Building A Strong Foundation For School Readiness Based

SET FOR SUCCESS:
B U I L D I N G A S T R O N G F O U N DAT I O N F O R S C H O O L R E A D I N E S S B A S E D
O N T H E S O C I A L - E M O T I O NA L D E V E L O P M E N T O F YO U N G C H I L D R E N
T H E K A U F F M A N
EARLY
EDUCATION
EXCHANGE
T H E E W I N G M A R I O N K A U F F M A N F O U N D A T I O N
T H E K AU F F M A N E A R LY E D U C AT I O N E X C H A N G E
Vo l u m e 1 , N u m b e r 1
Summer 2002
Published by
The Ew ing Mar ion Kauffman Foundation
w w w. e m k f. or g
A B O U T T H E K AU F F M A N E A R LY E D U C AT I O N E X C H A N G E
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation created the Kauffman Early Education Exchange
conference series as a forum to share timely and important information about the development
of very young children. This series provides a neutral, nonpartisan setting where issues and
implications can be explored. The Kauffman Foundation hosts one conference a year on a
selected topic related to early childhood development and early education. These national
conferences exchange information and scientific knowledge and consider the implications
for policy and practice toward the goal of creating a system of high-quality early education
for all children in America. The conferences include presentations from leading experts and
researchers who are invited to present papers written for the Exchange. The papers explore
various perspectives of the issue selected for each conference. This publication is the post-
conference report that features all of the papers presented at the inaugural conference.
These publications are distributed to policymakers, practitioners, researchers and others
engaged in advancing effective policies and programs for young children.
The inaugural Kauffman Early Education Exchange conference was held on November 12,
2001. The topic focused on the social and emotional development of young children as an
essential building block to prepare for school success. The Kauffman Foundation expresses
its appreciation to two individuals who helped to plan and organize this first conference:
Joan Lombardi, Ph.D., Child and Family Policy Specialist, Washington, DC, who served
as a planning consultant and facilitator during the conference; and Jane Knitzer, Ph.D.,
Deputy Director of the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University,
New York, NY, who served as a content expert and planning consultant.
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, 4801 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO 634110, publishes the Kauffman
Early Education Exchange report and executive summary. (ISBN #1-891616-22-6) The Kauffman Early Education
Exchange report is distributed free of charge through a controlled circulation. Opinions expressed by the writers in
this report are their own and are not to be considered those of the Kauffman Foundation. Authorization to photocopy
articles for personal use is granted by the Kauffman Foundation. Reprinting is encouraged, with the following attribution:
From the Kauffman Early Education Exchange, a publication of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, © 2002.
To be added to the mailing list for future reports, write to Kauffman Early Education Exchange, The Ewing Marion
Kauffman Foundation Fulfillment Center, P.O. Box 12444, North Kansas City, MO 64116. This report and executive
summary are available on the Kauffman Foundation’s Web site at www.emkf.org/pages/12.cfm. Photographs that
appear in this report were acquired independently of the articles and do not have a direct relationship to material
discussed in each article.
The first Kauffman Early Education conference was held on November 12, 2001.
Presentations included remarks from the following individuals:
FACILITATOR:
Joan Lombardi, Child and Family Policy Specialist and Director of The Children’s Project,Washington, DC
PRESENTERS: The presenters who wrote papers for this first Kauffman Early
Education Exchange conference were:
Ross Thompson, Ph.D., University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE

Linda Espinosa, Ph.D., University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO
Oscar Barbarin, Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Paul Donahue, Ph.D., Center for Prevention Psychiatry, Scarsdale , NY
Roxane Kaufmann, M.A., Georgetown University Child Development Center, Washington, DC
Deborah Perry, Ph.D., Georgetown University, Child Development Center, Washington, DC.,
Jane Knitzer, Ed.D., National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University, New York, NY
PANELISTS: A conference panel discussion about effective early education

practices that promote social-emotional development included remarks from:
Dwayne Crompton, Executive Director, KCMC Child Development Corporation, Kansas City, MO
Deborah Hoskins, Community Resources Manager, KCMC Child Development Corporation,
Kansas City, MO
Brenda Loscher-Hudson, Education Consultant, KCMC Child Development Corporation;
Kansas City, MO
DISCUSSANTS: Four experts in the field served as discussants at the conference:
Marilou Hyson, Ph.D., Associate Executive Director of Professional Development, National

Association for the Education of Young Children, Washington, DC
Tammy Mann, Ph.D., Director, Early Head Start National Resource Center, Zero to Three National
Center, Washington, DC
Sandra Adams, Ph.D., Center for Prevention and Early Intervention, Florida State University,
Tallahassee, FL
Jack Shonkoff, M.D., Dean, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management,
Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
PLANNING TEAM: The Kauffman Early Education Exchange is planned

and administered by the Kauffman Foundation Early Education Team:
Sylvia Robinson, Vice President, Early Education

Lisa Klein, Senior Program Officer, Early Education
Adriana Pecina, Senior Program Officer, Early Education
Joy Culver Torchia, Communications Manager
Laura Loyacono, Public Affairs Manager
Bonnie Johnson, Training and Development Consultant
Tricia Hellmer, Senior Research Associate
Design by: Ampersand, Inc., advertising & design, Kansas City, MO

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
INTRODUCTION
Set for Success: Building a Strong Foundation

for School Readiness Based on the Social-Emotional
Development of Young Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
THE VIEW FROM RESEARCH
The Roots of School Readiness in Social

and Emotional Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The Connection Between Social-Emotional

Development and Early Literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Culture and Ethnicity in Social, Emotional

and Academic Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
THE VIEW FROM THE FIELD
Promoting Social and Emotional Development

in Young Children: The Role of Mental Health
Consultants in Early Childhood Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

in Young Children: Promising Approaches at
the National, State and Community Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
I M P L I C AT I O N S F O R P O L I C Y A N D P R A C T I C E
Promoting Social and Emotional Readiness for School:

Toward a Policy Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
© 2002. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation / 4801 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO 64110-2046 / All rights reserved.
I N T R O D U C T I O N
SET FOR SUCCESS:

B U I L D I N G A S T R O N G F O U N DAT I O N F O R
SCHOOL READINESS BASED ON THE
SO CIAL-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
O F YO U N G C H I L D R E N
L I S A G . K L E I N , P H . D .
State reports of the percentage of intervention services later through either

children that are not prepared to enter special education or juvenile justice. The
school ready to succeed range from 20% science of early childhood has repeatedly
to 49%. In response, multiple federal, provided evidence that strong social-
state, and local initiatives are aimed at emotional development underlies all
promoting school readiness and later growth and development.Young
academic success beginning with our children who develop strong early
youngest children and their families. relationships with parents, family,
In 1994, Congress enacted the Educate caregivers and teachers learn how to pay
America Act, with the first goal being: attention, cooperate and get along with
“All children shall enter school ready to others. As a result, they are confident in
learn.” The 107th Congress introduced their ability to explore and learn from
the Foundations for Learning Act, aimed the world around them.
at reducing the risk of early school
Stated simply, positive relationships are
failure. On April 2, 2002, President Bush
essential to a child’s ability to grow up
announced a new early childhood
Lisa G. Klein, Ph.D. healthy and achieve later social,
initiative called:“Good Start, Grow
emotional and academic success.
Semior Program Officer, Smart,” a plan to strengthen early
Early Education learning in young children. There are, however, several challenges
to translating the science into effective
Ewing Marion Kauffman Research evidence from the National
programs and policies that promote
Foundation Academy of Sciences and others has
school readiness and success: societal
demonstrated that children entering
phone: 816-932-1000 beliefs about childrearing, economic
school with well-developed cognitive
lklein@emkf.org deficits in the states, and the tragic events
and social skills are most likely to
of September 11. Overall strategies for
succeed and least likely to need costly
achieving the goal of preparing children
to succeed include:
01
• Creating a common understanding childhood development made
of what good social-emotional presentations. This document contains
development is and how it underlies the full commissioned papers from six
later academic success; of the 12 invited speakers.
• Building broad-based public and
political will to make the healthy THE RESEARCH BASE
growth and comprehensive
The Exchange began with a series of
development of young children
papers that presented the latest scientific
a priority;
research and compelling evidence about
• Committing public and private what is necessary to prepare young
investment in the types of programs children for school success.
and policies that are proven to result
in greater success for young children
and families; THE RO OTS OF SO CIAL-EMOTIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
• Building expertise for parents,
Ross Thompson, Ph.D.
families, providers and teachers
in order to promote strong social- The National Academy of Sciences study
emotional development in all young “From Neurons to Neighborhoods:
children, particularly those at-risk The Science of Early Childhood
for serious problems and delays; and Development,” reported on three
qualities that children need to be ready
• Assuring good outcomes by assessing
for school: intellectual skills, motivation
progress and tracking indicators of
to learn and strong socioemotional
social-emotional development and
capacity. It is the last area that is
its relation to later school readiness
described in greater detail. School
and academic success.
success requires young children be able
to: understand their own feelings and the
THE KAUFFMAN EARLY
viewpoint and feelings of others,
EDUCATION EXCHANGE
cooperate with both peers and adults,
The Ewing Marion Kauffman resolve conflict successfully and control
Foundation sponsored the first in a their own behavior. Evidence shows that
series of Exchanges in Early Education young children who have established
in November 2001. The purpose of the positive relationships with parents,
series is to determine how research, caregivers and teachers are secure and
practice, and policy can best prepare confident in exploring new situations
young children and families for later and mastering learning challenges.
school success. The focus of the
inaugural Exchange highlighted the link
between social-emotional development
and later cognitive development. Twelve
leading experts in the field of early
02 Set for Success: Building a Strong Foundation for School Readiness Based on the Social-Emotional Development of Young Children
THE CONNECTIONS BET WEEN IMPLICATIONS FOR PR ACTICE
AND EARLY LITER ACY The second series of papers focus on the
Linda Espinosa, Ph.D. and implications for programs and strategies
Rebecca McCathren, Ph.D. for practice to promote positive early
relationships and to intervene when
During the first year of life, joint
young children are at risk or experience
attention occurs between mother or
emotional and behavioral problems.
caregiver and child when the infant
and adult are interacting and establish PROMISING SO CIAL-EMOTIONAL
the earliest stage of pre-language DEVELOPMENT IN YOUNG CHILDREN:
communication. For preschoolers, play is THE ROLE OF MENTAL HEALTH
the best way young children develop pre- CONSULTANTS IN EARLY
literacy language and communication. CHILDHO OD SET TINGS
As they grow, the adults who care for Paul Donahue, Ph.D.
them and their attitudes, beliefs and With more than 60% of children under
level of literacy influence children’s age six in some form of child care, it is
exposure and interest in reading. The clear that early childhood educators play
literature provides compelling evidence a major role in shaping young children’s
that nurturing relationships and social, emotional and cognitive
responsive social environments set the development. Science reveals that our
stage for language and literacy as youngest children experience anywhere
children grow and mature. from mild to severe mental health
CULTURE AND ETHNICIT Y IN problems. Early childhood programs
SO CIAL, EMOTIONAL, AND ACADEMIC have become logical places to establish
DEVELOPMENT partnerships between mental health
Oscar Barbar in, Ph.D. professionals, teachers, families and
children. A collaborative model of
Stressors facing many poor children
mental health consultation in preschool
of color that limit their ability to
settings provides both prevention and
successfully cope include: early
intervention to families in safe, trusted
deprivation or trauma, family instability
and easily accessible environments.
or conflict, involvement in the child
Mental health consultation provides
welfare system, and neighborhood
preventative services to help families
danger and limited resources. Evidence
support their child’s full development.
also shows that many children
In addition, intervention services
experiencing problems in social-
support at-risk children and families
emotional functioning are also
and those already experiencing problems
experiencing delay in the acquisition of
such as depression or behavior problems
early academic skills. Early identification
before they lead to academic delay.
of mental health problems in ethnic
minority children coupled with effective
referral and service delivery has long-
term implications for preventing
academic failure.
03
PROMOTING SO CIAL-EMOTIONAL IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY
DEVELOPMENT IN YOUNG CHILDREN:
PROMISING APPROACHES AT The final paper outlines a policy agenda
THE NATIONAL, STATE AND for enhancing school readiness built on
COMMUNIT Y LEVELS the recognition that success is determined
Roxane Kaufmann, Ph.D. and by social, emotional and cognitive
Deborah Per r y, Ph.D. competencies in young children.
Head Start and Early Head Start are PROMOTING SO CIAL-EMOTIONAL
national early childhood programs that READINESS FOR SCHO OL: TOWARD
include prevention strategies for building A POLICY AGENDA
strong social-emotional development in Jane Knitzer, Ph.D.
young children and helping families Despite the extensive knowledge about
cope with increasing stress. Starting how early relationships set the stage for
Early Starting Smart (SESS), an initiative later academic achievement, it can be
between the Casey Family Foundation challenging to find easy language to
and the Substance Abuse and Mental explain the importance of social-
Health Services Administration emotional development and mental
(SAMHSA), is a demonstration effort in health of young children to the general
nine states that integrates behavioral public and policymakers. In addition,
health services into accessible, non- very few policies provide direction or
threatening setting where families resources for linking social-emotional
usually take their children like early development with later cognitive
education settings and pediatric health development. Given the current
care facilities.Vermont, the only state to economic environment at the federal
build a statewide system of mental health and state levels, most of the policies that
services and supports, has integrated do exist are under-funded and do not
these services into the early child-serving provide resources necessary to
system to promote the well-being implement the practices that science has
of young children. The city of shown lead to both positive social-
San Francisco has pooled more than emotional development and later school
$2 million to provide mental health success. However, there is an
consultation services to more than 50 opportunity to build on the federal
child care centers and more than 100 agenda on school readiness. The
family child care homes. These represent Foundations for Learning Act
a few of the examples of programs that introduced by Congress is intended to
promote both the social-emotional and prevent school failure and provides for
cognitive development of young children. some social-emotional services for
young children and families. The
characteristics of policies that promote
the well-being of children socially,
emotionally and cognitively include:
04 Set for Success: Building a Strong Foundation for School Readiness Based on the Social-Emotional Development of Young Children
• enhancing the well-being of all children,
particularly those at highest risk;
• helping parents become more effective
nurturers of their children;
• expanding the competencies of other
caregivers and teachers to manage and
prevent social and behavioral
problems; and
• ensuring that more seriously troubled
children and families receive
appropriate services. • Programs need to provide training
and education to promote social-
RECOMMENDATIONS emotional development and the
importance of strong relationships
The time is right to build on the between young children and their
knowledge base and current initiatives families, their teachers and their
targeting school readiness and success caregivers if young children are to
for young children and families. In order succeed without the need for costly
to accomplish these goals, the following interventions in special education or
recommendations are made: juvenile justice.
• Social-emotional development and • Mental health services offered to
academic achievement are not children and families in familiar,
separate priorities, rather they must trusted, non-threatening
be understood as representing the community-based settings such as
continuum of development that is child care, schools, community
needed for children to grow up centers can be a prevention
healthy and succeed in school. opportunity to help promote strong
• The knowledge base linking social, social-emotional and cognitive
emotional and cognitive development as well as an
development exists but needs to be intervention service to those
more broadly disseminated to children and families at risk for
parents, teachers, caregivers and developing delays or serious
policymakers in order for public problems that will deter later
investment to be made in programs achievement and success.
and practices proven to help young • Policies that enhance the social,
children succeed in school. emotional and cognitive well-being
of infants, toddlers, preschoolers and
their families must be a priority and
receive appropriate public
investment in order to achieve the
goal of children entering school
ready to learn and succeed.
05
T H E V I E W F R O M R E S E A R C H
The Roots of School Readiness in Social

