Integrated STEM curriculum: improving educational outcomes for Head Start children

In this study, the researchers aimed to design, plan and implement a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) model to support Pre-K children’s skills and knowledge in STEM as well as to improve Pre-K teachers’ attitudes and professional skills to plan and integrate STEM concepts in their daily classroom activities. Four classrooms from a Head Start programme in an Eastern North Carolina County participated in the study. A quasi-experimental, pre–post-intervention design was adopted to implement the steps of the project. Data were collected through multiple, convergent methods in which the research team utilized both quantitative and qualitative measures to document the participants’ progress and gains. The research outcomes proved that children attending preschool can attain higher levels of understanding in STEM when they are specifically supported through well-planned, stimulating and developmentally appropriate activities.     

The Relationship Between Classroom Quality and Ratings of the Social Functioning of Head Start Children

Classroom quality throughout three Head Start programs in the southeastern United States was monitored. A random sample of classrooms was selected to represent high and low quality classrooms in urban and rural settings. Parents and teachers rated the social behaviors of 328 children who were nested within 40 classrooms. Maternal depression was associated with parent reports of fewer positive social behaviors and more problem behaviors. Parent-reported home violence was associated with fewer disruptive behaviors as reported by the teacher. Higher quality classrooms tended to have lower scores on a parent-reported measure of children's problem behaviors. Teachers who interacted less positively with children tended to rate the children in their classrooms as more compliant. The teacher's ability to individualize instruction tended to moderate the association between the child's age and prosocial behaviors while also moderating the association between maternal depression and parents' reports of their children's problem behaviors.     

The Relationship Between Classroom Quality and Ratings of the Social Functioning of Head Start Children

Classroom quality throughout three Head Start programs in the southeastern United States was monitored. A random sample of classrooms was selected to represent high and low quality classrooms in urban and rural settings. Parents and teachers rated the social behaviors of 328 children who were nested within 40 classrooms. Maternal depression was associated with parent reports of fewer positive social behaviors and more problem behaviors. Parent-reported home violence was associated with fewer disruptive behaviors as reported by the teacher. Higher quality classrooms tended to have lower scores on a parent-reported measure of children's problem behaviors. Teachers who interacted less positively with children tended to rate the children in their classrooms as more compliant. The teacher's ability to individualize instruction tended to moderate the association between the child's age and prosocial behaviors while also moderating the association between maternal depression and parents' reports of their children's problem behaviors.     

Reducing the Use of Emergency Medical Resources Among Head Start Families: A Pilot Study

The objective of this study was to determine whether self-care training with Head Start parents can improve their ability to manage the healthcare needs of their children measured by utilization of emergency department (ED) and physician services. Four hundred and six families in Head Start agencies were included in the study. Parents were given a low-literate self-help book entitled What To Do When Your Child Gets Sick. The study design included using multiple-choice, pre-and post-intervention survey data. In a six month follow-up, parents who received the book reported a 48% reduction in ED visits and a 37.5% reduction in clinic visits. More research is needed to determine if this self-care tool and additional training can have a significant impact on inappropriate use of medical resources.     

Enhancing the Parenting Skills of Head Start Families during the Transition to Kindergarten

Head Start centers provide an excellent context for the implementation and success of family-based interventions, particularly home visiting. Based on a developmental–ecological model, a universal family-centered intervention was implemented with Head Start families. Outcome data from this parenting and home visiting program is presented (Project STAR: Steps to Achieving Resilience). Results suggest that both parenting groups and home visiting interventions are effective at enhancing parenting skills: however, home visiting programs have a higher participation rate. Additionally, home visiting by familiar staff was particularly successful at improving parenting skills at follow-up. Results suggest that embedding targeted interventions in universal strategies can be an effective means of engaging families in services. The results have implications for service delivery methods in early childhood as a means of enhancing parent participation.     

An Experimental Study of an Empowerment‐Based Intervention for African American Head Start Fathers

This study examined the effects of an empowerment intervention, Men as Teachers, on African American Head Start fathers. Fathers were randomly assigned to the empowerment program or to a control group in which participants viewed a five‐part videotape series on parenting. The results revealed a significant improvement in fathers' attitudes about their ability to teach their preschool‐age children for the experimental group only. There was no significant improvement in these fathers' attitudes about racial oppression socialization practices. Resident fathers in the experimental group showed significant gains in self‐esteem and parenting satisfaction.     

