Browsing by Subject "early childhood"

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Can Young Children Control Their Creativity? Examining the Role of Executive Function in Modifying Children’s Creative Processes
(2022-07) Vaisarova, Julie
Claims that creativity declines after early childhood often imply that the development of executive function (EF) skills, which underlie goal-directed thought, is antithetical to creativity. Research with adults suggests that top-down regulation can both constrain idea-generation and support aspects of creativity, such as generating ideas strategically and evaluating their quality. Asking adults to “be creative” during a divergent thinking (idea-generation) task strengthens the link between creativity of ideas and executive skills, suggesting that adults use these skills to modify their ideation (Nusbaum et al., 2014). Whether EF functions similarly in children’s creative processes, however, remains unclear. This project investigated whether young children use EF to modify their idea-generation when asked to “be creative.” 148 typically developing 5- to 6-year-olds (most of them White, non-Hispanic, and from high-income homes) participated in a video call with a researcher. During this call they completed behavioral tasks to assess verbal skills and EF, as well as the Alternate Uses Task (AUT) – a divergent thinking task in which they generated uses for objects. In the AUT, children were randomly asked to either come up with “as many ideas as you can” or come up with “ideas that are creative.” The effect of these instructions on children’s creativity depended on EF; children with relatively high EF scores generated more creative ideas when asked to “be creative,” but this effect was not seen in children with lower EF scores. Instructions did not affect the number of ideas generated (fluency), regardless of EF. Rather, EF showed a small negative effect on fluency after controlling for age, surgency, and verbal skills. The results suggest that 5- to 6-year-olds from a Western, relatively high-income population tend to approach idea-generation tasks in a relatively spontaneous, bottom-up way but can also use their EF skills to modify their ideational process according to task goals. How exactly children use their EF skills to modify their ideation remains a question for future research.
Data-Based Decision Making in Early Childhood: Teachers’ Competencies, Beliefs, and Practices
(2022-06) Will, Kelsey
The early literacy and language skills children develop in the preschool years provide a foundation for their reading skill development in later grades. The long-term importance of early literacy and language skills highlights the need to prioritize identifying children struggling with these skills early in their preschool years and providing them with supports. Early identification and intervention can occur with educators collecting universal screening assessment data, using the data to inform decisions about which children need additional help with skill development, and modifying and monitoring instructional supports accordingly. These assessment, data use, and instructional practices are components of data-based decision making (DBDM) in early childhood education within a multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) framework. Within the MTSS framework, DBDM can guide teachers in identifying student needs and systematically and equitably allocating instructional resources to promote optimal outcomes for all their students. Research is needed to understand early childhood teachers’ competencies, beliefs, and practices related to DBDM for early literacy and language skills. The current study used survey responses from 188 early childhood teachers to compare two approaches for describing their DBDM competencies, beliefs, and practices. The first approach explored teachers’ competency and belief profiles and determined if differences existed in teachers’ frequency of engagement in DBDM practices based on their profile. Latent profile analysis supported a three-profile solution with primary differences in data use competencies, early literacy and language competencies, and self-efficacy beliefs. One-way ANOVAs indicated teachers in these profiles differed in their frequency of engagement in assessment, data use, and instructional practices. The second approach explored the feasibility of profiles that included competencies, beliefs, and practices. Latent profile analysis supported a three-profile solution with primary differences in early literacy and language competencies, assessment practices, data use practices, and instructional practices. Results from this study highlight the existence of individual differences in early childhood teachers’ DBDM competencies, beliefs, and practices and indicate specific areas where groups of teachers may need additional support. These results can inform the creation of tailored professional development opportunities matched to teachers’ needs to help them engage in DBDM in support of all their students.
