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ED433154 PS027964
Title: A Six-County Study of the Effects of Smart Start Child Care
on Kindergarten Entry Skills.Author(s): Maxwell, Kelly; Bryant, Donna; Miller-Johnson, Shari
Author Affiliation: North Carolina Univ., Chapel Hill. Frank Porter Graham Center.(BBB04365)
Pages: 39
Publication Date: September 1999
Notes: Prepared by the FPG-UNC Smart Start Evaluation Team.
Available from: EDRS Price MF01/PC02 Plus Postage.
Availability: Web site: www.fpg.unc.edu/~smartstart; Tel: 919-966-4295.
Language: English
Document Type: Reports--Research (143)
Geographic Source: U.S.; North Carolina
Journal Announcement: RIEJAN2000
The purpose
of this study was to determine whether children living in North
Carolina who attended child care centers that participated in many
Smart Start quality improvement efforts have better skills when
they enter kindergarten than do a comparison group of children from
other child care centers of family child care homes. Subjects were
214 Smart Start children and 294 comparison children. Within the
group of Smart Start children, a subgroup of 142 were identified
who attended centers participating in activities directly related
to improving child care quality. Information on the cognitive, language,
and social skills of all subjects was gathered as they began kindergarten.
Findings indicated that when all 214 Smart Start children were compared
with all comparison children, the skills of the two groups were
not different. However, the Smart Start-direct subgroup did have
significantly better cognitive and language skills than comparison
children. Also, fewer children in this subgroup were rated by their
kindergarten teachers has having behavior problems than children
in the comparison group. The findings of this multi-county study
support earlier single-county reports of the positive effects of
Smart Start on children's outcomes. The findings suggest that Smart
Start efforts need to be directly related to improving the quality
of child care if they are to have an effect on children's school
entry skills. (KB)
Descriptors: Comparative Analysis; Counties; *Day Care; Family Day
Care; Kindergarten; *Kindergarten Children; Outcomes of Education;
Preschool Education; Primary Education; Program Improvement; *School
Readiness; *Student Adjustment
Identifiers: Day Care Quality; *Smart Start NC