and Emotional Development
R O S S A . T H O M P S O N , P H . D.
Carl A. Happold, Distinguished Professor of Psychology
University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE ..........................................8
The Connection Between Social-Emotional

Development and Early Literacy
L I N D A E S P I N O S A , P H . D.
Associate Professor of Education
University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Culture and Ethnicity in Social, Emotional

and Academic Development
O S C A R A . B A R B A R I N , P H . D.
L. Richardson and Emily Preyer Bicentennial Distinguished Professor for Strenthening Families
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
07
EARLY
EDUCATION
EXCHANGE
THE RO OTS OFSCHOOL READINESS IN SOCIAL

AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
R O S S A . T H O M P S O N , P H . D .
WHAT ARE THE QUALITIES

THAT YOUNG CHILDREN NEED
TO BE READY FOR SCHO OL?
• The first are INTELLECTUAL skills. When these three qualities of school
When preschoolers have learned how readiness — intellectual, motivational
printed letters relate to sounds and and socioemotional — are considered
words, can use simple number concepts, together, they portray a child who is
and can express themselves clearly with prepared to learn (National Educational
language, it provides a foundation for Goals Panel, 1997).Yet many children
learning in the primary grades. arrive at school intellectually unprepared
• A second feature of school readiness are for new learning, and many more arrive
MOTIVATIONAL qualities.Young
socially and emotionally unprepared for
children should arrive at school excited the classroom. This is a special concern
about learning, curious and confident for children from stressful,
in their ability to succeed, and socioeconomically disadvantaged
convinced that school is important to circumstances who are at risk of
them and their future. These qualities emotional and social difficulty, and who
provide children with the receptivity to are thus in greater danger of problems
learning opportunities that is essential when they reach kindergarten (Brooks-
to school success. Gunn, Duncan, & Aber, 1997; Dodge,
Petit, & Bates, 1994).
Ross A. Thompson, Ph.D. • A third quality of school readiness is
SO CIOEMOTIONAL. Learning is not an
Carl A. Happold,
Distinguished Professor
isolated activity but occurs among WHEN THESE THREE QUALITIES of school
of Psychology
peers with the guidance of an adult readiness — intellec tual, motivational and
teacher. School success requires that socioemotional — are considered together,
Department of Psychology children are capable of understanding they por tray a child who is prepared to lear n
University of Nebraska other peoples’ feelings and viewpoints,
238 Burnett Hall cooperating with adults and peers,
Lincoln, NE 68588-0308 exercising emotional and behavioral
self-control, and resolving
phone: 402-472-3187
disagreements constructively. These
rthompson1@unl.edu qualities ensure that children can
participate in learning alongside others.
08 The Roots of School Readiness in Social and Emotional Development
School readiness derives from many classroom, and their successful
influences in the home, child care, participation in group learning activities
community and elsewhere. Although (Ladd, Birch, & Buhs, 1999; Ladd, Buhs,
the home is the primary setting where & Troop, in press; Ladd & Price, 1987).
school readiness develops in young In one study, conflict in the relationships
children, child care experiences are between kindergarten teachers and
also important (especially for children children predicted children’s academic
who spend considerable time in these performance and behavior problems
settings). The community also is through eighth grade (Hamre & Pianta,
influential for the resources and support in press). Because young children’s
it provides children and their families. social and scholastic lives are linked
The intellectual preparation of young in kindergarten, early social and
children for school is central, of course, emotional development is an important
but is also the easiest for kindergarten determinant of school readiness. This
teachers to remedy because they are is consistent with the science of early
accustomed to working with children childhood development, which shows
with varying cognitive capabilities and clearly that intellectual, socioemotional
skills. By contrast, kindergarten teachers and physical development are
report that they are most concerned with intertwined and complementary features
children who lack the motivational and of the young child’s growth (National
socioemotional qualities of school Research Council, 2001).
readiness, because it is more difficult
to assist children who are not interested
in learning, lack confidence in their THE KIDS ARE sad, mad and bad, it’s not
success, or incapable of cooperation that they can’t add.
and self-control (Lewit & Baker, 1995;
Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta, & Cox, 2000).
In the words of one teacher, the problem This paper summarizes the foundations of
is that “the kids are sad, mad and bad, early social and emotional development
it’s not that they can’t add.” with respect to school readiness. The
discussion begins with children’s
Kindergarten teachers understand that it relationships with their parents, childcare
is difficult to educate young minds when providers, and other adults who matter to
children have not developed the social, them. Developmental scientists have
emotional and self-regulatory capacities found that child-adult relationships
that are required in the classroom. It is provide a psychological foundation for
not simply that it is easier to teach young many of the socioemotional qualities that
children who are cooperative, sociable underlie school readiness, and the
and listen carefully. Rather, children’s discussion will explain how. Next, some of
successful transition to kindergarten the central accomplishments of early
and their subsequent academic success social and emotional development are
hinge critically on the relationships that profiled: understanding other people, self-
children develop with their teachers and understanding, emotional growth, self-
peers, their capacities to cooperate and control, conscience development and the
resolve conflict successfully in the emergence of peer relationships.
09
The preschool years are a pivotal period unexpected event depends on the adult’s
for each of these accomplishments, and emotions for guidance about how to
the relevance of each achievement to the respond. A preschooler shows a drawing
qualities that constitute school readiness to a caregiver, and the adult’s response
is also described. Finally, studies of the elicits the child’s feelings of pride (or
origins of school readiness are surveyed. shame) in the achievement, and the
These underscore the importance of the motivation to achieve more. A 5- or
relationships that children share with 6-year-old is excited about going to
parents, caregivers and with the teachers kindergarten because of the parent’s
and peers who are part of their earliest pleasure and pride in their doing so.
school experiences. They also show how Young children depend on their
school readiness is not just a quality of relationships with adults to tutor
the individual child, but of the child in them about themselves and the world
interaction with particular people in they inhabit.
a specific academic context. These
conclusions are summarized with respect
to how best to ensure school readiness in RELATIONSHIPS ARE THE PRISM through
young children. which young children lear n about the world,
including the world of people and of the self.
BECAUSE YOUNG CHILDREN’S social and

scholastic lives are linked in kindergar ten, Relationships make people matter. The
early social and emotional de velopment is people who matter to a young child are
an impor tant deter minant of school readiness. those who know the child well, and
whom the child knows well and can trust.
This is the result of relationships. But
relationships make people matter in
RELATIONSHIPS
another way also. Relationships cause
Relationships have been described as young children to care about people
the “active ingredients” of healthy by establishing the human connection
psychological development in the early between self and others.As a consequence
years (National Research Council and of relationships, children seek to
Institute of Medicine, 2000). Why is understand the feelings of others, people’s
this so? Simply put, relationships are thoughts and expectations, and the
the prism through which young children importance of cooperation and sharing.
learn about the world, including the The human connection afforded by close
world of people and of the self. A baby’s relationships causes young children to
excited exploration of new places is develop psychological understanding,
predicated on the companionship of absorb the values of the culture and strive
a trusted adult who provides a “secure to become competent in ways that others
base” for the child’s discoveries. A toddler are. Through relationships, young
who looks up expectantly toward a children also learn about who they are,
parent when encountering an especially as it is revealed in the ways they
are seen by people who matter to them.
This is why the quality of early
relationships are a far more significant
influence on early learning than are
educational toys, preschool curricula or
Mozart CDs. Relationships guide how
young children learn about the world,
people and themselves.
Relationships are important, but as
with adults, they vary in their quality.
Developmental scientists commonly view
the quality of early relationships in terms
of the security or insecurity they afford Secure or insecure attachments have
the child (Cassidy & Shaver, 1999; Colin, consequences for many aspects of early
1996; Thompson, 1998, 1999).Although development, whether those attachments
virtually all infants and young children are with parents or other caregivers. Even
develop deep emotional attachments in infancy, securely attached children can
to those who care for them within and be easily distinguished from insecurely
outside the home, they differ in the attached children because of their
confidence or security they experience more confident exploration of new
in these relationships. Secure attachments situations and their more competent
arise from the warmth and sensitivity of mastery of learning challenges (Arend,
an adult’s care, and insecure attachments Gove, & Sroufe, 1979; Matas,Arend,
derive from care that is less reliable, & Sroufe, 1978).At later ages, securely
consistent or supportive of the child.As a attached young children have been found
result, the extent to which young children to have a more balanced self-concept
rely on their caregivers, especially in (Cassidy, 1988;Verschueren, Marcoen,
challenging or threatening circumstances, & Schoefs, 1996), more advanced
is based on the support they have received memory in certain domains (Belsky,
from these adults in the past.Attachments Spritz, & Crnic, 1996; Kirsh & Cassidy,
develop during the first year and have a 1997), more sophisticated emotional
continuing influence on psychological understanding (Laible & Thompson,
development throughout childhood — 1998), a more positive understanding
and indeed, throughout life.Young of friendship (Cassidy, Kirsh, Scolton,
children develop emotional attachments & Parke, 1996; Kerns, 1996), and more
to their mothers and fathers, of course, as advanced conscience development
well as to other adults who regularly care (Kochanska, 1997; Laible & Thompson,
for them — including child care providers 2000).Attachment theorists believe that
(Berlin & Cassidy, 1999; Howes, 1999) — these outcomes arise because of how
although attachments to parents a secure (or insecure) attachment
remain preeminent. influences a young child’s developing
understanding of emotion, morality,
friendship and other psychological
facets of human interaction. Caregivers
influence children in many ways besides
11
the security they inspire, such as in the they consult a caregiver’s facial
opportunities they provide for new expressions for cues about how to
learning and acquiring new skills. But the respond in an uncertain or unfamiliar
research on early attachments not only situation (such as when encountering
underscores how early relationships are an unfamiliar person) (Feinman, 1992).
indeed the “active ingredients” of healthy At the same age, very young children
psychological growth, but shows how the also use their inferences about an adult’s
security or insecurity inspired by these intentions when learning words
relationships has far-reaching effects (Baldwin & Moses, 1994), and their
on young children’s socioemotional, earliest words often make reference to
intellectual and personal development. desires, perceptions, emotions, needs
and other internal states in themselves
UNDERSTANDING OTHER PEOPLE or others (Bartsch & Wellman, 1995).
The most significant advances in
One of the most important
psychological understanding occur
achievements of early childhood is a
between the ages of 3 and 4 (Bartsch
growing understanding of the inner,
& Wellman, 1995; Flavell & Miller, 1998).
psychological world of people. Contrary
By age 3, building on the achievements
to the traditional portrayal of
described above, young children have
preschoolers as egocentric and self-
begun to grasp that behavior can be
preoccupied, young children have a very
understood in terms of people’s desires,
non-egocentric interest in how the needs
intentions, needs and feelings. During
and desires, beliefs and thoughts of
the next year or so, this understanding
others compare with their own. It is
expands significantly to include an
reasonable that they should be so
awareness that people are also guided
interested, because understanding other
by thoughts, ideas and beliefs that may —
people relies on an appreciation of how
or may not — be accurate. For the first
invisible psychological states (desires,
time, young children realize that people’s
feelings, thoughts, expectations)
mental states may not always be an
underlie behavior. But because internal
accurate depiction of reality. People
thoughts and beliefs are invisible, this
can be mistaken, fooled or ignorant.
understanding is difficult to acquire.
Infants show a dawning appreciation of
internal states when they seek to redirect
THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES in
a caregiver’s attention through piercing
psycholog ical understanding occur
shrieks or grunts, and toddlers exhibit
between the ages of 3 and 4.
a more advanced understanding when
YOUNG CHILDREN have a ver y non-

