Kriegel Elana R, Singer Miriam R, Keim Sarah A, Rapoport Eli, Adesman Andrew
Department of Pediatrics, Steven & Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York, Lake Success, NY.
Center for Biobehavioral Health, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH.
J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2021 Sep 1;42(7):569-578. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000000930.
As preschool enrollment increases, it is important to know whether children enrolled in preschool are more likely to be "healthy and ready to learn (HRTL)." Our objective was to assess whether there are detectable school readiness differences between children enrolled in preschool and those who are not in a large, cross-sectional, nationally representative US sample.
Caregivers of 4931 3- to 4-year-old children in the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health indicated whether their child had started school and completed questions forming the "HRTL" School Readiness National Outcome Measure and its domains: early learning skills, self-regulation, social-emotional development, and physical health/motor development. Propensity score-matched logistic regression models estimated prevalence ratios (PRs) comparing children in versus not in preschool.
49.1% of children had started preschool. After matching, children in preschool did not differ from children not in preschool on the composite (PR = 1.21; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.92-1.58) or any domains. Children in preschool were more likely to be "on track" with rhyming words (PR = 1.48; 95% CI: 1.11-1.96), writing their name (PR = 2.36; 95% CI: 1.82-3.08), and holding a pencil (PR = 1.55; 95% CI: 1.12-2.14) but less likely with explaining things they have seen/done (PR = 0.59; 95% CI: 0.44-0.79) and overall health (PR = 0.57; 95% CI: 0.33-0.97). Some associations were sex specific.
The largely null findings of this study underscore the need for further research that incorporates information regarding the extent and quality of preschool exposure when evaluating the developmental benefits of preschool on a national level.
随着学前教育入学率的提高，了解就读于学前班的儿童是否更有可能“健康且准备好学习（HRTL）”变得很重要。我们的目的是在一个大规模、横断面、具有全国代表性的美国样本中，评估就读于学前班的儿童与未就读的儿童在入学准备方面是否存在可检测到的差异。
在2016年全国儿童健康调查中，4931名3至4岁儿童的照顾者表明他们的孩子是否已开始上学，并完成了构成“健康且准备好学习（HRTL）”入学准备全国成果指标及其领域的问题：早期学习技能、自我调节、社会情感发展和身体健康/运动发展。倾向得分匹配的逻辑回归模型估计了比较学前班儿童与非学前班儿童的患病率比值（PRs）。
49.1%的儿童已开始上幼儿园。匹配后，学前班儿童在综合指标（PR = 1.21；95%置信区间[CI]：0.92 - 1.58）或任何领域与未上幼儿园的儿童没有差异。学前班儿童在押韵单词（PR = 1.48；95% CI：1.11 - 1.96）、写自己名字（PR = 2.36；95% CI：1.82 - 3.08）和握笔（PR = 1.55；95% CI：1.12 - 2.14）方面更有可能“达标”，但在解释他们所看到/做过的事情（PR = 0.59；95% CI：0.44 - 0.79）和总体健康（PR = 0.57；95% CI：0.33 - 0.97）方面可能性较小。一些关联存在性别差异。
本研究的主要无显著差异结果强调了在国家层面评估学前教育对发展的益处时，需要进一步开展研究，纳入有关学前教育接触程度和质量的信息。
