In an attempt to lessen academic failure during the early years of schooling, 23 middle class kindergarten children who scored low on tests of cognitive development were given a special 6-week summer enrichment program. A control group of 23 low scorers received no enrichment program. Parents of the experimental subjects were invited to visit the…

The Westinghouse Learning Corporation and Ohio University carried out a study on the impact of Head Start for the Office of Economic Opportunity. The main inquiry of the study concerned the difference between Head Start first, second, and third graders and non-Head Start first, second, and third graders in intellectual and social-personal…

A 3-month pilot project was undertaken at the University of Texas to gain experience in administering the Cynthia Buchanan Language Program (Buchanan, 1967) and to test its effectiveness in making meaningful changes in the language development of disadvantaged Mexican-American preschoolers. A group of 114 Mexican-American children were chosen as…

The formative evaluation of the first year's implementation of the Enrichment Kindergarten program of the Des Moines, Iowa Independent Community School District involved 12 half-day enrichment sessions at six schools. Approximately 278 kindergarten students were served. Results of the evaluation indicated that over 96 percent of the budgeted…

This study represents a segment of an evaluation of the effects of two diametrically-opposed instructional strategies on inner-city kindergarten children who had varying preschool experiences. The child- and parent-oriented "enrichment" approach was used in one school while the teacher- and goal-oriented "direct instructional"…

Four tests--PPVT, ITPA, MRT, WPPSI--commonly used to measure language development in young children are evaluated by four criteria: (1) what development aspects do they claim to tap; (2) what do they actually tap; (3) what linguistic knowledge is presupposed; (4) what special problems face a non-standard English speaker. These tests are considered…

In order to test language ability and school readiness in children with Head Start experience, 168 disadvantaged children were randomly selected. Only half of the children had previous Head Start experience. All children received the Metropolitan Readiness Test and were observed by their teacher and examiner. The results showed that in language…

The New Nursery School (NNS) program was set up to help 3- and 4-year-old, Spanish-surnamed, environmentally deprived children. The objectives set were (1) to improve self-image, (2) to increase perceptual acuity, (3) to improve language ability, and (4) to improve problem-solving and concept-formation skills. The school is organized as an…

This study sought to determine the mean differences in readiness test scores of three groups of children: (1) children whose parents volunteered to particpate in a training program and received the training before their children were tested (Experimental Group); (2) children whose parents volunteered to participate in the training program and…