Head Start teachers' perceptions of children's eating behavior and weight status in the context of food scarcity

ObjectiveTo describe Head Start teachers' perceptions of mealtime, feeding, and overweight risk in Head Start students.DesignQualitative focus group study.SettingFive Head Starts in a greater metropolitan area in the Northeast.ParticipantsThirty-five teachers in 5 focus groups.InterventionTwo experienced focus group facilitators elicited comments from each group.Main Outcome MeasureIdentification of themes for future nutrition education programming.AnalysisParticipant comments were transcribed and common themes identified by 7 readers.ResultsTeachers felt (1) empowered to shape the content of children's diets; (2) that meals served at Head Start were chaotic; (3) uncertain how to address children's voracious appetites, since children often were from homes with limited food resources; (4) skeptical about the definition of overweight; (5) that children's eating behaviors and their weight status were not connected; and (6) uncomfortable addressing overweight with students' families.Conclusions and ImplicationsTeachers' skepticism about overweight, uncertainty around managing the seemingly voracious eating behavior of children perceived as hungry as a result of inadequate food at home, and discomfort in addressing overweight with families may all represent nutrition education opportunities. Tailoring prevention programs such that they evoke support and agreement from these teachers as well as harnessing strengths, such as teachers' confidence in shaping children's eating behaviors, will be important.     

School readiness in the context of inner city Head Start centres

This article is based on a study that examines the Head Start goal of school readiness in the context of inner city communities that reflect the socio-cultural-economic environment of a more neoliberal and globalized world. The research was conducted as a qualitative and naturalistic inquiry and data collection included document review, in-depth interviews and classroom observations in four Head Start centres in a particular New York City community. The objective of the study was to better understand how the local community and parent body have changed over time, and to assess the effectiveness of the centres in providing appropriate services to the children and their families and preparing them to be ready for primary schooling. Findings are seen in the areas of classroom curriculum, assessment procedures, changes experienced over time, and the future potential of Head Start, raising critical issues such as the tension between school readiness and educating the whole child. Such issues question old policies that fail to address dramatic changes in inner city demographics and the tensions between targeted and universal early childhood programmes.     

Cultural capital theory: a study of children enrolled in rural and urban Head Start programmes

Children from different backgrounds have disparate access to cultural capital, which may influence their academic success. The purpose of this study was to examine the links between family background, home literacy experiences, and emergent literacy skills among preschoolers enrolled in Head Start programmes. The background characteristics studied included urbanicity, maternal education, ethnicity, and family size among 112 preschool children (59 rural and 53 urban, M age?=?56.78 months). Findings showed that rural and urban preschoolers may have similar literacy abilities. However, when maternal education was controlled for, family background variables and components of the home literacy environment predicted emergent literacy skills differently for the two groups. Moreover, mother's active involvement and the child's own engagement in literacy seemed to play a salient role in early literacy development across groups.     

Orthostatic blood pressure regulation correlates with cognitive function in Hispanic American Head Start children

The postural shift from lying to standing may provide a challenge for maintaining adequate blood flow to the brain. Cerebral perfusion in response to the shift to upright posture is affected by a variety of factors including the health of the cardiovascular system and a slight increase in orthostatic systolic blood pressure (SBP). In this study, cognitive functioning was examined in Hispanic American preschoolers in relation to systolic orthostatic blood pressure regulation (OBPR). The extent to which SBP increases in response to standing provides an index for predicting cognitive functioning. Developmental cognitive screening tests (Speed-DIAL-III) were administered individually. At a separate time, blood pressure regulation was assessed in response to an orthostatic challenge. After controlling for age and gender, adequate effective SBP regulation was found to predict performance on measures of concept skills and language competency. Findings support previous research and suggest an association between effective blood pressure regulation and cognitive performance among 3–5-year-old children.     

Free to Grow: Translating Substance Abuse Research and Theory into Preventive Practice in a National Head Start Initiative

This article describes the application of the research on risk and protective factors as employed in the design, chosen strategies and pilot testing phase of a national preschool substance abuse prevention initiative. In the absence of research-based model programs aimed at decreasing children's vulnerability to substance abuse as they grow older, the goal of the initiative is demonstrate how preventive research can be applied in the early childhood period in partnership with the national Head Start Program. While the findings from the initial pilot phase are preliminary, the experience to date does provide concrete examples of the practical uses of research to inform practice in addressing substance abuse prevention.     

Predictors of Head Start and Child-Care Providers' Healthful and Controlling Feeding Practices with Children Aged 2 to 5 Years

Few child-care providers meet the national recommendations for healthful feeding practices. Effective strategies are needed to address this disparity, but research examining influences on child-care providers' feeding practices is limited. The purpose of this study was to identify determinants of child-care providers' healthful and controlling feeding practices for children aged 2 to 5 years. In this cross-sectional study, child-care providers (n=118) from 24 center-based programs (six Head Start [HS], 11 Child and Adult Care Food Program [CACFP] funded, and seven non-CACFP) completed self-administered surveys during 2011-2012. Multilevel multivariate linear regression models were used to predict seven feeding practices. Working in an HS center predicted teaching children about nutrition and modeling healthy eating; that may be attributed to the HS performance standards that require HS providers to practice healthful feeding. Providers who reported being concerned about children's weight, being responsible for feeding children, and had an authoritarian feeding style were more likely to pressure children to eat, restrict intake, and control food intake to decrease or maintain children's weight. Providers with nonwhite race, who were trying to lose weight, who perceived nutrition as important in their own diet, and who had a greater number of nutrition training opportunities were more likely to use restrictive feeding practices. These findings suggest that individual- and child-care–level factors, particularly provider race, education, training, feeding attitudes and styles, and the child-care context may influence providers' feeding practices with young children. Considering these factors when developing interventions for providers to meet feeding practice recommendations may add to the efficacy of childhood obesity prevention programs.     

