and writing is to generate meaning. Outcomes of one language encounter become data for predictions in subsequent encounters. Form follows meaning as children build their growing stock of literacy knowledge.
100
From
ERIC/EEEC
Developing the Art of Negotiation among Pre-School Children in the Unique Setting of Day Care, by Irene Munagian. (ED 263 012, 1980, 19pp.) A child caregiver searches for the sources of her skill in influencing children’s verbal behavior. Includes reflection on experiences in college child development classes, at work as a teacher, observing toddlers negotiating with peers in a family day care setting, and at home as a parent. Survey of Staff Preparation for Infant/Toddler Development Programs, by Molly C. Gorelick. (ED 171 389, 1978, 12pp.) This study surveyed agencies and individuals presently conducting infant/ toddler development (ITD) programs in the Los Angeles County area. The survey was conducted to determine: whether the agencies were operated by public or private organizations; the educational background of individuals staffing the programs; and respondents’ recommendations regarding the educational level, competencies, and academic preparation required of individuals seeking careers in the ITD field. The Relationship of Staffing Characteristics to Child Outcomes in Day Care, by Ura Jean Oyemade and Michele Chargois. (ED 156 350, 1977, 72~p.) Presents evidence of the need to apply specific levels of competence to day care center staff and describes the impact of these levels of competence on the children receiving care. Nine staff categories necessary for quality day care, the duties of each, and the experience and training requirements for direct caregivers are discussed, as well as the effects of staff personality characteristics and behavior on the development and academic achievement of children. Discusses staff-child ratios as an important variable in child development. ABOUT ERIC Funded by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, ERIC (the Educational Resources Information Center) is the largest education database in the world. Included in the ERIC system are 16 clearinghouses, each responsible for collecting and disseminating information on a specific area in education. The ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education (ERIWEECE) deals specifically with information relating to the education and development of children from birth through age 12. Other clearinghouses cover reading, higher education, testing, and other areas in education. Each month, abstracts and bibliographic information for more than 1,200 documents and 1,500 journal articles on all phases of education are entered into the ERIC database and listed in two publications: Resources in Educa-
From
ERIUEEEC
101
tion (RIE) and Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE). RIE lists ERIC documents, most of which can be read on microfiche in libraries and information centers. CIJE provides access to journal articles, which may be read in the periodicals in which they were originally published. Documents and articles in ERIC on specific topics can be retrieved by manually searching the RIE and CIJE indexes or by conducting a computer search. The ERIC documents cited in this column are available in paper copy and/or on microfiche from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS), 3900 Wheeler Ave., Alexandria, VA 22304. For complete ordering information, please consult the most recent issue of RIE. Ordering information, as well as further information on the ERIC system and ERIC/EECE, is also available from ERIC/EECE Information Services (ECRQ), University of Illinois, College of Education, 805 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Urbana, IL 61801 (Telephone 217-333-1386).