Graduation Year

2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ed.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Educational Measurement and Research

Major Professor

Robert F. Dedrick, Ph.D.

Committee Member

John Ferron, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Yi–Hsin Chen, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Danielle V. Dennis, Ph.D.

Keywords

Early Childhood Education, Kindergarten Entry Assessment, Kindergarten Readiness, Predictive Validity, School Readiness

Abstract

As with traditional K-12 educational settings, early childhood assessments have been a primary source of information determining whether early educational experiences have promoted children’s readiness to start school in kindergarten. The level of use of Kindergarten Entry Assessments (KEAs) has become more wide-spread to establish levels of school readiness at kindergarten entry.

This quantitative, correlational study of children in schools that have blended Head Start/Voluntary Prekindergarten funded programs examined the predictive relationships between the independent variables (i.e., VPK Assessments and Teaching Strategies GOLD) and the dependent variable of kindergarten readiness, as measured by the Work Sampling System™ (WSS). Additionally, the study examined whether gender and ethnicity moderated the predictive relationships between the independent variables and kindergarten readiness.

Data from two cohorts of children enrolled in a blended Head Start/VPK funded program in 2014-2015 (N = 604) and 2015-2016 (N = 565) nested within 39 classrooms nested within 22 schools were analyzed using multiple ordinal logistic regressions to determine the predictive relationships between the four VPK Assessment subscales and the four Teaching Strategies GOLD® subscales. Analyses began by looking at the predictive relationships of the VPK Assessment and Teaching Strategies GOLD® subscales one subscale at a time. Next, a combined model of the four subscales of the VPK Assessment was examined followed by a combined model of the four subscales of the Teaching Strategies GOLD®. When examining each subscale predictor individually, a robust predictive relationship (i.e., a significant relationship at p < .01was observed in both cohorts) was shown for all subscales of the VPK Assessment (Print Knowledge, Phonological Awareness, Mathematics, and Oral Language/Vocabulary). For Teaching Strategies GOLD® all subscales except for Cognitive indicated a robust predictive relationship (Social-Emotional, Literacy, and Mathematics). However, when looking at the predictive relationships with all subscales in the model for the VPK Assessment, none of the four subscales had a robust predictive relationship. Similar results were found for the combined model with the four subscales of the Teaching Strategies GOLD®. Within all models, gender and ethnicity did not have robust moderating effects on the predictive relationships of VPK Assessments and Teaching Strategies GOLD®. These results indicated no evidence of subgroup differences with each scale of the VPK Assessment and Teaching Strategies GOLD®, providing one source of evidence of fairness of both measures. Implications related to these findings related to the predictive validity of these early childhood assessments on levels of kindergarten readiness are discussed.

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