The Mount Druitt Early Childhood Project
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DOCUMENT i!psumE En 248 010 PS 014149 '1 AUTHOR Braithwaite, JohE; And Others TITLEJ Explorations in-Early-Childbood Education: The Mount Druitt Early Childhood Projett. 0.r. INSTITUTION Australian Council for Educational Research, Hawthorn., , SPON4 AGENCY Bernard Van Leer Foundation,TheNikague i i (Netherlands). REPORT NO ISBN-0-85563-478..12 1 PUB DATE , 83 . NOTE 349p.; Appendixe ere originally in microfiChe form; they have been eprodUced here from thit microfiche and may be mar ginally legible. AVAILABLE FROMThe AudtraliaCouncil for EducatiOnal ResearCh, Radford House, Frederick Street, Hawthorn, Victoria / 3122, Australia. .0 PUB ,TYPE Books (010) -- .Reports.- Evaluative/Feasibility (142 EDRS' PRI MFO1 Plug Postage.. PC Not Available from ERRS. DESCRIPTV Community Involvement; Comparative Analysis; *Disadvantaged; *Early Childhood Education; . *Educational, Objectives; 'Evaluation Methods; Foreign , Countries; Outcomes ofEducation; Parent Participation; *Preschool Curriculum; *Program Development; Program Effectiveness; Program ) Evaluation IDENTIFIERS Australia,(Sydney); *Mount Druitt Early\Childhood .. , . Project; Process Analysis ... PIP' ABSTRACT This book concerns:the Mt. Druittiarly Childhood Project, which was developed to provide quality educational programs for disadvantaged children living in the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia.I -n order to set the subsequent discussion in broader. perspective, chapter 1 addresses several key'Issues influencing project development. Chapter 2 reviews the project's developmental phase; outlines project goals; and specifies what'the goals meapt for childrenchildren., teachers, and parent's. Chapter describes the Mt. .Druitt area, a new low-cost publicjhOusing ebtat. Summarizedin chapter 4 are objectives and-general methods followed in each' of fivedifferent early childhood programs (cognitive,' competency, contemporary, behaviorist, and home-based). Additionally, general issues in preschOdl programming, are considered, and childhood practices Australia that itinfluenced program tselection are reviEwed. Chapter 5' describes the program evaluation modeland presents ,demographic, medical, nutritional, cognitive,language, and achievement data about children in the preschool and .c prison groups at the beginning of 1977. Chapter 6 describes and qukfftifies many of the processes that occurred within classrooms and'evaluates these processes againttithe goals, of the project. Chapteao/ describes initiatives taken to ac i pave -the goal. of parental and community involvement with schools. .Ovterall results of the study are presented extensively in chapter 8, and other results are discussed in chapter 9. Implications of the main_results are considered in chapter 10. (PH) , a DEPAITEINEUT OF EDUCATION NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION , EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION, CENTER (ERIC/ document has been reproduced as from the person or orgatitemon misstating it Minor changes have been made to. reproduction quality Points of view or opinions suited n thin docu- ment do not stiCtessitrly redrawn official NE Position or peace "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL IN MICROFICHE ONLY HAS BEEN GRANTED BY ViMil " 'ion1,t.4tv cDOYAkiiiitineev TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION'CENTER (ERIC)." t 11/411:11 "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL IN MICROFICHE ONLY HAS BEEN GliANTED BY kosms az-vfoAckc.L).),Nkt TO1%S-feo.E EDUCATIO AL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTERIERIC)" Explorations in Early ChildhoodEdiication The Mount Druitt Early Childhood Project 1 t John Braithwaite With the assistance of Jim Alexander P Ji lliam Belme Anne Clark Anne Grey Muriel Healey John Metham Auitralian Council for Educational Research for the f1. Bernard van LeerFoundattat 11, : ..0 Published for the Bernard van Leer Foundation by "se The Australian Council for Educational Research, Radford House; Frederick Street, Hawthdrn, Victoria 3122 Typeset, printed and bound by The Dominion Press-Hedges and Bell 36 Albert Rd., South Melbobrne, Victoria 3205 National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data' Biaithwaite,Jolin. Explorations in early childhood education Bibliography. ISBN 0 85563 478 2 1. Mt. Druitt Early Childhood Project. 2. Education, PreschoolNew South Wales Mount Druitt. I. Alexander, Jim. If. Australian Council for Educational Research. Ili. Title. 