ED413105 PS025982
Title: Child-Initiated Learning Activities for Young Children Living
in Poverty. ERIC Digest.
Author(s): Schweinhart, Lawrence J.
Author Affiliation: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood
Education, Champaign, IL.(BBB34257)
Pages: 4
Publication Date: October 1997
Sponsoring Agency: Office of Educational Research and Improvement
(ED), Washington, DC. (EDD00036)
Contract No: RR93002007
Report No: EDO-97-23
Available from: EDRS Price MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
Language: English
Document Type: ERIC product (071); ERIC digests in full text (073)
Geographic Source: U.S.; Illinois
Journal Announcement: RIEMAR1998
This digest
discusses the findings of empirical studies on teacher-directed
and child-initiated preschool programs. Three long-term preschool
curriculum comparison studies--the High/Scope Preschool Curriculum
Comparison, the Louisville Head Start Study, and the University
of Illinois Study--were started in the 1970s. These studies indicated
that academic outcomes for Direct Instruction programs were higher
than those for child-initiated programs in the short term, but that
child-initiated programs showed favorable adult outcomes. The national
evaluation of Planned Variation Head Start (1969-72) included some
6,000 children at 37 sites, and its models included the Direct Instruction
model and at least 2 child-initiated-activities models--the High/Scope
model and the Enabler model. Findings from these studies indicated
that teacher-directed groups had the highest academic achievement
scores at the end of the preschool program, but the High/Scope group
had the greatest IQ gains. The Follow Through Project (1967-95)
was designed to follow through on Head Start by providing similar
services from kindergarten through third grade. In this study, Direct
Instruction students scored higher on academic achievement and other
measures--a result that may be attributed to the grade level involved.
Six early childhood curriculum comparison studies have been conducted
in the past decade: one study contrasting High/Scope classes with
non-High/Scope classes, and five studies contrasting developmentally
appropriate practice emphasizing child-initiated activities and
developmentally inappropriate practice emphasizing teacher-directed
lessons. The relevant evidence from these studies suggests that
preschool programs based on child-initiated learning activities
contribute to children's short- and long-term academic and social
development, while preschool programs based on teacher-directed
lessons obtain a short-term advantage in children's academic development
by sacrificing a long-term contribution to their social and emotional
development. (LPP)
Descriptors:
Academic Achievement; *Child Development; Classroom Environment;
Classroom Techniques; Cognitive Development; *Developmental Programs;
*Early Childhood Education; Economically Disadvantaged; Educational
Quality; Emotional Development; Instructional Effectiveness; *Low
Income Groups; Outcomes of Education; Preschool Children; Preschool
Education; Social Development; Stress Variables; Teaching Methods;
*Young Children
Identifiers: Child Centered Education; *Developmentally Appropriate
Programs; Didactic Teaching; Direct Instruction Model; ERIC Digests;
High Scope Model; Instructional Models; Planned Variation; Project
Follow Through; Project Head Start
