THE ECERS-R AS A PREDICTOR OF CHILDREN’S OUTCOMES: THE EFFECT OF ‘LANGUAGE AND REASONING’ SCORES ON THE PPVT-IV RESULTS.*
1 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GREECE)
2 Democritus University of Thrace (GREECE)
About this paper:
Appears in:
ICERI2013 Proceedings
Publication year: 2013
Page: 4217 (abstract only)
ISBN: 978-84-616-3847-5
ISSN: 2340-1095
Conference name: 6th International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation
Dates: 18-20 November, 2013
Location: Seville, Spain
Abstract:
Long before a child begins to speak, he is already communicating with the world around him. And long before a child learns to read and write, he has already embarked on the path to literacy. Playing with a book, pointing to a sign or scribbling on a piece of paper – all of these are signs of emergent literacy. Research shows that when adults create rich language and literacy environments and respond to a preschool child’s communication in specific ways, they can boost that child’s emergent language and literacy development and increase the likelihood of future academic success.
Two widely accepted instruments that evaluate the quality of early childhood environments and the language development are the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS-R) and the Peabody Vocabulary Test-IV (PPVT-IV). This study, which is a part of Project THALES about the evaluation of the Early Childhood Education Quality in Greece, examines the possible relation between the subscale of ECERS-R that focuses on language and reasoning, and the verbal ability and verbal intelligence of the children. The data presented in this study, from approximately 40 Greek early childhood education centers, are a part of the pilot study of project THALES implemented in the spring of 2013.
The current study’s goal is to investigate whether the ECERS-R can be considered predictive of specific children’s outcomes and achievements. Thus, the results of this pilot study describe the relationship between the “language & reasoning” subscale of the ECERS-R with the PPVT-IV. Such findings may confirm that by tweaking the way they interact with children during everyday conversations, routines and activities, educators can foster the strong language and reasoning skills that are so essential for lifelong social and academic success.
*This study was supported by a grant from the European Union (European Social Fund) and national resources under the operational program “Education and Lifelong Learning”Keywords:
Early childhood education, children’s outcomes, ECERS-R, Peabody Vocabulary Test IV.