Self-Reported Moisture or Mildew in the Homes of Head Start Children with Asthma is Associated with Greater Asthma Morbidity

This study used results from a cross-sectional survey of parents of 3- to 5-year-old children with asthma to assess the frequency of self-reported home environmental conditions that could contribute to worsening asthma and examined the relationship between these factors and the child's asthma morbidity. Participants were 149 parents drawn from the two largest agencies that provide subsidized preschool childcare services in East and Central Harlem, inner-city communities with high prevalence of asthma. The sample represented 77% of eligibles determined by a validated case-identification instrument. Data were collected on demographics, symptoms, medication use, Emergency Department visits and hospitalization, and environmental conditions in the home. One or more of these home environmental conditions were reported by 92% of participants. Controlling for other environmental conditions and demographics, associations were found between self-reported presence of moisture or mildew on ceilings, walls, or windows and higher frequency of hospitalizations for breathing-related problems (OR = 3.31; 95% CI 1.62–6.75), frequent episodes of wheezing (OR = 3.25; 95% CI 1.8–6.0), and higher frequency of night symptoms due to asthma (OR = 2.19; 95% CI 1.4–3.41). Having a carpet or rug in the child's bedroom or the living room was also associated with hospitalizations (OR = 3.23; 95% CI 1.53–6.8), and male gender was marginally associated with the frequency of night symptoms (OR = 1.51; 95% CI .95–2.4). Asthma is prevalent in the Head Start population, and exposure to home environmental conditions that may worsen asthma is common in the socially disadvantaged populations served by Head Start programs. Drs. Bonner PhD, Matte and Fagan and Ms. Andreopoulus are with the Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies (CUES) of the New York Academy of Medicine.     

The Shifting Sands for Applicants to Maternal and Child Health Training Programs

Objective: Anecdotal evidence suggests that fewer students today than in decades past are applying to maternal and child health (MCH) graduate training programs with previous clinical degrees. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which applicants accepted to an MCH training program demonstrated a shift away from the tradition of having a prior health professional degree and discuss options needed to provide responsive training. Methods: Twenty years of demographic face sheet data (1983 through 2002) for admitted applicants to the MCH training program at the University of South Florida College of Public Health were examined. Results: Quantitative analysis of admission records confirmed the anecdotal data. Today's applicants are more likely to possess undergraduate nonclinical backgrounds rather than clinical health professional training. Statistically significant differences were found between the students with clinical and without clinical degrees for ethnicity, GRE score, GPA, and the length of time needed to complete the MPH degree. Conclusion: Adjustments in MCH curricula may be necessary to be responsive to the shifting sands of clinical and public health work experience among program applicants. However, curriculum modifications need to be ones that maintain the zeal of the new generation of MCH students without diluting the rigor of traditional professional preparation. Some possible responses of training programs are suggested.     

A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Barriers and Facilitators to Evidence-Based Practices for Obesity Prevention in Head Start

ObjectiveTo identify positive and negative deviant cases using quantitative fidelity data from a previous implementation of a nutrition intervention, Together, We Inspire Smart Eating (WISE), and to determine barriers and facilitators to fidelity by conducting qualitative interviews with deviant cases.DesignExplanatory sequential mixed methods.SettingHead Start Program agencies in 2 southern US states.ParticipantsQuantitative fidelity data were collected in 42 Head Start classrooms. Recruitment for qualitative interviews prioritized those who were positive or negative deviants across fidelity components (African American, n = 21; white, n = 19; and Hispanic, n = 3).InterventionWISE introduces children to fruits and vegetables using evidence-based practices of role modeling, positive feeding, mascot use, and hands-on exposure.AnalysisA directed content analysis approach informed by the integrated Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Service framework.Phenomenon of InterestBarriers and facilitators to WISE evidence-based practices implementation.ResultsQualitative analyses identified themes of culture, leadership support, and mechanisms for embedding change as key contextual factors. Key findings related to recipient characteristics were beliefs about what works, personalized strategies to use WISE, and classroom management. Primary themes for the innovation construct were time and preparation, degree of fit, and WISE advantage. Finally, findings relative to the construct of facilitation included trainer support and desire for additional training.Conclusions and ImplicationsThe study of cases at the extreme ends of the fidelity spectrum can provide unique perspectives on barriers and facilitators to implementation of interventions.