egocentr ic interest in how the needs and
desires, beliefs and thoughts of others
compare w ith their ow n.
This transforms how children interact SELF-UNDERSTANDING
with people in several ways. First,
it enables children to have a far richer Early childhood is also when young
appreciation of what is going on in the children begin to define who they are:
minds of other people — and also their their likes and dislikes, their
own minds. This enables young children characteristics and their competencies.
to better understand and cooperate; This, too, is a challenging
it also permits greater deception and accomplishment because psychological
manipulation, as children gradually attributes of the self are invisible, and
appreciate that the contents of their require the child to begin to perceive the
own minds need not always be disclosed, self as an object of analysis. In infancy
and the contents of others’ minds can be and toddlerhood, the prerequisites for
deliberately altered. Second, it enhances self-understanding are established as
young children’s awareness that infants enjoy the experience of “making
disagreements and conflict may arise things happen” on their own, and
because people’s goals, beliefs and toddlers become capable of physical self-
understanding are discordant. Not recognition. Moreover, as young children
surprisingly, therefore, young children gradually develop an awareness that
also become more adept at resolving other people have mental and emotional
conflict between themselves and other states that differ from the child’s own,
people through compromise, turn- they realize that they, too, have subjective
taking, persuasion and even humor. experiences that can also be shared with
Third, the young child’s relationships (or withheld from) others (Cicchetti
with others, especially adults, also & Beeghly, 1990; Kopp & Brownell, 1991).
change because children can understand Self-understanding advances significantly
and balance others’ goals and viewpoints in the second and third years, and this is
with their own, and this enables the kind evident in the charming and frustrating
of shared understanding from which characteristics of this age: young children
new learning can arise. Taken together, who insist on “doing it myself”and
the growth of young children’s capacities refusing assistance, an increase in verbal
to understand other people makes self-reference (e.g.,“I want,”“mine,”
them more competent social partners, “Me big!”), and the emergence of self-
ready for the social opportunities and referential emotions like pride, shame,
challenges of a classroom that is shared guilt and embarrassment that reflect
with an adult teacher and many peers. the emotional dimensions of perceived
competence or incompetence (Bullock
& Lutkenhaus, 1990; Stipek, Gralinsky,
& Kopp, 1990). These features of emergent
self-understanding share in common the
social arena in which young children
assess, improve and demonstrate their
competencies, and underscore how
13
significant are the evaluations of caregivers understanding that arises from
(explicit and implied) in the young child’s autobiographical memory incorporates
emerging self-understanding and self- the parent’s own beliefs about the child’s
esteem (Stipek, Recchia, & McClintic, characteristics, capabilities and attributes
1992). Consistent with classic theories (Thompson, 1998).
of the “looking-glass self,” young children
evaluate themselves through the reflected
evaluations of people who matter to them, YOUNG CHILDREN EVALUATE themselves
whether of a grandparent who applauds through the reflec ted e valuations of people
the child’s made-up song or a busy parent who matter to them.
who does not notice the shoes that have
been painstakingly tied for the first time.
It is unsurprising, therefore, that by the
close of the preschool years, young
SELF-UNDERSTANDING advances children can describe their own
sig nificantly in the second and third years. personalities, and they do so in
ways that resemble their mother’s
perceptions of them (Eder, 1990;
Eder & Mangelsdorf, 1997). Although
After age 3, another milestone in self-
preschoolers are natural optimists with
understanding is the emergence of
regard to their abilities — believing that
autobiographical memory (Howe &
they are capable of success at tasks at
Courage, 1993;Welch-Ross, 1995). Prior
which they have just failed, simply by
to this time, young children can remember
trying again and trying harder (Stipek,
events from the past, but now children
1992) — this sunny self-regard can be
begin to remember events because of their
easily undermined by social evaluations
personal significance, and they retain
that are denigrating or dismissive.
stories from their past that they can share
From early childhood arises, therefore,
with others. This sharing is important
the rudiments of self-concept which
because, as young children talk about
motivate excitement about learning
recent events, their caregivers add their
and growing competency, and are a
own embellishments and details that help
foundation for a young child’s self-
to consolidate the child’s personal
awareness as competent or incompetent,
memory and to underscore its significance
bright or slow, and prone to success
(Miller, Potts, Fung, Hoogstra, & Mintz,
or failure.
1990; Nelson, 1993). In doing so, of
course, caregivers also portray the child in
dispositional and evaluative ways (e.g., as
YOUNG CHILDREN can descr ibe their ow n
naughty or clever) that may not have been
personalities.
part of the child’s initial recollection but
is likely to become incorporated into the
child’s own representation of the event.
In this manner, therefore, the self-
EMOTIONAL GROW TH
Emotions color the experience of every BUT YOUNG CHILDREN require the
young child, whether the emotions assistance of adults in understanding and
consist of exuberant delight, frustrated inter preting their feelings.
fury or anguished distress. There are
significant advances in emotional The emotions a child feels and observes
development from infancy to in others are visible and apparent, by
kindergarten that offer a window into contrast with underlying thoughts and
the psychological growth of the child beliefs. But young children require the
(Saarni, Mumme, & Campos, 1998; assistance of adults in understanding
Thompson, 1999b). Newborns’ and interpreting their feelings. Parents
emotions are evoked by their physical guide children’s understanding of the
condition: whether they are hungry, causes and consequences of emotions,
cold or hot, or too tired. By contrast, coach children concerning the
preschoolers’ emotions are tied to their emotional behavior that is appropriate
psychological condition: how they in social situations, and provoke the
interpret their experiences, what they feelings of pride, guilt and shame that
think others are doing or thinking underlie self-concept (Brown, Donelan-
and their expectations of future events. McCall, & Dunn, 1996; Miller & Sperry,
In early infancy, emotions can be all- 1987; Stipek, 1995). Thus young
consuming and are not easily managed children’s understanding of emotion and
by the child or, for that matter, by its effects depends on what they learn
parents. But by the end of the preschool from their conversations with parents
years, young children are capable of about the feelings they experience in
anticipating and talking about their themselves and observe in others. The
emotions and those of others, and can broader emotional climate of the home
begin to enlist psychological strategies also guides early emotional growth
to manage their feelings. A baby’s (Gottman, Katz, & Hooven, 1997). The
emotional repertoire is basic, ranging quality of the home emotional climate
from cooing to crying, and shaped is a special concern when young children
by temperamental individuality. By grow up in homes rent by marital
kindergarten, children have become conflict (Cummings & Davies, 1994),
capable of self-referential emotions like the parent’s affective disorder like
pride, shame, guilt and embarrassment, depression (Zahn-Waxler & Kochanska,
can feel empathy for other people, and 1990), parental substance abuse
experience more subtly nuanced blends problems, or parent-child relationships
of feelings (such as the combination are abusive or coercive (Patterson,
of anger and fear) that are tied to their DeBaryshe, & Ramsey, 1989). In these
developing personalities. Children circumstances, healthy early emotional
beginning school are emotionally more growth is impaired by overwhelming
sophisticated people than they were only emotional demands and inadequate
a few years earlier. support from parents and other
caregivers in coping.
15
This is important because recent studies
show how significantly young children
are capable of deep sadness and grief,
overwhelming anger and other
emotions that researchers previously
believed that young children were
incapable of experiencing.
Developmental scientists now recognize
that the origins of depression and
affective disturbances, enduring conduct
and behavioral problems, and
heightened anxiety are often found in
emotional disturbances in the early years
(Cassidy, 1995; Shaw, Keenan, & Vondra,
1994; Zahn-Waxler & Kochanska, 1990).
These early risks for emotion-related
psychopathology are heightened in
family environments that are abusive,
troubled or coercive for young children. SELF-CONTROL
Because of their reliance on the
Early childhood is when young children
emotional support of their caregivers
begin to manage their impulses, desires
for understanding and managing their
and emotions. This developmental
feelings, troubled parent-child
process is inaugurated in early
relationships make young children
childhood by emerging brain capacities
particularly vulnerable to emotion-
in the prefrontal cortex (Diamond
linked disorders. These problems can
& Taylor, 1996; Gerstadt, Hong, &
also prove to be significant challenges
Diamond, 1994). How these capacities
for school readiness when children
develop depends also on the social
reach kindergarten.
context. Although preschoolers have far
to go in achieving successful self-control,
they are becoming more capable of
THESE EARLY RISKS for emotion-related
regulating their behaviors, managing
psychopatholog y are heightened in family
their emotions and focusing their
env ironments that are abusive, troubled or
attention by the time they reach school.
coercive for young children.
Both parents and children are ready for
this to occur. For young children, self-
control is a reflection of being “big” and
competent, and during the preschool
years children acquire many of the
psychological capacities for self-control,
including the ability to remember and
apply standards of conduct, and to be
self-monitoring and self-correcting
(Kopp, 1982). Parents, too, are ready for
young children to exercise self-control A YOUNG CHILD’S capacities for emotion
with respect to safety, consideration for reg ulation rely on the suppor t of careg ivers
others and self-care, and parents
gradually increase their expectations for
young children’s self-control while using The growth of emotion regulation is
parenting strategies that rely on the an especially salient feature of the growth
child’s cooperation (Belsky, Woodworth, of self-control in the preschool years
& Crnic, 1996). The juxtaposition because of its importance to social
of child and family interest in the competence, self-confidence and
development of self-control does not maintaining feelings of well-being.
mean that all goes smoothly, however. Although managing emotions is a life-
At the same time that they are becoming long challenge, young children develop
more self-managing, young children are a variety of strategies for doing so, such
also seeking greater autonomy, which as by seeking the comfort of a caregiver,
means that they are increasingly likely to shifting attention away from distressing
refuse parents before they comply, and to events (or toward pleasurable ones),
negotiate, compromise, delay, ignore and self-soothing, changing goals, verbalized
exhibit other forms of self-assertion — self-reassurance and related behavior
consistent with parents’ portrayal of the (Thompson, 1990, 1994). A young
“Terrible Twos”(Kuczynski & Kochanska, child’s capacities for emotion regulation
1990; Kuczynski, Kochanska, Radke- rely on the support of caregivers who
Yarrow, & Girius-Brown, 1987). All of provide soothing when it is needed,
this makes the second and third years of suggest alternative goals when initial
life especially significant for the growth goals are frustrated, and provide
of self-control and of conscience reassurance that things will get better.
development. When all goes well, parents Parents and other caregivers also coach
can sensitively balance a child’s need children in strategies for managing their
for autonomy and cooperation in a emotions appropriate to the situation,
psychologically constructively manner, whether it involves comforting a
but too often young children’s refusals distressed friend, learning to take turns
yield parental coercion and punitiveness. or expressing anger with words rather
than by hitting. More broadly, the
security and trust that has developed
EARLY CHILDHO OD is when young children
between young children and their
beg in to manage their impulses, desires caregivers provides children with the
and emotions. confidence that their feelings are
manageable and not overwhelming,
frightening or confusing. However,
when family life is troubled, children may
experience emotions as overwhelming
because of the emotional demands of
family dysfunction, together with the
limited support that parents can provide
in managing these feelings.
17
GET TING ALONG WITH OTHERS: behavioral standards of trusted adults,
EARLY CONSCIENCE their explanations for these expectations,
and their rewards for compliance
Learning how to get along with others
provide a foundation for conscience
integrates and builds on the
development (Belsky et al., 1996; Dunn,
developmental accomplishments
Brown, & Maguire, 1995). The young
described above. This is why it is such
child’s capacity to empathize with the
a challenging task for young children.
feelings of others provides another
Learning how to get along with others
emotional resource for conscience
requires sophisticated skills of social
development (Zahn-Waxler & Radke-
understanding. It requires the self-
Yarrow, 1990). By contrast, when
awareness of appreciating how one’s
punitive coercion substitutes for
goals interact with those of others.
relational incentives, young children
It requires skills of emotional
are often compliant but do not as readily
understanding and emotion regulation,
attain the concern for the others that
together with capacities for self-
is the true heart of moral awareness.
management in accord with behavioral
standards. Conscience requires that
young children become capable of CHILDREN ARE highly motivated to cooperate
understanding, as well as complying because of their relationships w ith careg ivers
with, others’ expectations for them.
It is little wonder, therefore, that
young children’s capacities for
cooperation, conflict management, PEER RELATIONSHIPS
and moral compliance are so easily
exceeded by the challenges of Relationships with peers provide the
everyday life. most stringent tests of a young child’s
ability to get along with others. Conflict
Yet young children make remarkable
as well as cooperation occurs during
strides in conscience development,
peer encounters, peaking between the
especially late in the preschool years.
ages of 2 and 3 because young children
Contrary to the traditional view that
lack the social understanding necessary
young children are self-concerned and
to easily resolve disagreements at these
respond best to the enforcement of
ages (Hay & Ross, 1982). As children
behavioral standards through firm
mature, they become more adept at
discipline, children are highly motivated
playing with peers in more complex
to cooperate because of their
ways, in larger groups and in resolving
relationships with caregivers (Kochanska
conflict (Garvey, 1990). Experience
& Thompson, 1997). Their emotional
helps. Children play more cooperatively
attachments to people who matter cause
with familiar than unfamiliar peers, and
young children to care about the
children with extensive experience in
expectations of others and, on most
child care tend to be more cooperative
occasions, seek to comply. Within the
and positive with peers than those
context of a warm relationship, the
without such experience, when the child kindergarten, because the positive or
care is of good quality (Howes, 1990; negative social skills that children have
Phillips, McCartney, & Scarr, 1987). acquired in early childhood shape the
relationships they develop with adults
Caregivers are important to the
and peers in the kindergarten classroom
development of peer social skills.
(Ladd & Price, 1987).
Parents who actively encourage social
competence, provide warmth and
support to their offspring and provide RELATIONSHIPS AND
EARLY LEARNING
many opportunities for young children
to play with others have children who In this overview of early social and
get along better with other children emotional development, the intersection
(Goodnow, Knight, & Cashmore, 1985; of a young child’s readiness to grow and
Rubin, Mills, & Rose-Krasnor, 1989). an adult’s nurturant support is apparent
Likewise, when young children are in every aspect of social and emotional
securely attached to their child care development. It is also clear with respect
providers in stable relationships, to early learning.Young children are
children are more socially competent human sponges for new knowledge,
with adults and with peers (Howes, and adults do so much to saturate them
Matheson, & Hamilton, 1994; Howes, with opportunities for learning and
Phillips, & Whitebook, 1992; Peisner- understanding. Here again, relationships
Feinberg, Burchinal, Clifford, Culkin, are central.
Howes, Kagan,Yazajian, Byler, Rustici,
& Zelazo, 2000). Child care quality
is important: secure relationships with YOUNG CHILDREN ARE human sponges for
care providers have significant benefits new knowledge, and adults do so much to
for early social development in centers saturate them w ith oppor tunities for lear ning
of good quality. and understanding. Here again, relationships
are central.
THE QUALIT Y OF children’s peer

