Date of Award:

5-1989

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Psychology

Committee Chair(s)

Ann Austin (committee chair) Shelley Lindauer (committee co-chair)

Committee

Ann Austin

Committee

Shelley Lindauer

Committee

Frank Ascione

Committee

Glen Casto

Committee

Dave Turner

Abstract

Although preschool for disadvantaged children is strongly supported nationally as a beneficial endeavor, the research that underlies this support has mostly been limited to small-scale, high-quality experiments. Some have questioned the ability of public schools to provide similar experiences for young children and to produce long-term effects. This study is a long-term follow-up in first-grade children who attended preschool in a statewide public school program. The classrooms were observed to assess the quality of treatment. It was determined that children who attended classrooms that provided medium- to high-quality experiences outperformed those in poor-quality classrooms, as well as comparison children who did not attend preschool. The observation instrument used to assess quality was also found to be predictive of first-grade performance.

Share

COinS