Lauren Scarola Department of Applied Psychology

1. Lauren Scarola Department of Applied Psychology Caregiver and Teacher Use of Evaluation and the Development of Latino Preschoolers’ Socio-Emotional Skills

2. Acknowledgements • Dr. GiglianaMelzi • Dr. Adina Schick • The LFIP Research Team • The Undergraduate Department of Applied Psychology Grant for Student Research

3. Entering Formal Schooling Environments • For preschoolers to adjust successfully to the demands of formal schooling, school readiness skills must be developed. • Unfortunately, 35% of children do not enter kindergarten with the necessary skills. • The largest percentage of children who are at risk for experiencing these difficulties are Latino. Non- Academic Skills Academic Skills Lack of school readiness skills Difficulty adapting to kindergarten Pattern of school failure

4. Latino Preschoolers • Latinos are the fastest growing immigrant community in the United States. • Latino children enter kindergarten with less developed academic school readiness skills. • Less is known about non-academic school readiness skills.

5. Emotional & BehavioralRegulation • High levels of behavioral and emotional regulation are crucial for success in kindergarten environments. High Levels of Regulatory Skills • High tolerance for frustration • Management of behaviors and impulses • Easy adjustment to new situations Advanced Learning Behaviors • Listening attentively • Following directions • Patience in classroom activities Higher Academic Achievement

6. Emotional & BehavioralRegulation • High levels of behavioral and emotional regulation are crucial for success in kindergarten environments. Low Levels of Regulatory Skills • Difficulty focusing • Defiance • Poor behavioral control Maladaptive Learning Behaviors • Emotional outbursts • Tantrums • Calling Out Lower Academic Achievement

7. Socio-Emotional Competence Academic Achievement Behavioral & Emotional Regulation

8. Socio-Emotional Competence • Everyday conversations occur in numerous contexts including: • Peer interactions • Play groups • Caregiver modeling • Conversations with caregivers Everyday Conversation in Various Contexts Academic Achievement Behavioral & Emotional Regulation Socio-Emotional Competence

9. Narratives as a Conversational Context • Narrative sharing has been linked to non- academic aspects of school readiness including: • Self-concept • Understanding of theory of mind • Emotional competence • Evaluation in narratives is particularly important for development of socio-emotional competence. • Evaluation is a narrator’s provision of subjective information that goes beyond basic referential information and calls attention to details the narrator deems important.

10. Referential Information The dog fell out the window with a jar on his head. The boy watched him from his window.

11. Thesillydog jumped out the window with a jar on his head. “Oh no”! The boy watched him from his window. He was worried the dog would get hurt. Evaluative Information

12. The Preschool Context • Extant research examining the relation between narrative evaluation and socio-emotional skills has focused on the home context. • Preschools are an important, yet overlooked context for children's development of socio-emotional skills.

13. Research Objectives & Questions • The present study examined the relation between caregiver and teacher use of evaluation during a book sharing interaction and children’s socio-emotional skills across the two Head Start years. • Three main questions guided the present study: Caregivers’ Narrative Evaluation Caregivers Children’s Socio-Emotional Skills Children’s Socio-Emotional Skills Narrative Evaluation Narrative Evaluation Teachers’ Narrative Evaluation End of second year of Head Start End of first year of Head Start Teachers

14. Children (N = 40) • 40 Latino children (20 girls; 20 boys) their caregivers and Head Start teachers participated in the study. • Children were on average 43 months old (SD = 2.71). • 53% of children spoke Spanish and 47% spoke English.

15. Caregivers (N = 40) • Caregivers ranged in age from 21 to 59 years (M = 29, SD = 7.52). • Caregivers’ age of immigration was 12 years old (SD = 10.53).

16. Teachers (N = 11) • Teachers ranged in age from 31 to 71 years (M = 48.83, SD = 10.92). • Teachers’ ageof immigration was 7 years old (SD = 11.18). • 25% of teachers earned a bachelors level degree and 75% earned a masters level degree or higher. • Head Start instructors worked as lead teacher for an average of 12 years (SD = 7.02).

17. Procedure & Measures • Caregivers and teachers were asked to share a wordless picture book about a boy, a dog and his frog used in narrative research. Spring 2010 Fall 2009 Spring 2011 Children’s caregivers Children’s teachers

18. Procedure & Measures • Children’s non-academic school readiness were assessed by teachers and investigators using two measures. Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale (PLBS; McDermott, Green, Francis & Sttott, 2002) α = .93 Assessor's Report from The Preschool Self Regulation Assessment (PSRA; Raver et al, 2011) α = .96 Spring 2010 Fall 2009 Spring 2011

19. Procedure & Measures • Children’s non- academic skills were assessed using the same measures as in Spring 2010, with an additional measure of effortful control. Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale (PLBS; McDermott, Green, Francis & Sttott, 2002; α = .93) Assessor's Report from The Preschool Self Regulation Assessment (PSRA; Raver et al, 2011; α = .96) Spring 2010 Fall 2009 Spring 2011

20. Procedure & Measures • Children’s non- academic skills were assessed using the same measures as in Spring 2010, with an additional measure of effortful control. Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale (PLBS; McDermott, Green, Francis & Sttott, 2002;α = .93) Assessor's Report from The Preschool Self Regulation Assessment (PSRA; Raver et al, 2011; α = .96) Spring 2011 The Preschool Self Regulation Assessment: Snack Delay (PSRA; Raver et al, 2011;α = .93)

21. Coding of Narrative Evaluation Narrative Evaluation Story World Evaluation Real World Evaluation Emotion Intention Conjecture Other

22. Research Question 1: How do caregivers and teachers use evaluation in their narrations of wordless picture books?

23. Caregiver & Teacher Use of Evaluation

24. Caregiver & Teacher Use of Evaluation t(38) = -2.79 p < .05 t(38) = -2.03 p < .05 * *

25. Research Question 2: How does caregivers’ and teachers’ use of evaluation predict children’s socio-emotional skills in Year 1?

26. YR 1: Demographics & Socio-Emotional Outcomes *p < .05, **p < .005

27. YR 1: Evaluation & Socio-Emotional Outcomes *p < .05 (B = .11, p < .05,∆R2 = .10), (B = .21, p < .05,∆R2 = .09) (B = .54, p < .05, ∆R2 = .16) (B = .19, p < .05, ∆R2 = .13 )

28. Research Question 3: How does caregivers’ and teachers’ use of evaluation predict children’s socio-emotional skills in Year 2?

29. YR 2: Demographics & Socio-Emotional Outcomes *p < .05, **p < .005

30. YR 2: Evaluation & Socio-EmotionalOutcomes *p < .05 (B = .01, p < .05, R2 = .11 )

31. Summary of Results & Discussion • Teachers used more total and story world evaluation than caregivers. • For the first year of Head Start, caregivers’ story world evaluation was predictive of children’s positive learning behaviors and self regulatory skills. • Supports previous research on narrative sharing between caregiver and child. • For the first year of Head Start, teachers’ real world evaluation was also predictive of children’s self regulatory skills. • Suggests that there is a combined contribution from home and school. • For the second year of Head Start, teachers’ story world evaluation was predictive of children’s self regulatory skills.

32. Conclusions & Future Directions • The present study served as an important first step in identifying the importance of independent and joint influences of home and school discourse practices on children’s development of non-academic school readiness skills. • Further examination of various home and classroom discourse practices is needed, especially as these relate preschool children’s development of socio-emotional competencies. • Future research should also explore other factors that might be related to Latino children’s non-academic school readiness skills.

33. Thank You! Questions?