relationships in preschool is a sig nificant In everyday circumstances, sensitive
deter minant of their adjustment to adults at home and in child care do so
kindergar ten much to stimulate early learning. They
structure shared activity — whether
working on a jigsaw puzzle, reading
Thus children arrive at school with social a storybook, or preparing a recipe
skills, derived from a history of peer together — to enable a young child
interactions, child care experience and to develop new skills with supportive
the contributions of parents that strongly assistance. They arrange the daily
influence their capacities to function schedule to provide predictable routines
well in a classroom with other children. that provide a scaffold for memory. They
Indeed, the quality of children’s peer converse with young children — almost
relationships in preschool is a significant from the time that children can make
determinant of their adjustment to any meaningful verbal contribution to
19
“conversation” — in ways that help them
to understand the events they observe
and experience. In doing so, they
provide a window into the invisible
psychological experience of people,
including the child’s own thoughts,
feelings, impulses, motives and goals.
Most important, by remaining attentive
and responsive to the child’s changing
interests, sensitive adults capitalize on
what has captivated a young child’s
attention at the moment and use it as an
opportunity to instill new understanding. This has been found to be true of a
All of this is influential because of the child’s experience at home, and also
warm, positive relationship that makes of young children’s experiences with
these learning incentives salient and caregivers in child care centers. High-
meaningful to young children. It is quality care in early childhood is
because of their relationships with associated with enhanced intellectual
adults who value learning that children growth that can persist into the school
also value learning and becoming years (NICHD Early Child Care
competent individuals. In a sense, this Research Network, 2000; Piesner-
is why shared activity with a trusted Feinberg et al., 2000). As with mother
caregiver is so much more influential care, child care providers who are
in early intellectual growth than is an more sensitively responsive and who
instructional video, computer program offer greater verbal and intellectual
or educational toy. People provide stimulation enhance the cognitive
individually tailored interaction from development of the children in their
which young children can benefit, care (Lamb, 1998). In a sense, the
and the child’s relationship with the same qualities of caregiving that instill
person instills their shared activity trust, confidence and competence
with greater meaning. in young children at home have the
same outcomes in the relationships
that children share with their child
IT IS BECAUSE OF THEIR RELATIONSHIPS
care providers.
w ith adults who value lear ning that
children also value lear ning and becoming
competent indiv iduals
SO CIAL AND EMOTIONAL and cooperating with others through
FOUNDATIONS OF SCHO OL instruction, support and example.
READINESS Parents shape the growth of social skills
through opportunities for the child to
At least two conclusions arise from the
interact with other people (including
research on early social and emotional
peers) and gentle coaching in social
development summarized above. First,
competence. Parents provide learning
the preschool years are a period of
opportunities through everyday
considerable growth in the psychological
experiences that they sensitively exploit
foundations of school readiness. Besides
to promote new understanding.
the core cognitive capabilities that
Warm, nurturant, sensitive parenting
develop in early childhood, advances
is a cornerstone of healthy social and
in the child’s understanding of other
emotional development because of how
people, self-understanding, emotional
parent-child relationships tutor a young
growth, self-control, conscience and
child about the world they inhabit.
peer relationships provide an essential
bedrock of skills necessary for learning • The quality of child care, and the
in the classroom.Young children with caregiver-child relationship, are
positive early experiences are well- significant influences on social and
prepared to be attentive, cooperative, emotional development. Although
motivated to succeed and capable of studied less extensively than experiences
working with others. at home, it is clear that experience in
child care has far-reaching consequences
Second, supportive relationships are
for early development.As parents do at
the common core ingredient of positive
home, child care providers also influence
early social and emotional development.
the growth of self-concept, social skills
More specifically, the science of early
and capacities for emotion regulation,
childhood development shows that:
and child care may be an especially
• The quality of relationships with important context for learning how to
parents are significant and primary. get along with peers as well as adults.
Owing to the deep emotional The quality of the relationships between
attachments of young children, the caregivers and children are crucial to
security (or insecurity) of these the benefits of child care, just as they are
relationships influence how children crucial to the impact of experiences at
see themselves and other people. home. Moreover, the broader quality of
Parents guide the earliest forms of self- the child care setting is also an important
understanding and self-concept that influence on social and emotional
make children confident in exploring development because of how child care
and learning by how they respond quality indexes the opportunities
to the child’s achievements and provided for new learning, support for
misbehavior. Parents influence the constructive peer play and manageable,
development of capacities for self- predictable routines and emotional
management, emotion regulation demands on children.
21
• Young children have a strong intrinsic competent in the classroom — that is,
drive toward healthy development, they are more socially skilled, show fewer
but it can be undermined by troubled problems with conduct or frustration
relationships with the people who and have better work habits. In an
matter to them. These risks have important longitudinal study, Estrada
been noted in the preceding review, and colleagues (1987) found that a
and include punitive, denigrating measure of the emotional quality of the
parenting; family environments mother-child relationship at age 4 was
characterized by marital conflict, associated with the child’s cognitive
violence, and/or adult affective competence at that age, and was
disorders; child care settings of poor predictive of school readiness measures
quality or relational instability (the at ages 5 and 6, IQ at age 6, and school
high turnover of caregivers in child achievement at age 12. These findings are
care often results in insecure attachment consistent with a large body of research
relationships with children, see Howes, showing how the parent-child
1999); home or child care environments relationship influences intellectual
with overwhelming, unpredictable growth (Bradley, Caldwell, & Rock,
emotional demands for children; 1993; Gottfried & Gottfried, 1984),
and the many stresses associated with and emphasizes the relevance of this
poverty. Unfortunately, for the young relationship to school readiness. There
children most at risk of social and are many reasons why a positive mother-
emotional dysfunction, their life child relationship would enhance
experience is characterized by more children’s school readiness, based on
than one of these threats. the research reviewed above.A positive,
secure relationship provides immediate
These conclusions reflect the findings
support for the child’s social and
of research on early social and emotional
cognitive competence, as well as inspiring
development. But when we turn to
self-confidence, capacities for self-
research that specifically examines the
management and interest in learning.
foundations of school readiness, its
conclusions are very consistent: Second, the quality of child care
influences how well children will
First, the quality of the mother-child
function in school (Lamb, 1998;
relationship in early childhood is
NICHD Early Child Care Research
an important influence on how well
Network, 2000; National Research
children will function in kindergarten
Council, 2001; Peisner-Feinberg et al.,
(Estrada,Arsenio, Hess, & Holloway,
2000). In another longitudinal study,
1987; Peisner-Feinberg et al., 2000;
Peisner-Feinberg and colleagues (2000)
Pianta, Nimetz, & Bennett, 1997).When
found that the quality of child care
young children enjoy warm, supportive
classroom practices predicted language
relationships with their mothers, they
and math skills through second grade.
subsequently exhibit greater academic
Classroom practices also predicted the
competence in kindergarten and early
quality of children’s peer relationships
primary grades, and they are more
and behavior problems several years curiosity and motivation to learn. Thus
later. In this study,“classroom practices” it is perhaps unsurprising that in care
included assessments of whether settings with caregivers who are better
procedures were developmentally educated and trained, young children
appropriate for young children, the use become more intellectually and socially
of a child-centered teaching method, competent (Lamb, 1998; National
and the teacher’s sensitivity and Research Council, 2001).
responsiveness to the children. Thus
Third, the quality of child care may be
the overall classroom environment
especially influential for children who
influenced cognitive and social
are otherwise at risk of academic or
competence in school up to second
social problems in school (Caughey,
grade. These conclusions have been
DiPietro, & Strobino, 1994; National
confirmed by other studies of early
Research Council, 2001; Peisner-Feinberg
childhood education (National
et al., 2000). Children from socio-
Research Council, 2001).
economically disadvantaged settings
Moreover, the relationship between benefit more significantly from high-
child care providers and young quality child care than do children from
children also influences children’s middle-income families. This may derive
school functioning (Lamb, 1998; from how a supportive relationship with
Peisner-Feinberg et al., 2000; Pianta et a child care provider and developmentally
al., 1997). Just as at home, the warmth appropriate classroom practices can
and sensitivity of the child care provider buffer some of the stresses associated
enhances children’s social competence with economically challenging living
(and reduces proneness to behavior conditions. The quality of care is
problems) in kindergarten and the early important. Poor quality care does not
primary grades. But research has shown differentially benefit at-risk children —
that the closeness of their relationship nor, for that matter, any children.
also predicts children’s subsequent
classroom thinking, attention skills
and concept development. In short, THE QUALIT Y OF children’s peer relationships
cognitive and social competence is in kindergar ten are also associated w ith
enhanced when children are in child school adjustment
care settings with secure, positive
relationships with caregivers.
Fourth, the relationship between the
In the context of warm, secure child and a teacher in kindergarten
relationships with their caregivers, is an important contributor to school
children’s intellectual growth is also adaptation (Birch & Ladd, 1997; Pianta
enhanced. In the conversations they & Steinberg, 1992). Consistent with the
share, the structure that adults provide, importance of relationships throughout
and the sensitivity to children’s early childhood, children who enjoy
developmental readiness to learn, these warm, positive relationships with their
relationships provide an avenue for new kindergarten teachers are more excited
learning of all kinds, as well as children’s about learning, more positive about
23
coming to school, more self-confident minds and personalities, or with staff
and achieve more in the classroom than turnover so high that it is difficult for
do children who experience more children to develop reliable relationships
troubled or conflictual relationships with their caregivers. School readiness is
with their teachers. Thus the importance hindered when young children and their
of relationships to socioemotional and families live in communities that are
cognitive functioning, established from drained of human resources, where
early childhood, extends also to the children may be exposed to neurotoxins
early primary school years. Moreover, (such as in lead-based paint) that hinder
other relationships are also important. brain development, and where parents
For example, the quality of children’s can find few health-care, recreational
peer relationships in kindergarten are or other resources for enhancing the
also associated with school adjustment: positive development of offspring. School
children who experience greater peer readiness is particularly undermined in
acceptance and friendship tend to feel circumstances where many of these risk
more positively about coming to school factors to healthy early psychologcial
and perform better in the classroom development co-occur, such as in poverty.
(Ladd, Kochenderfer, & Coleman,
More positively, this research also
1996, 1997).
highlights the opportunities that exist
to facilitate school readiness in young
FACILITATING SCHOOL children, including:
READINESS IN YOUNG CHILDREN
• Strengthening family experiences,
In the broadest sense, these research especially opportunities to develop
conclusions have both positive and more secure and nurturant parent-child
negative implications for understanding relationships.Young children thrive
the conditions that influence school when provided with unhurried, focused
readiness. time with the adults who matter to
On one hand, they highlight the them, and when those adults can be
circumstances that undermine a young sensitively responsive to them. The
child’s social and emotional readiness core foundations of school readiness
for new learning. School readiness is are created in these experiences.
hindered when children live in families • Improving child care quality,
rent by domestic conflict or violence, especially by (a) strengthening the
parental mental health or substance abuse training and responsiveness of child care
problems, or other conditions that make providers through their awareness of
the home environment stressful and their crucial role in early social and
difficult for young children. School emotional growth, (b) reducing the
readiness is undermined when young turnover of child care providers through
children are in child care settings that are increased professionalism and
stressful or unstimulating, with teachers compensation, (c) making classroom
who are unknowledgeable or uninterested practices more developmentally
in the importance of fostering growing
appropriate and child-centered (although
not necessarily more curricular), and
(d) fostering a language-rich environment
that facilitates intellectual growth and
social interaction.
• Focusing on the transition to
kindergarten as an important
opportunity to instill and maintain
enthusiasm for learning through
the development of supportive
relationships with teachers, and
positive peer relationships.
• Attending especially to the needs of There are several implications of
vulnerable children who come from recognizing that school readiness is not
at-risk backgrounds, and are especially an individual attribute, but an interactive
likely to encounter multiple threats to concept. First, it may be difficult to assess
school readiness in their families, child a particular child’s “school readiness”
care environments and communities. except when that child is immersed in
the challenges of the primary grade
These present significant avenues to
classroom. Prior assessments of school
enhancing early school readiness.
readiness outside of the context of school
may be poorly predictive of how children
CONCLUSION will fare when they reach the classroom
door because their coping will be
School readiness is not just an attribute
significantly affected by the school itself.
of individual children, but derives from
Second, kindergarten and primary grade
an interaction of the child with the
teachers should become more aware of
school. Beginning school presents so
the developmental needs that young
many challenges to young children,
children retain from the preschool years
from learning directed by a teacher
and which underlie their initial success
and the challenges of social comparison
in school. By regarding early classroom
to mastering a new peer group and
experience in developmental (rather
classroom expectations. Educators,
than academic) frameworks, educators
developmental scientists and parents
can foster the personal qualities that
have long recognized that some primary
contribute best to young children’s long-
classrooms are more “school ready”
term academic success.
than others. This is because some
classrooms and teachers are better able
to accommodate the developmental
needs and individual characteristics
of children who arrive at school with
widely varying capabilities, expectations
and self-concepts.
25
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29
EARLY
EDUCATION
EXCHANGE
THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN

