Utilization of a quantitative observation in the kindergarten: assessment of the interaction between students and their parents and the effect of an early intervention.

Parental involvement is of utmost importance to the functioning of children in kindergarten.  The present study tested the possibility that observation of parent-child interaction during the time the parent brought the child to the kindergarten could be used as an assessment tool to learn about the child.

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 The current study was conducted in three kindergartens that were characterized by the diversity of their populations. Two research tools were developed: a Likert-type questionnaire for the assessment and diagnosis of the parents' behavior towards the child and the child's scholastic achievement; and an observation format for the assessment and diagnosis of the parent, the child and the parent-child interaction upon arriving at the kindergarten.

A significant correlation was found in the Pearson coefficient (0.69) between the total number of quantitative observations and the total number of questionnaires to the kindergarten teachers, between the different parts of the questionnaire and the different parts of the observation.

 The averages of the observations and questionnaires of groups of children and parents whose children had undergone educational and psychological intervention were higher than those of the groups of children and parents who had not undergone such intervention

 One of the major challenges to the educational system is the narrowing of the gap in scholastic achievement of children from different socio-economic levels.

Children who were diagnosed and given educational and psychological intervention that included the children and their parents showed a higher level of achievement.

It seems that an extremely short quantitative observation in which the parent-child interaction is assessed can be used as an additional tool in the possession of kindergarten teachers to diagnose children.

Introduction and review of literature

Parental involvement is of utmost importance to the functioning of children in kindergarten.  The present study tested the possibility that observation of parent-child interaction during the time the parent brought the child to the kindergarten could be used as an assessment tool to learn about the child.

Parents' behavior determines to a large extent the motivation of the child, emotional development, curiosity and self-image, as well as language and cognitive advancement, all contributing to scholastic achievement (Borkowsky, Landesman & Brostolpower, 2002; Hollenstein et al. 2004; Horowitz, 1990; Klein, 1997)

Early intervention to empower the ability of the parents as caretakers, as well as the improvement of the ability of the children themselves, is of much significance to the development of the child (Anastasiow, 1990; Guralnik, 1997).

Kindergarten observation is one of many methods of gathering information about children in general and children with difficulties in particular.  Reports and discussions with parents in addition to information received from other relevant sources complete the process of gathering information about the child (Naeyc, 1996).

Observation of the child in his natural setting has many advantages for the child: he remains in the setting in which he is expected to function on a daily basis where he feels free and not under the scrutiny of those who may judge him (Hand, 1981; Hills, 1993). 

Method

Hypotheses         

- A correlation exists between the subjective assessment of the kindergarten teacher of the pupil and his parents (according to a questionnaire) and a "blind" condition of external observation at the time that the parents bring the child to the kindergarten concerning the nature of the parent-child interaction (according to a structured observation).

- A correlation exists between early intervention after psychological diagnosis of the child and the variables mentioned in the first hypothesis.

Research setting and sample    

The study was conducted in three kindergartens that were characterized by the diversity of their populations, including and native veterans, in neighborhoods of predominantly low socio-economic status.

The sample included all the children from the three kindergartens, 94 parent-child pairs in all. The age of the children was 5 and 6.

Research tools

Two research tools were developed for the present study: the first, a questionnaire for the assessment and diagnosis of the parents' behavior towards the child and the child's scholastic achievement; the second, an observation format for the assessment and diagnosis of the parent, the child and the parent-child interaction upon arriving at the kindergarten.

A Likert-type scale was developed in accordance with the relevant literature, the standards of the Ministry of Education for readiness for first grade, and after discussion with the teachers of the kindergartens that took part in the study.

The questionnaire was divided into three parts: the first part related to the emotional of the child, the second was devoted to the scholastic achievement of the child and the third focused on the behavior of the parent toward the child and toward the kindergarten staff.                  

A blind observation protocol was built and validated in a pilot study for the use in the present study, with the aid of qualitative observations.  The arrival at kindergarten event was investigated according to three aspects: the behavior of the child, the behavior of the parent and the parent-child interaction.

Validity and Reliability 

External validity was aided by accepted statistical measures. Reliability of the variables was tested by Cronbach alpha (high alpha values were attained).

Ethical considerations

The required consent to carry out the research was obtained from the Ministry of Education and from the participants after it was explained that the purpose of the study was to gather information on the children and their parents for research purposes only and that the identity of the participants would remain anonymous.

Findings

The averages of the observations and questionnaires of groups of children and parents whose children had undergone educational and psychological intervention after diagnosis by the Psychological Services were higher than those of the groups of children and parents who had not undergone such intervention (Table 1).

A significant correlation was found in the Pearson coefficient (0.69) between the total number of quantitative observations and the total number of questionnaires to the kindergarten teachers, between the different parts of the questionnaire and the different parts of the observation (see Table 2).

Discussion        

One of the major challenges to the educational system is the narrowing of the gap in scholastic achievement of children from different socio-economic levels (Coleman, 1996: Razel, 1997).  One of the ways to achieve this is early intervention.

Children who were diagnosed and given educational and psychological intervention that included the children and their parents showed a higher level of achievement.

A correlation was found between the quantitative observation and the questionnaire to the kindergarten teacher.  This finding supports the importance of observations as an assessment tool in the kindergarten. Our research findings show that an extremely short quantitative observation in which the parent-child interaction is assessed during the situation of arrival at the kindergarten can be used as an additional tool in the possession of all kindergarten teachers in the educational system to diagnose children with difficulties. Kindergarten teachers can learn to identify children with difficulties at the beginning of the school year before they have had time to engage in deep assessment of the child's ability.  This would lead to earlier and more effective recommendations for intervention.