372'.21'099441 1 Copyright e Bernard van Leer Foundation 1983 No part of this publication may $e reprodulft in any form without the written permission of the publisher (ACER) and they Bernard van Leer Foundation: A IOW Contents Page Foreword xi Mt Druitt Early CliildhoodPersonni 1975-1979 xix Acknowleginents xxi 1 Perspectives 1 2 The Project's Intentions and Development 17 3 The Setting 37 4 The Educational Programs 52 5 The Evaluation Model 94 6 Process Data within the Programs 124 7 Community-based Endeavours k 162 8 Overall Results of the Study 196 9 Other Results of the Study 22% 10 Reflections 250 References '263 Appendixes (on microfiche) A Design of the Prose Observational Study and Associated Tables 13 Percentages of Mode and Function Observations recorded by Teacher Language Inst ment (TLI) C Kuder-Richipdson 20 liability Coefficients of Measures used in the Study D Statistics associated w #th Chapter 8 a V 4 Tables. Page 2.1 Characteristicsof TeachersinvolvedintheProject 1977-1979 30 2.2 Project Children's Mean Ag9, Mean Ratings of Fathers' Occupations and Position of Children in Families 35 3.1 Common Presenting 'Problems for Persons less than 15 Years of Age at Mt DruikPolyclinic, July-December 1977 49 4.1 Articulation of the Competency Program's Curriculum across Three Years . 58 4.2 Comparison of Program Dimensions 92 5.1 Project Data Sources and Major Types of Data Collection Proceduies 98 5.2 Data Collection Petiods 99 5.3 Numbers of Children tested on Various Measures at End of Each Year 102 . 5.4 Numbers of Children in PROSE Observational Samples and Numbers of Observational Sessions. 104 5.5 School-related Measures administered to Children across Three Years 108 5.6 Fathers' and Mothers' Educational Levels 111 5.7 Mean Scores of Chips Performances on Sel Motor Coordination Items from McCarthy Scales of'ildren's Abilities - 118 5.8 Nutrient Intakes of Preschiil Children- 119 5.9 -Distribution of the Intake of the Number of Nutrients falling below the Recommended Levels .119 5.10 Means, Standard Deviationiii and Analysis of Variance-1 Results on PreschoolPretestScores 'actrAistered to Experimental and Comparison Groups 120 6.1 Chi-square Tests of Significance on Major Interactions recorded by PROSE 127 6.2 Percentage of Free and Instructional Activities in the Four Programs 128 6.3 Percentages of Teacher- and Child-structured Activities 128 6.4 Percentages indicating Teachers' and Other Adults' Roles in the Four Centre -based Programs from Word 6 Context Side, 132 6.5 Percentages of Children in Groups , 6.6 Recorded Interactions for Words 1, 2 and 3 of PROSE Statement Side 140 6.7 Ranking of, High - frequency Behaviours recorded by TOPC in Home-based Program 157 Page . 6.8 Ranking of High-frequency TeacherPerceptionsof Chautges in Congruent Behaviours and Associations over Three Terms Children's Behaviours 158. 6.9 'Ranking of High-frequency TeacherPerceptionsof Changes in Congruent Behaviours and Associations over Three TermsMothers' Behaviours 159 6.10 Ranking of ' High-frequency Teachersand Motheis' Behavioursassociated /withPositive/DesirableChild I I Outcomes ....i 160 . 7.1Parents'Expectations/PerceptionsaboutPreschool 174 Classifition of Objectives . .. e \ 7.2 Parents' Rfitings of Preschool Children'sBehaviours from PEPI \ 174 7.3 Parents' Expectations and Perceptions o'reschool from ,P PEPI 180 1 1 7.4 Parents'Perceptionsof Programs (PAPP)Com- 186 i munications between Parents and School :' / 7.5 Parents' Perceptions of Programs(PAPP) Parents' In- 188 .. volvement with. School . 7.6 Parents' Perceptions of Programs (PAPP)Parents'Per- t, ceptions of Programs - 190 7.7 Parents' Perceptions of Program (PAPP)Parents as Teachers of their own Children 570 8,1 Summary of Multivariate and UnivariateAnalyses of Variance andCovarianteon Preschool Posttest Measures Q for Preschool and Non-preschool Groups 199 8.2 Summary of Multivariate and UnivariateAnalyses of Variance between Preschool and Non-preschool Groups on Measures administered on Entry to Kindergarten 204 8.3 Summary of Multivariate and UpivariateAnalyses* of Variance on Kindergarten End-of-year Measures(Prechool and Non-pr ekchool 'Groups) :208 .8.4 Summary of Multivariate and UnivariateAnalyses of :Variance on Year 1 End-of-year Measures(Preschool and Non-preschool Groups) 211 0. 8.5 Summary of Multivariate and UnivariateAnalyses of VarianceKindergarten and Year 1 Comparisons between I PreschoolChildrenenrolledinExperimental and Comparison Groups ,. 215 8.6 Summary of Multivariate and UnivariateAnalyses of VarianceKindergaften and Year 1 Comparisons between , PreschoolandNon-preschoolChildrenenrolledin Experimental Classes 218 .0* 1 , . Page 8.7 Summary of Multivariate and Univariate Analyses'of Variance on Preschool Resultsamong Different Programs . (Experimental Groups) "' ' 220 8.8 Summary of Multivariate and Univariate Analysesqf Variance on 'Kindergarten, ResultsamongDiffereEt 4 Programs (Experimental Groups) . 224 8.9 Summary of Multivariate andUnivariate Apalyses of Variance on Year 1Results among Differeth Programs at (Experimental Groups) 8.10 Significant Mean Group Differencesamong thePrograms over Three Years r 227 8.11 Table of Main Findings 228