A N D E A R LY L I T E R A C Y
L I N D A M . E S P I N O S A , P H . D .
CURRENTLY MUCH NATIONAL ATTENTION million in 2001 to nearly $1 billion in

is focused on the need to better 2002. This underscored the heightened
understand the prerequisites of early awareness that functional literacy is
literacy development to improve the essential for participation in the
reading achievement of our students, American dream.
particularly our struggling readers.
Most educators agree that reading ability
“serves as the major avenue to IT IS CRITICAL THAT CHILDREN who
learning about other people, about exper ience difficult y lear ning to read or
history and social studies, the who may be at r isk for reading problems
language arts, science, mathematics, receive the suppor t needed as soon as
and the other content subjects that possible.
must be mastered in school. When
children do not learn to read, their
general knowledge, their spelling and As literacy is becoming more and more
writing abilities, and their vocabulary necessary for basic survival, illiteracy rates
development suffer in kind. Within are on the rise in the United States (Chard,
this context, reading skill serves as Simmons & Kameenui, 1995; Snow,
Linda Espinosa, Ph.D.
the major foundational skill for all Burns, & Griffin, 1998).An estimated one
Associate Professor school-based learning, and without it, in three children experiences significant
of Education the chances for academic and difficulty in reading. Reading problems
occupational success are limited usually begin in the very early stages of
University of
indeed” (Lyon, 1999). reading acquisition and once they begin,
Missouri-Columbia they are rarely overcome (Juel, 1988, 1991;
At a recent White House Conference on Snow et al., 1998). These problems often
311 D., Townsend Hall
Early Reading, increased federal research negatively impact children’s achievement
Columbia, MO 65211
funding focused on early literacy, and in school and ability to fully participate
phone: 573-882-2659 increasing the funding level for early in literacy activities as adults (Daneman,
espinosa@missouri.edu
literacy in the new federal Elementary 1991; Juel, 1991; Stanovich, 1991,
and Secondary Education Act from $300 1993/1994). Therefore, it is critical that
30 The Connections Between Social-Emotional Development and Early Literac y
children who experience difficulty It is widely acknowledged that literacy
learning to read or who may be at risk development is closely related to earlier
for reading problems receive the support language development (Dickinson &
needed as soon as possible (Snow et al., Tabors, 2001). However, what is less
1998). Early assistance is particularly widely discussed in relation to literacy are
important for children who will eventually the early ties between social-emotional
be identified as having a learning disability. development in infancy and the
development of language and symbolic
Three major reports from the National
play during the second year of life. There
Academy of Sciences, National Research
is strong evidence that social-emotional
Council: Eager to Learn: Educating our
development in the first year of life is the
Preschoolers; From Neurons to
foundation of language development
Neighborhoods; and Preventing Reading
and that social-emotional well-being
Difficulties in Young Children have
continues to affect both language and
synthesized and integrated the latest
literacy as the child matures.
scientific knowledge about how young
children learn best. Taken together these
reports provide a compelling picture of
THE SO CIOEMOTIONAL CONTEXT of early
the relationships between early
literac y exper iences relates direc tly to
experiences and future learning and
children’s motivation to lear n to read later on.
achievement. One common theme is the
importance of nurturing relationships
and responsive social environments to The purpose of this paper is to discuss
cognitive and academic development. the connection between early literacy
“The socioemotional context of early and social-emotional development. First
literacy experiences relates directly to we will discuss early social-emotional
children’s motivation to learn to read development and its relationship to
later on” (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998, language development. Next we discuss
p. 138). the relationship between language and
literacy. Third, the connections between
“Children grow and thrive in the
play, language and literacy are presented.
context of dependable relationships
We then discuss the early care and
that provide love and nurturance,
education contexts that foster early
security and responsive interaction,
language and literacy and conclude
and encouragement for exploration”
with implications for practice.
(Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000, p.7).
“Neither loving children nor teaching
them is, in and of itself, sufficient for
optimal development; thinking and
feeling work in tandem” (Bowman,
Donovan, & Burns, 2001, p.2).
31
S O C I A L- E MOT IONA L Most infants are born with the innate
DEV E LOP M E N T ability and drive to interact and
respond socially with parents and
The development of early language and
caregivers. Studies have demonstrated
eventually literacy occurs in the context
that experience drives a substantial
of close relationships with others. These
amount of brain development during
earliest relationships with parents
the first years of life. These early
and other primary caregivers provide
interactions shape the brain in ways
the foundation for developing the
that make social development a priority
characteristics of trust, autonomy and
(Mundy & Stella, 2000). Toward the
initiative. Erik Erikson first identified
end of the first year of life this social
these psycho-social stages of the
relatedness is demonstrated through
preschool years and illustrated how
child-initiated joint attention. Joint
essential healthy ego and emotional
attention is one of the early pragmatic
security are to all forms of learning.
functions and thought to be an important
Children who have secure and trusting
predictor of language development
relationships with their primary caregivers
(Wetherby, Prizant, & Schuler, 2000).
display more exploratory behavior, have
Joint attention is used to direct another’s
more positive relationships with their
attention for the purpose of sharing
peers and adjust successfully to the
an experience. When engaging in joint
formal demands of schooling (Howes
attention, the infant wants the adult
& Smith, 1995; Birch & Ladd, 1997).
to notice what she is noticing and
The National Education Goals Panel
acknowledge the experience. (For
concluded,“A solid base of emotional
example, Jessie hears a loud noise
security and social competence enables
outside the window, she looks at her
children to participate fully in learning
father to see if he heard it, then looks
experiences and form good relationships
in the direction of the noise. She
with teachers and peers” (1999). The
continues to coordinate her gaze
roots of positive psycho-social
between the sound and her father,
development are developed and can
maybe adding vocalizations or gestures,
be identified in the first year of life as
until he responds.)
infants interact with their caregivers.
Joint attention in the prelinguistic
period of development has been found
A SOLID BASE OF EMOTIONAL secur it y and to predict later language for children
social competence enables children to with Down syndrome (Mundy, Kasari,
par ticipate fully in lear ning exper iences Sigman & Ruskin, 1995), children with
and for m good relationships w ith teachers developmental delay (McCathren,Yoder,
and peers. & Warren, 1999) and children with
autism (Mundy, Sigman, & Kasari,
1990). Children’s abilities to initiate joint
attention is thought to be a demonstration
of early positive social-emotional
development (Mundy & Willoughby,
1998) and may demonstrate the child’s
ability to orient to the social world
around them (Dawson, Meltzoff,
Osterling, Rinaldi, & Brown, 1998).
CHILDREN’S ABILITIES TO INITIATE joint

attention is thought to be a demonstration
of early positive social/emotional
de velopment and may demonstrate the
child’s abilit y to or ient to the social world
around them.
There are a number of reasons why

