Date of Award

1982

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Program

Curriculum and Instruction EdD

First Advisor

Ruth R. Murdoch

Second Advisor

Wilfred G. A. Futcher

Third Advisor

Wilfred Liske

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the Parent Readiness Education Project (PREP) on readiness skills and subsequent performance of preschool children.

Procedures. This was an ex-post-facto study using summative evaluative procedures. Seven hundred and thirty-six students from the Ballard, Eastside, Ellis, Howard, and Oak Manor elementary schools in the Niles Community School District, Niles, Michigan, were used in this evaluation. All the subjects had participated in the Title III federally funded PREP screening program which selected those students with anticipated learning problems for PREP training. Two hundred and fifty-nine children received PREP training. One-way analysis of variance and one-way analysis of covariance were used to analyze the results of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test scores, Caldwell Cooperative Preschool Inventory, and the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills subtests. Simple t-test for independent means and correlated means were used to analyze the pretest and posttest scores of the Caldwell Preschool Inventory.

Results. With the exception of the first annual group, the PREP students made significant gains in readiness skill areas in comparison to the Non-PREP and Non-Accepting PREP students. Follow-up studies at the end of kindergarten right through fourth grades continued to show significance in favor of the PREP group. In almost every case the PREP students had at least caught up with the Non-PREP students, and scored significantly higher than the Non-Accepting PREP group. However, for the first annual group the PREP students failed to close the gap between them and the Non-Prep in nine cases on the CTBS Subtests. Furthermore, they did not surpass the Non-Accepting PREP group in four subtests.

Conclusion. The parent-involvement variable of the PREP program is an important factor affecting the readiness skills and performance of preschool children. As a program for early identification and and intervention of learning problems, PREP is an effective project worthy of wider application.

Subject Area

Readiness for school.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dissertations/497/

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