Effects of first-language training on second-language word learning: Roles of conceptual and lexical knowledge
(2015-05) Cole, Caitlin
Previous research has shown that young children are able to learn words in a foreign language (e.g., Koenig & Woodward, 2012). Among children learning words in a foreign language, familiarity with objects (Sera et al., 2014) and L1 vocabulary (Koenig & Woodward, 2012) are related to foreign word learning. Among children learning words in their first language, knowledge of object functions is related to children's learning of and memory for object labels (Kemler Nelson et al., 2008; Booth, 2009; 2015), as well as object categorization and generalization (Graham et al., 2012; 2013; Twomey et al., 2014). In the present work, I examined the relative contributions of children's experience with novel objects, knowledge of object labels in their first language, and their knowledge of those objects' functions on their ability to learn foreign words for those objects and generalize those foreign words to other exemplars of the object categories. In Study 1, 52 monolingual English-speaking two- and three-year-old children were trained with novel objects on L1 labels or speaker preferences, or received no training. All three groups then learned Spanish labels for the novel objects. I measured children's initial learning of the foreign labels as well as their long-term retention. I found that children who had previous experience with the novel objects, whether or not they learned words in L1, learned and remembered foreign words better than children who had no experience with the objects. In study 2, 96 monolingual English-speaking two- and three-year-old children were trained with novel objects on L1 labels, object functions, or both, before learning foreign words for the objects. I measured children's learning of foreign words and their willingness to generalize those words across object categories. I found that children in all conditions learned foreign words, but did not generalize those words. Additionally, I found some evidence that learning English labels benefitted children's foreign word learning and generalization.
Exploring Early Childhood Language Environments: A Comparison of Language Exposure, Use and Interaction in the Home and Child Care Settings
(2016-07) Larson, Anne
The purpose of this study was to examine the home and child care language environments of young children (17 to 43 months of age) who are living in poverty. Participants included 38 children along with their primary caregivers and child care providers from 14 different classrooms across 5 child care centers. Each participant completed a standardized language assessment and two day-long recordings using Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) to determine the number of adult words, conversational turns, and child vocalizations that occurred in the home and during child care. Data were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed significant differences in child language environment between settings with the home setting providing higher levels of language input and use. Results are discussed in terms of early childhood policy and practice for children who are at-risk of having language delays due to environmental factors.
The IEP Data Collection Intentions Scale (IDCIS): Scale Development and Validation for Intended Score Interpretation and Use in Early Childhood
(2019-08) Rudolph, Brenna
There is evidence to suggest a research-to-practice gap exists in regard to Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) teachers’ collection of data highlighting students’ progress toward meeting their Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals and objectives (i.e., IEP data collection). Due to the negligible amount of research in this area in addition to the limitations present in the literature, however, it is unclear what factors are responsible for causing and maintaining this gap. Given that teachers are ultimately responsible for deciding whether and how to engage in IEP data collection, a focus on better understanding teachers’ intentions to collect IEP data is a logical first step. With an emphasis on enhancing the measurement techniques employed in previous studies, this application of a cross-sectional survey design aimed to validate the intended interpretations and uses of scores resulting from administration of a newly developed scale—the IEP Data Collection Intentions Scale (IDCIS). Following survey completion by 368 ECSE teachers across the state of Minnesota, confirmatory factor analysis, item analysis, and item response modeling were performed to support scale development. Results indicated that following minor adjustments, the IDCIS can be used to produce precise measures of teachers’ attitudes, subjective norms, self-efficacy, controllability, and intentions related to the collection of IEP data. Furthermore, the scores produced by IDCIS administration can be used to make valid and reliable inferences about teachers’ levels of each construct in order to inform the creation and modification of future implementation supports, thus decreasing the gap between what is known and what is practiced in today’s classrooms related to data collection.
Literacy Microsystems of Children Ages Birth to Four: A Strength Approach
(2017-12) Schleisman Scalia, Leann
Abstract The purpose of the study was to ascertain which human, material, and experiential resources supporting emergent literacy of children were present in the microsystems of some low-income families with children under the age of four. This mixed methods study used naturalistic inquiry as the primary strategic approach. Methods included home visits and conversations with parents; the Infant-Toddler Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment was used to assess the home environment. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory was the theoretical framework; social constructivism was included in the discussion of findings and recommendations for action. The research questions addressed are 1) what do parents consider as human and material resources of their family that will support the literacy development of their young children 2) what resources, both human and material, are present in the microsystem of the very young child that the as supportive of literacy development in young children and 3) what resources, both human and material, are present in the microsystem of the very young child that may not be included in the literature yet could be supportive of literacy development in young children. Results challenged some stereotype images of low-income families related to literacy activities. Another finding was that while parents were actively engaged in communication with their young children they did not usually make the connection between developing literacy skills and a variety of family activities.