amount of joint attention may be The social-pragmatic theory of
related to later expressive vocabulary. language acquisition proposes that
High rates of joint attention may language develops as infants try to
demonstrate early social competence make meaning of the social world in
(Mundy & Willoughby, 1998). These which they live (Carpenter & Tomasello,
young children may know how to 2000). According to Nelson (1985),
involve others in their communication children learn to talk in order to make
and have the capacity and willingness meaning of their experiences with
to initiate and participate in social others. In addition, early language
relationships. Mundy and Willoughby develops and becomes more sophisticated
view joint attention as demonstrating as infants and young children attempt
the child’s ability to initiate positive to communicate their understandings
feelings with another about something of the world (Bloom, 1993).
of interest in the environment. Thus,
the use of joint attention may represent
a child’s desire to communicate and THUS, THE USE OF JOINT AT TENTION may
as such may set the social-emotional represent a child’s desire to communicate
foundation for communicating and as such may set the social-emotional
with language. foundation for communicating
w ith lang uage.
33
The importance of the ability to initiate LANGUAGE-LITER ACY
joint attention as a key component of CONNECTIONS
social relatedness is highlighted when
Because reading is a language-based
looking at children with autism. One of
skill (Kamhi & Catts, 1999), children
the defining characteristics of children
experiencing difficulties in reading
with autism is the lack of joint attention
often also experience difficulty in three
(Mundy & Stella, 2000; Wetherby,
areas of language development:
Prizant, & Schuler, 2000). This lack of
receptive and expressive vocabulary,
joint attention is thought to be a core
narrative skills and phonological
deficit with wide-ranging implications
processing. The development of a large
for the ability to relate socially and to
vocabulary is thought to contribute
interpret the social behavior of others
to learning to read because it helps
throughout the life span. Often people
children attach meaning to the printed
with autism never learn to speak.
words (Adams, 1990). Research has
However, even when language is present,
shown that children’s reading ability in
it is often idiosyncratic and is not used
the primary grades has been positively
to share experience (Wetherby et al.,
correlated with early vocabulary
2000). For children with autism who
development (Eisenson, 1990; Hart &
become verbal and even literate, there
Risley, 1995; Walker, Greenwood, Hart,
continues to be great difficulty reading
& Carta, 1994). However, many
social cues and emotions, understanding
children, particularly children living
non-literal language and interpreting
in poverty, arrive at school with poorly
the intentions and actions of another.
developed vocabularies (Hart & Risley,
Thus, early social-emotional development
1995; Rush, 1999), making it more
affects both the desire and the ability
difficult to learn to read.
to communicate, use language and
eventually develop literacy skills.
Additional research also concluded that THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LARGE vocabulary
sensitive, responsive care is critical to is thought to contribute to learning to read
the development of social-emotional because it helps children attach meaning to
competence (Thompson, this volume). the printed words. Research has shown that
Taken together, these two lines of children’s reading ability in the primary
research strongly suggest that early care grades has been positively correlated with
providers need to be skilled in their early vocabulary development.
ability to recognize infants’ attempts
to initiate joint attention and respond
appropriately. In other words, babies and
young children need adults who care for
them to be “in tune” with their moods,
desires and need to communicate.
In addition to strong receptive and One phonological processing skill,
expressive vocabularies, the development phonemic awareness, is demonstrated
of narrative skills positively contributes in young children by rhyming and
to learning to read (Snow et al., 1998). identifying initial sounds in spoken
Families expose their children to words. Through research, educators have
narratives in a variety of ways. Many learned that phonemic awareness is a
low-income families have a rich history strong predictor of future reading ability,
of storytelling and use elaborate it can be taught, and that learning such
narratives as part of their daily lives skills positively impacts children’s future
(Heath, 1983; Vernon-Feagans, reading ability (Gelzheiser & Clark,
Hammer, Miccio, & Manlove, 2001). 1991; Shankweiler, Crain, Brady, &
Children’s understanding of narratives Macaruso, 1992; Torgesen et al. 1994).
also is developed during mealtimes
when family members talk about the
day’s events (Snow & Tabors, 1993). IT ALSO IS EVIDENT THAT EARLY lang uage
These day-to-day encounters with development grows out of a close, emotionally
narratives help children understand the suppor tive relationship in which children
structure of stories making them easier want to convey their thoughts, ideas,
to understand. However, the development obser vations and feelings to impor tant others.
of good narrative skills can be difficult
for children with delays or disabilities in
language development. It is clear that children do begin “literacy
learning with language and that
enhancing their language development
IN ADDITION TO STRONG RECEPTIVE and by providing them with rich and
expressive vocabularies, the development of engaging language environments during
narrative skills positively contributes to the first five years of life is the best way to
learning to read. ensure their success as readers” (Tabors,
Snow, & Dickinson, 2001, p. 334 ).
It also is evident that early language
A third area of oral language that development grows out of a close,
strongly impacts reading is phonological emotionally supportive relationship
processing. Phonological processing is in which children want to convey their
the use of the sound system of language thoughts, ideas, observations and
to process written and oral information feelings to important others.
(Jorm & Share, 1983; Rush, 1999;
Wagner & Torgesen, 1987). Phonological
processing skills are highly correlated
with later reading ability and are thought
to contribute to most reading difficulties
(Torgesen, Wagner, & Rashotte, 1994).
35
PLAY, LANGUAGE AND LITER ACY a relationship between play and the
onset of first words has been established.
One way to increase the development of McCune (1995) found significant
oral language is through using play as the concurrent correlations between the
context for language learning.Although onset of pretend play and first words.
most preschoolers engage in elaborate
pretend play, this skill has its beginnings The development of play skills also is
much earlier in development. By the important because play with objects is
end of the first year of life mental often the context for early prelinguistic
representation is demonstrated through and verbal communication. Object play
symbolic play (McCune, 1995). In is a common context for communication
symbolic play, an object or person stands interventions with young children (Yoder,
for another object or person (e.g., doll Warren, & Hull, 1995). Children who do
for a baby, child for the daddy). From a not demonstrate an interest or skill in play
cognitive perspective there are three types with objects may be harder to engage in
of play that develop in young children the types of interactions that are facilitative
(Piaget, 1962). The first, exploratory play, of communication development. Play
is the banging, shaking, mouthing, or settings that provide choice, control and
simple manipulation of objects. The next appropriate levels of challenge appear
type, combinatorial play, is demonstrated to facilitate the development of self-
by the infant relating objects to each other regulated, intentional learning (Badrova
(e.g., building a tower, putting a person in & Leong, 1998).
a car, or pounding pegs with a hammer). It is no surprise that play also has a role in
The final, most sophisticated type of play children’s development of motivations to
is symbolic or representational play. want to learn to read, especially when one
considers how play encourages young
children to reflect on situations through
ONE WAY TO INCREASE the de velopment of dramatizations of their own invention
oral lang uage is through using play as the (Galda, 1984; Smilansky, 1968; Wolf and
context for lang uage lear ning. Heather, 1992).Adults intervene in
children’s play by providing field trips as
a source of knowledge, as well as relevant
There is an established empirical base
props (e.g., grocery store or library props)
(Casby & Ruder, 1983; McCune, 1995;
to stimulate fantasy, and by becoming
Mundy, Sigman, Kasari, & Yirmiya,
involved in the play themselves (e.g.,
1988) for linking symbolic play skills
suggesting new activities, vocabulary and
with language development. Both rate
rules) (Neuman, and Roskos 1992).
and level of symbolic play have been
found to be significantly correlated with
language development for children with
THE DEVELOPMENT OF PLAY skills also is
Down syndrome and for typically
impor tant because play w ith objec ts is of ten
developing children (Casby and Ruder,
the context for early preling uistic and verbal
1983). For typically developing children,
communication.
If play sessions are going to provide a Leong, 1998). For example, one study
medium for incorporation of aspects compared children who played in a
of literacy, those sessions need to be at print-rich center with or without
least 20 to 30 minutes in order to allow literacy-related guidance from their
children enough time to create the teacher (Vukelich, 1994). When later
elaborate scripts that lead to the tested on their recognition of print
intentional use of literacy in dramatic that had been displayed in the play
play (Christie, Johnsen & Peckover, environment, those who had received
1988). Consider an example of young teacher guidance were better able to
children establishing and enacting recognize the words, and could do so
“doctor’s office” play. First they need even when the words were presented in
ample time to establish everyone’s roles. a list without the graphics and context
Perhaps they had recently read a book of the play setting.
about Sam who has an earache —
someone needs to be Sam, another
person his Dad who takes him to the CHILDREN NEED B O OK READINGS and
doctor, another child the doctor, etc. related exper iences to de velop their
During this planning time and the backg round knowledge for the play setting.
dramatic play sequence, the children The teacher’s par ticipation and g uidance
decide what items are needed for the play are pivotal in helping children incor porate
and establish objects to represent those literac y mater ials into their play.
items, for example a paper tube from a
paper towel roll might be used to look
through to see Sam’s earache. A block Play sessions also provide a rich context
and a stick might be used as a pretend for the development of narratives, which
note pad and pen, etc. Then the all- was discussed earlier. Additionally,
important playing out of the story with effective “play” enhances self-regulatory
all its detail. All this takes time and, if behavior of young children (Badrova
needed, helpful guidance and support & Leong, 1998). Poor self-regulatory
from a teacher. behavior (e.g., activity level, attention,
adaptability) is identified as a barrier to
Children need book readings and related children’s receptiveness to instruction in
experiences to develop their background the early grades. Torgesen’s work cited in
knowledge for the play setting. To support The National Reading Panel (NICHD,
children’s writing during play, they need 2000) report provides an example of
ready access to appropriate materials, such a barrier to phonics instruction.
such as paper, markers, pencils and He found that kindergarten children
stamp pads (Morrow & Rand, 1991; with poor self-regulatory behavior were
Neuman & Roskos, 1992; Schrader, 1985; most resistant to instruction.
Vukelich, 1994). Even so, the teacher’s
participation and guidance are pivotal
in helping children incorporate literacy
materials into their play (Badrova and
37
SUPPORTIVE EARLY LITER ACY
CONTEXTS
Children’s exposure to and interest in

literacy experiences are influenced by the
adults who care for them. Caregivers’
literacy attitudes, beliefs and ability levels
affect the literacy opportunities they
provide for children in their care and the
richness of their literacy interactions with
children (DeBaryshe, 1995; Baker,
Serpell, & Sonnenschein, 1995; Spiegel,
1994). The feelings children develop
during early literacy experiences, such as capabilities in general. For example, one
shared book reading, directly influence parent may judge a child to be interested
their motivation to learn to read only if the child asks to have a story read;
independently. Enthusiasm about literacy another parent may judge a child to be
activities is suggested by many researchers interested if he or she expresses pleasure
as a route to development of the child’s when the parent offers to read a story.
active engagement in literacy tasks (Snow In the United States, young children are
& Tabors, 1996; Baker et al., 1995). read to fairly often by their parents.
Some 40 to 50% of all families report
reading to their kindergartners on a daily
THE FEELINGS CHILDREN DEVELOP dur ing basis, and this is the case across all ethnic
early literac y exper iences, such as shared and socioeconomic groups (Early
book reading, direc tly influence their Childhood Longitudinal Study, 1999).
motivation to lear n to read independently.
ACTIVITIES SUCH AS FAMILY stor ybook

Activities such as family storybook reading promote positive feelings about books
reading promote positive feelings about and literac y
books and literacy (Taylor & Strickland,
1986). The relationship between parents’
behavior and their children’s perceived Children who learn from their parents
interest in literacy works in a reciprocal that literacy is a source of enjoyment
manner. Parents who believe their may be more motivated to persist in
children are interested in reading are their efforts to learn to read despite
more likely to provide abundant print- difficulties they may encounter during
related experiences than parents who the early school years. Parents of pre-
do not perceive such interest. Parents’ reading children tend either to emphasize
interpretations of children’s interest in literacy as an activity engaged in for
print, however, are partly a function of purposes of entertainment or as a set of
their expectations of young children’s skills to be acquired. Children of those
parents who emphasized early literacy Neuman introduced an intervention that
as a source of enjoyment tend to have a provided caregivers with access to books
greater orientation toward print along and training on techniques for (a) book
with greater competence in aspects of selection for children of different ages,
narrative and phonological awareness (b) reading aloud, and (c) extending
than do children of parents who the impact of books. Assessments of this
approach early literacy as a set of skills training indicated that literacy interaction
(Sonnenschein, Baker, Serpell, Scher, increased in the intervention classrooms;
& Fernandez-Fein, 1996). Such an literacy interactions averaged five per
enjoyment orientation is more typical of hour before the intervention and increased
middle-income parents, whereas lower- to 10 per hour after the intervention.
income parents are more likely to view
Before the training, classrooms had few
literacy as a set of skills to be acquired
book centers for children; after the
(Lancy & Bergin, 1992). Baker et al.
intervention, 93 percent of the classrooms
(1995) note that “Parents’ descriptions of
had such centers. Children with caregivers
their children’s early efforts to engage in
who received the training performed
literacy activities often reflected
significantly better on concepts of print
amusement but also suggest awareness of
(Clay, 1979), narrative competence
the value of such behaviors” (p.265).
(Purcell-Gates and Dahl, 1991), concepts
of writing (Purcell-Gates, 1996), and
letter names (Clay, 1979) than did children
CHILDREN WHO LEARN FROM their parents
in the comparison group.At follow-up in
that literac y is a source of enjoy ment may
kindergarten, the children were examined
be more motivated to persist in their
on concepts of print, receptive vocabulary
effor ts to lear n to read despite difficulties
(Dunn and Dunn, 1985), concepts of
they may encounter dur ing the early school
writing, letter names and two phonemic
years.
awareness measures based on children’s
rhyming and alliteration capacity
In addition to the family, child care (Maclean, Bryant & Bradley, 1987).
programs also provide early literacy Of these measures, children in the
experiences that can support young intervention group performed significantly
children’s interest in learning to read. better on letter names,phonemic awareness
Literacy activities often are not at the and concepts of writing.
forefront of planned activities in child
care settings. Neuman (1996) studied
IN ADDITION TO THE FAMILY, child care
the literacy environment in U.S. child
prog rams also prov ide early literac y
care programs. Traditional ‘caretaking’
exper iences that can suppor t young children’s
goals, such as keeping children safe, fed
interest in lear ning to read.
and clean, was often the main focus.Yet
many of the children being served were
in special need of early language
stimulation and literacy learning.
39
In summary, we know that in order for
young children to become fluent readers,
they need opportunities to develop oral THERE IS A B ODY OF EVIDENCE suggesting
language skills and phonological that the quality and nature of the teacher-
awareness, the motivation to learn child relationship significantly influences
to read, as well as the specific skills the child’s adjustment to kindergarten and
associated with decoding and eventual academic performance
comprehending print (Burns, Griffin,
& Snow, 1999). Important elements
of their learning environments include Birch and Ladd (1997) studied the
positive, supportive, reciprocal association between three dimensions
relationships in addition to specific of the teacher-child relationship
literacy-related activities and materials. (closeness, dependency and conflict)
and kindergarten children’s adjustment
to school. They report “…the perceptions
VULNER ABLE CHILDREN AND
EARLY LITER ACY that teachers have of the quality of their
relationships with their students are
Young children living in distressed associated with children’s performance
urban communities are at great risk on academic tasks, children’s feelings of
for school failure, antisocial behavior loneliness and school avoidance desires
and disrupted development (Gorman- and teachers’ reports of various school
Smith, Tolan, & Henry, 1999). Many adjustment outcome indices” (pp.77-
recent reports have documented the 78). A close, non-dependent, non-
increasing number of children growing conflictual relationship as perceived
up in seriously compromised by the teacher was related to children’s
circumstances that are associated with academic performance as well as their
low achievement, inattentiveness, attitudes toward school and engagement
psychiatric symptoms and behavior with school.
problems, grade retention and depressed
cognitive development (Duncan &
Brooks-Gunn, 1997; Erikson & Pianta, THESE CHILDREN ARE perceived as hav ing
1989; Young, 1994). There is a body of chronic behav ior problems w ith low academic
evidence suggesting that the quality and potential, which sets up a self-fulfilling
nature of the teacher-child relationship prophesy of reduced oppor tunities to lear n
significantly influences the child’s and depressed achie vement.
adjustment to kindergarten and eventual
academic performance (Birch & Ladd,
1997; Bretherton, 1985; Pianta, 1994;
Pianta & Steinberg, 1992).
A recent study in one Midwestern urban also demonstrated that, in order to be
school district found that young children effective, early childhood programs must
in urban low-income communities who provide the elements of high quality.
display challenging classroom behaviors Unfortunately, this is not the case for the
that do not conform to teacher majority of American preschool
expectations are at great risk for being programs.A recent national study
underestimated in their academic potential revealed that only 25% of observed child
and never establishing a warm, positive care settings met the criteria of
relationship with teachers (Espinosa & developmentally appropriate care (Cost,
Laffey, submitted). These children are Quality and Outcomes Study, 1999).
perceived as having chronic behavior
problems with low academic potential,
which sets up a self-fulfilling prophesy IT HAS BEEN REPEATEDLY show n that high-
of reduced opportunities to learn and qualit y preschool prog rams can positively
depressed achievement. With frequent influence the intellec tual, academic and
negative and restrictive feedback from the social de velopment of poor children both
teacher and other adults in the school immediately and long-ter m.
setting, they are also at-risk for developing
a negative self-image as a learner. Howes
and Smith (1995) found similar results in When designing early care and
a study of children in child care. Those educational programs for children
children who were perceived by the teacher from economically disadvantaged
to be difficult received more controlling, backgrounds, (or any young child
restrictive commands from the caregiver considered vulnerable, i.e., children
and were allowed fewer opportunities to who are English language learners,
initiate their own activities and exploit children with disabilities or children
their learning environment. who lack emotional security and
social competence)it is critical that
the following elements be considered.
IMPLICATIONS FOR PR ACTICE
• Positive, supporting relationships
It has been repeatedly shown that high- are critical. It has been repeatedly
quality preschool programs can positively demonstrated that young, vulnerable
influence the intellectual, academic and children can thrive academically and
social development of poor children both socially when they have the support
immediately and long-term (Barnett, of a caring adult. It is imperative that
2000).Virtually all experts in early all early care and education providers
education and related fields agree that understand the critical importance
intensive, high-quality interventions for of social and emotional development
young children in poverty can have to all academic achievement.
substantial impacts on their future school
and life success. This line of research has
41
IT IS IMPER ATIVE THAT all early care and
education prov iders understand the cr itical
impor tance of social and emotional
de velopment to all academic achie vement.
• Strong emphasis on oral language

