NECTC > About > Focus-2

Do Child, Family, Program, and Community Factors Influence a Child's Transition to School and School Readiness?

PURPOSE:

• The purpose of this set of studies was to empirically validate transition practices and strategies through focused assessment and survey research. This focus investigates individual child, family, provider, and community factors which impact child and family outcomes.

APPROACH:

• Using a nested quasi-experimental design, 536 young children with identified disabilities who met state criteria for early intervention (200) or preschool special education services (480) were selected and followed through the transition process. Five cohorts were selected based on the transition time period, (1) at the end of early intervention, (2) at the beginning of preschool, (3) at the end of preschool, (4) at the beginning of kindergarten, and (5) longitudinal. This study was designed to investigate the following procedural questions at each time period:
  
     •  How do child factors and transition planning and practices affect child functioning in the post transition environment?
     •  How do family factors and transition planning and practices affect child functioning in the post transition environment?
     •  How do program factors and transition planning and practices affect child functioning in the post transition environment?
     •  How do community factors and transition planning and practices affect child functioning in the post transition environment?

ACTIVITIES COMPLETED:

• Instrument design and testing
  
• Data collection for each cohort
  
• Late Cohort:
  The original design proposed a late cohort of 200 child participants who were preparing to enter kindergarten*. Since the early cohort numbers were low, the projected late cohort numbers were increased to 400 children. Collection of data for data collection points 3 (the first data point of the pre 5-year-old transition) and 4 (post 5-year-old transition) is complete with 153 children. The procedures, consent forms, and instruments have been approved by the IRB.
  
  *Note: Some children in this study remained in preschool when they turn five years of age and study data collectors followed them through their five-year-old school year as though they had transitioned to kindergarten. For purposes of simplicity in this report, kindergarten year will refer to children’s five-year-old school year regardless of whether the child was in preschool or kindergarten.
  
• Third Cohort:
  The actual number of early cohort participants is 133, which is significantly lower than the original goal to recruit 480 children. It was much more difficult to recruit children and families to be part of the study than was expected. The result would have been less data about the transition process from early intervention to preschool than required to have statistical power to conduct analyses. The purpose of the third cohort was therefore to add another group to the pool of early cohort study children in order to increase the data set at the pre- and post-3-year-old transition. IRB approval was obtained for an additional cohort as described in the Subject Recruitment Methods and Research Procedures sections. A total of 83 students were added with the Third Cohort.
  
• Fourth Cohort:
  Since the number of participants recruited during the late cohort was less than projected, an additional cohort was established to add more children at the five-year-old transition time. Two data collection points were conducted around the kindergarten transition: at the end of the preschool year and at the beginning of the kindergarten year (data collection points 3 and 4). A total of 128 students were added to the study with the Fourth Cohort.
  
• Fifth Cohort:
  One last group of students was added in the spring of 2007 in a final effort to increase the number of subjects for the study. The numbers of subjects was quite low from the states of Michigan and Wisconsin, and a number of students were lost from the study after Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. Thus, we added, with IRB approval on March 19, 2007, students for data collection at the post-transition phase, either at 3 years or at 5 years of age. A total of 39 students were added to the study with the fifth and final cohort, for a total for the entire study of 536 students.
  
• Multiple Presentations 

PRODUCTS:

• A description of the early childhood transition experiences of a multi-state sample of children with disabilities and their families. An in-depth examination of early childhood transition experiences of children with significant disabilities and children from culturally diverse backgrounds.
  
• An empirically validated model of transition that addresses child, family, program, community, and state influences on school readiness for young children with disabilities.
  
• A national database whereby secondary analysis could be conducted examining additional critical issues related to transition for young children with disabilities.
  
• 5 Technical Reports (in process)
    o  Study of children, families, and their services at the end of early intervention
    o  Study of children, families, and their services at the end beginning of preschool
    o  Study of children, families, and their services at the end of preschool
    o  Study of children, families, and their services at the beginning of kindergarten
    o  Study of children, families, and their services at the end kindergarten 

Data Collection Manual with detailed descriptions of procedures. Available from beth.rous@uky.edu.

WORK GROUP MEMBERS:

• Katherine McCormick, Ph.D.
• Megan Cox, Ph.D.
• Susan Crowther
• Sara Gelser
• Caroline Gooden, M.S.
• Natasha Hagen
• Marilyn Harmon, M.A.
• Lori McGraw, Ph.D.
• Sarintha Stricklin, Ph. D.