Carol Scheffner Hammer|Frank Lawrence|Adele W. Miccio
Bilingual Children’s Language Abilities and Early Reading Outcomes in Head Start and Kindergarten
Pennsylvania State University|Google (United States)|Pennsylvania State University|Google (United States)|Pennsylvania State University|Google (United States)
purpose study investigate relationship head start childrens receptive language development kindergarten reading outcomeseightyeight bilingual children eligible attend head start 2 years participated study growth curve models used examine relationship childrens language abilities 2 years head start endofkindergarten reading outcomesthe results revealed childrens english spanish receptive language abilities increased head start childrens early reading abilities english within typical range monolingual norms end kindergarten childrens early reading abilities spanish nearly 1 sd test mean lower results also showed childrens growth english spanish language abilities head start predicted early reading abilities english spanishthe findings imply preschool programs needed target childrens growth language performance measured particular point time also results demonstrate importance early regular evaluation bilingual childrens development languages order monitor childrens growth two languages