development. Teachers need to
interact and converse with children
both in small groups and individually
throughout the day. They need to
model standard English and provide
opportunities for children to express
symbolic concepts through speech.
Extended vocabularies, sense of story,
background knowledge and phonemic
awareness are all fostered through
opportunities to play with peers, play
with language and play with materials.
• All teachers are well qualified. To
• A curriculum that includes school- the extent possible, early childhood
related skills and knowledge. Young teachers should have a college degree
children need the opportunity to with specialized preparation in early
learn the alphabetic code, phonemic childhood education or a related field.
awareness, story narrative, an expanded
vocabulary, number sense and other • Establish a collaborative and
basic academic content. respectful relationship with parents
and/or other family members. When
• Small class sizes. Each child needs parents and teachers work together
to have frequent individual interactions the young vulnerable child has a
with peers and caring adults and greater chance to be developmentally
learning experiences that are tailored supported in the home and accurately
to his/her unique talents, interests understood in the classroom.
and abilities.
• Teachers who engage in collaborative
planning, assessment and reflection.
In the best programs, teachers and
other staff meet frequently to discuss
the program and the development of
individual children.
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EARLY
EDUCATION
EXCHANGE
C U LT U R E AND ETHNICITY IN SOCIAL,

EMOTIONAL AND ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT
O S C A R A . B A R B A R I N , P H . D .
Academic competence and socio- ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Not

emotional adjustment are built upon a surprisingly, palpable differences have
common foundation of early psychosocial been observed in academic and socio-
development. Likewise, both are molded emotional outcomes that are clearly linked
by the cultural and ethnic contexts from to income disparities and, at the same
which they originate. This is nowhere time, fall along the fault lines of ethnicity.
more evident than among children of To understand these patterns more fully,
color in the United States who occupy we must invoke multi-level explanations
social niches, defined by socioeconomic that cut across individual differences,
status (SES), gender and ethnicity, which family functioning, school organization
ply them with a risk-inducing formula and quality of community life.
of above-average environmental strains
This paper describes the status of children
and below-average material resources.
of color with respect to academic and
For many children, this formula results
social functioning and summarizes what
in a compromising of social development
is known about processes that constrain
and academic achievement. Early
and facilitate that development. It argues
intervention, access to high-quality
that children of color occupy specific
pre-kindergarten programs, improved
Oscar A. Barbarin, Ph.D. cultural niches in American society that
teacher preparation and sustained efforts
expose them to a host of social, familial
L. Richardson and Emily to build collaborative relations between
and community strains while providing
Preyer Bicentennial families and schools can help correct the
limited resources to help them respond.
Distinguished Professor for imbalance of strains and resources to
These strains challenge their ability
Strenthening Families give children of color a fighting chance
to cope and to develop normally,
to develop to their full potential.
School of Social Work and compromising for some academic
Frank Porter Graham Child Academic performance and social and socioemotional functioning.
Development Center adjustment are founded upon evolving This inauspicious combination can be
competencies in the self-regulation deleterious for social development and
University of North Carolina
of attention, behavior, language and school success of many, though not all,
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3550
emotions (ABLE). The evolution of of these children. The purpose of this
phone: 919-962-6405 these competencies, however, are directed paper is to advance the argument that
barbarin@unc.edu and shaped by experiences that are early and sustained intervention related
strongly related to cultural imperatives,
45
to child, family and school can help • setting high academic standards,
correct the imbalance of strains and
• conducting annual assessments of
resources to improve the prospects of
student performance and
children of color whose academic and
socio-emotional functioning might • requiring accountability of
otherwise be compromised. administrators, teachers and students
for the results.
To date, the fruits of much of the
EARLY AND SUSTAINED inter vention related to reforms undertaken during that period
child, family and school can help cor rec t the have been disappointing. Even with
imbalance of strains and resources to improve major curricular reforms, which focus
the prospec ts of children of color whose singularly on improvements in literacy,
academic and socioemotional func tioning the average reading scores failed to
might other w ise be compromised. improve for most American fourth
graders between 1992 and 2000.
MENTAL HEALTH AND Clearly, the challenge of developing the
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT academic talents of American children
OF AMERICAN CHILDREN is a difficult task. Perhaps it is made more
so by the failure to recognize that high
For two decades now, cross-national achievement is the product of interwoven
assessments of math, science and reading cognitive and emotional process. Missing
skills suggest that American K-12 from the dialogue about how to address
students lag behind many of their the malaise in American education is an
counterparts from both industrialized appreciation of the fundamental ties
and developing nations (see National among learning, motivation and socio-
Assessment of Educational Progress, emotional functioning.
[NAEP], 1991; Stevenson and Stigler,
1992). Despite great efforts to address the
problems of national underachievement,
MISSING FROM THE DIALO GUE about how to
a disturbing lack of progress toward
address the malaise in Amer ican education
improving the academic proficiencies
is an appreciation of the fundamental ties
of American students still persists.
among lear ning, motivation and socio-
Recognition of these problems has been
emotional func tioning.
followed by unusual expressions of
resolve to reform schools and improve
educational outcomes for all children.
With surprising unanimity, the emerging
national discourse on educational
improvement seems to be converging
around several key elements:
46 Culture and Ethnic it y in Social, Emotional and Academic De velopment
Mental health prevalent data suggest that STATUS OF CHILDREN OF COLOR
problems of socioemotional functioning
are common among school-age children. On both indicators of academic
For example, estimates of behavioral, performance and socioemotional
emotional and developmental problems adjustment African-American and
among school-aged American children Latino children do not fare well and,
range from 14 to 22% and diagnosable in many cases, much more poorly than
mental disorders from 8 to 10% (Mash & whites (Lequerica & Hermosa, 1995;
Barkley, 1996). Similarly the Great Smoky Neal, Lilly, & Zakis, 1993). Information
Mountain Study of Youth (Costello, on the academic outcomes of children of
Angold, Burns, Stangl, Tweed, Erkanli, color such as standardized tests scores
& Worthman, 1996; Costello, Angold, on reading, math and science, course
Burns, Erkanli, Stangl, & Tweed, 1996) failures, suspensions, retention and
found that 20.3% of the children met dropout rates are a serious cause for
the criteria for a DSM III-R diagnosis concern. For example, 40% of African-
of serious emotional disturbance in rural American children failed at least one
and poor children ages nine and older. subject, and by the time they reached
The most common disorders include high school at least 20% had been
anxiety or phobias, hyperactivity and retained in a grade (Barbarin, Whitten &
conduct disorders (Costello, 1989). Bonds, 1994). In a nationally
In addition, as much as one third of representative sample of African-
American children evidence sub-clinical American children, 22.4% of adolescents
psychological symptoms, which have a were suspended at least once, and 23.1%
detrimental impact on quality of life and repeated at least one grade (Barbarin &
compromise functioning in domains Soler, 1993).
such as school, family life and peer
relations (McDermott & Weiss, 1995).
Though often ignored in the call for INFORMATION ON THE ACADEMIC outcomes
school reform, the high prevalence of of children of color such as standardized

behavioral and emotional difficulties tests scores on reading, math and science;
makes it impossible to avoid in course failures; suspensions; retention and
the classroom. dropout rates are a ser ious cause for concer n.
It is no surprise then that in 1995 for

AS MUCH AS ONE THIRD of Amer ican
example the high school dropout rate
children ev idence sub-clinical psychological
was 46% for Hispanic children, 26% for
symptoms, which have a detr imental
African- Americans, and 17% for
impact on quality of life and compromise
Caucasians. At the other end of the K-12
functioning in domains such as school,
continuum, Leadbeater and Bishop
family life and peer relations.
(1994) found twice as many African-
American preschool children of
adolescent mothers scored in the clinical
47
range on measures of behavior and Much less attention has been given to
emotional functioning than is found in the emotional despondence of children
the normative sample. In the Woodlawn of color reflected in data on suicide,
study of preschool African-American particularly among males. Behavioral
children growing up in a low-income problems frequently co-occur with
housing project in Chicago, children depression and anxiety (Garber,
exhibited significant impairment in Quiggle, Panak, & Dodge,1991).
domains judged essential for academic Because behavioral problems are literally
achievement and social adaptation “in your face,” it may be easy to miss
(Kellam, Branch, Agrawal, & Ensminger, the underlying emotional turmoil that
1975).At least one problem of adaptation undergirds and perhaps drives the
was observed in as many as 68% of acting-out behavior. Symptoms of
kindergarten children (Kellam, Branch, internalizing disorders are particularly
Agrawal & Ensminger, 1975). prevalent among young African-
American males in elementary and
BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS MASK middle school and in adolescent females
EMOTIONAL DIFFICULTIES (Barbarin & Soler, 1993). Children from
low-income communities report more
Though children of color exhibit both depressive symptoms on the Children’s
behavior and emotional difficulties, Depression Inventory (child report)
disruptive behaviors such as aggression, than groups on whom the test was
impulsivity, attention deficits, restlessness, normed (Kellam et al., 1991; Barbarin,
substance abuse, delinquency, teenage 1993). Moreover, in a program of
pregnancy and problems related to research on anxiety disorders, Neal and
academic achievement have garnered Turner (1991) report slightly higher rates
the greatest attention (Barbarin, 1993). of phobic symptoms among African-
Behavior disorders and delinquency American children than might be
are identified more frequently among expected from existing epidemiological
African-American male adolescents data, and they argue that these are
than whites. For example, African- linked to specific conditions in the
American males accounted for 23% social environment.
of juvenile arrests and 26% of juveniles
in residential facilities — much higher
than their representation in the adolescent BECAUSE BEHAVIOR AL PROBLEMS are literally
population (Hoberman, 1992). “in your face,” it may be easy to miss the
Additionally,African-American children’s underly ing emotional tur moil that
involvement in the child welfare system underg irds and perhaps dr ives the ac ting-out
was found to be three to 10 times higher behav ior. Sy mptoms of inter nalizing
than Caucasian children (Goerge, disorders are par ticularly pre valent among
Wulczyn, & Harden, 1994). young Af r ican-Amer ican males in elementar y
and middle school and in adolescent females
CAN POVERT Y ACCOUNT
FOR ETHNIC DIFFERENCES?
The poverty rate among African-