Redefining the Word Gap from a Cumulative Risk Perspective
(2018-06) Lease-Johnson, Erin
In 1995, Betty Hart and Todd Risley published findings that young children from low-income backgrounds will hear 32 million fewer words than their more affluent peers by the time they turn four years old. Historically, this “word gap” has solely been identified as a function of socioeconomic status – or more specifically, family income. Multiple studies across a variety of developmental domains, however, have demonstrated that the accumulation of multiple risk factors in early childhood is a stronger predictor of adverse outcomes than any single predictor alone. The purpose of this study was to explore the connection between cumulative risk factors and early home language environments, particularly the rate of adult-child language interactions. The sample included 113 infants and toddlers ranging from 1 month to 44 months of age (M = 23, SD = 9.41) as well as their primary caregivers. Participants completed a demographic survey and a daylong audio recording of their home language environment using LENA technology – which automatically aggregates the total number of adult words spoken to the child (AWC) and the number of conversational turns (CT) between the child and an adult. The findings support that the accumulation of risk factors beyond income accounts for a significantly greater proportion of variance than income alone. Moreover, when combining poverty into the aggregated risk score, the greatest difference in AWC and CT scores occurs between zero and four risk factors. Implications for future directions are discussed.
Resilience in development: The importance of early childhood
(Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development, 2006) Masten, Ann S.; Gewirtz, Abigail H.
Rooted in Community: Toward A Grounded Theory of Empathy Development in Nature Preschools
(2023-05) Underwood, Claire C
Empathy is core to what makes us human and early childhood is considered an important period for nurturing empathy. A recent quantitative study has found nature preschools to be effective in the context of fostering empathy in young children (Ernst et al., 2022). While these results are promising, more research is needed, particularly to understand how nature preschools foster the development of empathy in the children they serve, hence the study at hand. The purpose of this study was to explore nature preschool teachers’ experiences of empathy development in young children in the context of nature preschools and to develop a grounded theory-based conceptual model to explain the findings. Following data analysis using the grounded theory coding paradigm, a core phenomenon emerged: the school culture of nature preschools that is nature-based, childled, and rooted in community, which is embedded within the context of the natural setting of the preschool that offers opportunities to foster empathy. The causal condition identified was the role of the teacher who uses the strategy of an ongoing approach to empathy development, which resulted in the consequence of children’s unique expressions of empathy. This model contributes to our understanding of how empathy is developed in early childhood in the context of nature preschools, from the perspective of nature preschool teachers, and offers insight to improve professional practice. Implications are discussed in light of the study’s limitations.
Wonder Years: The Science of Early Childhood Development
(University of Minnesota Extension, 2012-10) Langworthy, Sara; Benning, Sarah; Jordan, Catherine
The Wonder Years: The Science of Early Development (WY), funded by the National Science Foundation, is a collaboration among the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) and University of Minnesota’s Extension Children Youth and Family Consortium (CYFC), the Center for Early Education and Development (CEED), and the Institute of Child Development (ICD). The WY project includes a variety of elements. Public forums bring together community members and experts to discuss scientific findings and implications for families and communities. Citizen dialogues convene a diverse mix of interested citizens, state and local policymakers, and early childhood advocates to discuss society’s role in supporting young children. CYFC’s qualitative research study examines the usefulness of informal science education settings, like museum exhibitions and citizen dialogues, in enhancing state legislators’ knowledge and decision-making in early childhood policies. This is a completely new way of thinking about how policymakers might learn and integrate information about the science of early childhood into their decision-making, and how the University can best facilitate the useful translation of research for policymakers. CYFC has hosted WY field experiences for students. CYFC also recently developed a virtual tour of the exhibition that gives viewers insight into what they might learn when visiting the WY exhibition. In this poster presentation, CYFC staff will engage conference attendees in learning more about this collaborative and innovative project and how they might utilize it in their Extension work.

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