American children is estimated at 46%.
The rates vary among the different
Latino groups with the highest rates
occurring among Puerto Rican and
recent immigrant groups from Central
America. Poverty is strongly associated
with the emotional and academic
outcomes discussed above. Of all the
commonly identified social risk factors,
socio-economic status (SES) is arguably way of their continued academic and
the most robust and consistent predictor emotional development. The sequelae of
of psychological and academic dysfunction these conditions can be observed across
(Bruce, Takeuchi, & Leaf, 1991; Dutton, the life span: increased morbidity and
1986). Poor children are at greater risk of mortality, mood disturbances, academic
developing mental health problems than underachievement, aggression, premature
children who come from more advantaged sexuality and childbearing, substance
backgrounds (Valez, Johnson, & Cohen, abuse, delinquency, underemployment,
1989; Werner & Smith, 1992). high rates of divorce and instability
of family life. Risk factors, protective
factors and emotional regulation
PO OR CHILDREN ARE at g reater r isk of represent important pieces needed
de veloping mental health problems than to solve this puzzle.
children who come f rom more advantaged
backg rounds
A COMBINATION OF ECONOMIC hardship
and limited access to suppor tive ser v ices all
Poverty has an especially pronounced
combine to disadvantage poor children and to
effect in the domain of externalizing
place obstacles in the way of their continued
disorders (Capaldi & Patterson, 1994)
academic and emotional de velopment.
though there is evidence that it can
increase the likelihood of internalizing
disorders as well (Last & Perrin, 1993). This raises the possibility that differences
Though the observed effect sizes of observed among ethnic groups are tied to
poverty are often small, risks associated the differences in poverty. Therefore the
with poverty are hardly trivial or passing. relationship between ethnicity and
A combination of economic hardship academic and socioemotional difficulties
and limited access to supportive services may be due in part to poverty. However,
all combine to disadvantage poor Barbarin (2001,in press) has demonstrated
children and to place obstacles in the that SES and poverty alone do not fully
49
account for ethnic differences in academic society in which we live. Our best
achievement. This work shows that the thinking is that indeed culture and its
gap between African-Americans and associated practices and beliefs influence
whites does not disappear when you the differential outcomes of children but
control for poverty. In fact, the gap gets the data on this point in an American
wider the higher up the SES scale you go. setting are too sparse to be compelling
This suggest a more complex explanation and conclusive.
than poverty or SES is needed to account
for ethnic differences.
UNLIKE THE ROLE OF POVERT Y, the effec ts
HIGH-RISK SO CIAL NICHES: of culture on socioemotional de velopment
GENDER, POVERT Y, ETHNICIT Y and academic readiness is more nuanced
AND CULTURE and less understood.
Children of color occupy social niches

in American society that render them It is important to distinguish between
especially vulnerable to a panoply of culture and ethnicity. They are not the
social, emotional and academic same. Ethnicity is based on a process
difficulties. In addition to ethnicity and of psychological identification made
poverty status, children may be more by individuals. Ethnicity is a way of
likely to experience difficulties by virtue representing primary social affiliation
of gender.Young boys experience and personal identification beyond the
behavioral and academic problems at level of the family. Ethnicity exists at the
higher rates than girls. National studies psychological level within individuals
of kindergarten children suggest that and families. Though a shared culture
ethnic differences in socioemotional can be the basis for and support
outcomes may be accounted for largely individual ethnic identification, ethnicity
by males. Specifically African-American and culture are not co-terminus.
and Latino males exhibit more
disruptive behavior and attention
difficulties than white males but no IT IS IMPORTANT TO DISTINGUISH between
differences are observed among females CULTURE and ETHNICIT Y . Ethnicit y is a way
(Center for Health Statistics, 1988). of representing pr imar y social affiliation and
personal identification beyond the le vel of
Unlike the role of poverty, the effects of
the family.
culture on socioemotional development
and academic readiness is more nuanced
and less understood. This is in part
because we are still grappling with the
definition and meaning of culture and
ethnicity in the dynamic gumbo of a
Culture refers to a dynamic and shared For example, Guerra, Huesmann, Tolan,
system of beliefs, mores, values, attitudes, Van Acker, and Eron (1995) demonstrated
practices, roles, artifacts, symbols and that specific cultural attitudes and beliefs
language. It represents a group’s collective underlie the high levels of conduct
wisdom and aspiration that surround problems often observed in ethnic
and are reflected in routines of daily minority children. They tested the
living. Culture guides how a group solves relationships of aggression to poverty-
problems, how they approach mundane related stress, and the world views of
tasks and how they address eschatological Latino and African-American children.
challenges such as the meaning of life Both stress and beliefs significantly
and death. Culture is reflected in the predicted levels of aggression. Thus,
structure of social relationships — within withdrawn behavior, aggression or
and outside of the group — and define high anxiety in children can be
obligations and rights among a group of regrettable but understandable
people who possess a common identity. adaptations to an unpredictable
Cultural demands, values and world and threatening environment (Dubrow
views determine how children’s academic & Garbarino, 1989). Though based
aspirations and social behaviors are purely on speculation, cultural views
expressed and interpreted. about children, the timing and content
of their learning and culturally based
socialization goals may influence parent
CULTUR AL DEMANDS, values and world expectations of their own and the
v iews deter mine how children’s academic schools role in the education of their
aspirations and social behav iors are children. How parents define their
expressed and inter preted. roles will directly influence their
practices and their expectation of
what schools should be doing which
Partially as a consequence of environ- in turn may affect children’s outcomes.
mental demands and social conditions, The interactions and compatibilities
culture may influence socialization between parents cultural beliefs about
goals and practices that might be their role and the practices and
reflected, for example, in beliefs about expectations of school are likely to
how independent children should be have a profound influence on how well
and how early in life should independence the two work together to promote
be encouraged (Weisz & Sigman, 1993). children’s learning and development.
Similarly, differences in cultural
conceptualizations of social relations
may shape expectations of how children
should behave or express their emotions.
51
Accordingly, gender, SES, ethnicity and
its associated cultural features and may
be used as co-ordinates to demarcate
particular ecological niches in society.
Viewed in this way, the notion of niche
emphasizes the idea that critical social
demarcators combine and interact to
create a context of development with
unique properties. The importance of
these niches is that some social niches
carry with them a set of features,
circumstances and challenges that
predispose their occupants to academic
and socioemotional difficulties. Clearly,
African-American and Latino children,
particularly the poor and especially
males, occupy niches that deserve fuller
understanding and exploration if we CROSS-CULTUR AL
are to make a dent in the problems of COMPARISONS OF AFRICAN-
academic access in the U.S. AMERICAN AND SOUTH
AFRICAN CHILDREN.
It is possible to learn a great deal from

SOME SO CIAL NICHES car r y w ith them a
gazing inward through comparisons
set of features, circumstances and challenges
of ethnic groups in the United States.
that predispose to their occupants to academic
A different and enlightening perspective
and socioemotional difficulties.
can be obtained by cross national and
cross-cultural comparisons. For example,
Barbarin (2001) compares the functioning
of African-American and South African
boys and girls on indicators of socio-
emotional function. In addition to the
national comparison, this research made
it possible to assess whether the social
niches demarcated by being black, being
male or female and poor or not poor
produce the same effects on children’s
functioning in the United States and
South Africa.
The results revealed interesting differences BEING A BLACK MALE in the United States
for behavioral and emotional problems emerges as a par ticularly difficult niche.
among young African-American and Af r ican-Amer ican boys e v idenced a patter n
South African children.African-American of heightened v ulnerabilit y for behav ioral
children scored significantly higher than and emotional difficulties.
South Africans on the scale scores for
anxiety-depression,immaturity,opposition
and hyperactivity. Compared to South For example, a different consciousness
African children,African-Americans of self, founded in the perception of
are, in general, more troubled and more poverty not as a stigmatizing condition
susceptible to risk of psychological of the self but as a temporary state of
dysfunction.African-American children affair not attributable to one’s own defects
tend to have greater vulnerability with as an individual or ethnic group. Other
respect to internalizing symptoms, explanations include the psychological
suggestive of over-regulation among protections afforded by majority status
African-Americans, and South African to black South Africans and the stress
children have greater vulnerability to buffering resources of support from
socially disruptive behavior, suggestive extended family networks. This suggests
of sub-optimal regulation (Hammen & importantly, that the niches occupied
Rudolph, 1996). by poor children need not have the
debilitating quality it has here.
Being a black male in the United States
emerges as a particularly difficult niche.
African-American boys evidenced a THIS SUGGESTS IMPORTANTLY, that the
pattern of heightened vulnerability for niches occupied by poor children need not
behavioral and emotional difficulties. have the debilitating qualit y it has here.
For example, of all groups in the study,
African-American boys have the greatest
difficulty with concentration problems
ARE PSYCHOLO GICAL
and emotional difficulties. Most PROBLEMS RELATED TO
importantly, whereas poor children in ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
the United States had more difficulty OF CHILDREN OF COLOR?
than the non-poor, poverty made no
difference for South African children. Problems in the acquisition of social
Even though South African children emotional competence are important
grow up under conditions that are as to note in their own right, but their
adverse as — if not more than — those significance increases when we weigh
for African-Americans, the social and their role in the acquisition and
cultural niches they occupy may afford development of academic skills. For the
them some protections not available to many children who experience academic
African-American children. difficulties, the attainment of socio-
emotional and self-regulatory competence
sets the stage for and is essential to later
53
academic achievement. Problems in SO CIOEMOTIONAL COMPETENCE is an
socioemotional competence not only essential ing redient of school success because
diminish academic achievement but also it constitutes a prerequisite condition for
complicate efforts to remediate problems effec tive instr uc tion and lear ning.
in skill acquisition by males. Serious or
even moderate behavioral, attentional or
emotional difficulties often are identified Children of color who appeared to be
by teachers as significant impediments to on track and performing acceptably in
achievement. These problems reduce the the early elementary school years in the
ability of children to marshal their academic arena and who showed no
intellectual resources to learn and signs of behavioral difficulties may get
ultimately weaken academic motivation into difficulty in spite of their earlier
and engagement. Such deficits also divert promise. By the time they reach the middle
the energies of teachers from engaging schools years,many experience a noticeable
children in needed instructional slowing of academic progress that is
activity to enforcing classroom order coupled with an increase of discipline
and discipline. problems. Males, especially, become
embroiled in a persistent cycle of mood
disturbances, disruptive behavior,
FOR THE MANY CHILDREN who exper ience underachievement and low morale
academic difficulties, the attainment that belies their very promising start
of socioemotional and self-reg ulator y in school.
competence sets the stage for and is
essential to later academic achie vement.
CHILDREN OF COLOR WHO appeared to be on
track and per for ming acceptably in the early
The Orange County, Fla. school system elementar y school years in the academic
discovered that middle school students arena and who showed no signs of behav ioral
with behavioral problems who had been difficulties may get into difficult y in spite
suspended 30 days or more had reading of their earlier promise.
comprehension scores below the 25th
percentile. In this way, socioemotional
competence is an essential ingredient How can we account for this deviation
of school success because it constitutes from what appeared to be a normal
a prerequisite condition for effective and healthy developmental trajectory?
instruction and learning. Problems of Barbarin (2000) examined data on
socioemotional functioning very often cross-sectional age cohorts of African-
occur along side academic problems. American children, ages 5-17 that show
For this reason, school reform efforts that depressive symptoms (parental
that ignore these issues are myopic and reports) have a peak incidence for boys
are likely to be limited in success. at about ages 9-10 (Grades four and five),
then drop in older cohorts. This also
corresponds to the time point when the
average performance of African-American PRO CESSES IMPLICATED IN THE
males on standardized reading and math ACADEMIC AND EMOTIONAL
tests begins to dip below grade level FUNCTIONING
(Ferguson, 2000). For girls, depressive
The challenge facing researchers is to
symptoms are only moderately elevated
identify processes in high-risk social
up through age 10, but rise and peak
niches that enhance or impair functioning.
among 15- and 16-year-olds. Females
There is no dearth of evidence regarding
in this age group show a similar decline
the high rate of debilitating experiences
in academic performance compared to
the social niches occupied by poor,
their non-poor peers.
ethnic minority children. These include:
These trends hint at an intriguing temporal
1) child history of early deprivation
relationship between depressive affect
and trauma,
and academic achievement. It appears
that after an incidence of depressive 2) family instability and conflict,
symptoms peaks and drops, academic 3) involvement in the child welfare
functioning declines. The lack of a strong system, and
achievement motivation may in fact spring
from a generalized dysphoria that may 4) neighborhood danger and
affect investment in academic tasks. limited resources.
These hypothesized relationships imply (Basic Behavioral Science Task Force

an age-linked decline in academic on the National Advisory Mental Health
achievement and intra-individual Council, 1996).
covariation between depression and
achievement that can be best tested
THE CHALLENGE FACING researchers is to
through time-series data. Supporting
identif y processes in high-r isk social niches
this assertion, Connell, Spencer and Aber
that enhance or impair func tioning.
(1994) show that parental involvement,
disaffection and academic effort are
reciprocally related. Longitudinal data on
The closest we have come to articulating
poor children demonstrate that important
how these eventuate in academic and
changes occur in peer associations and
socioemotional problems is a stress
mundane stressors that affect self
diathesis model. First, life among the
perception and academic achievement
poor is filled undeniably with stressors —
during the transition to middle school
mundane and serious. The neighborhood
(Seidman,Allen,Aber, Mitchell, &
ecology that characterizes the social
Feinman, 1994).
niches of impoverished children of color
include limited outlets for stimulating,
cognitively enhancing and recreational
THE LACK OF A STRONG achie vement
activities. In many urban schools, poor
motivation may in fac t spr ing f rom a
children may face instability of teaching
generalized dysphor ia that may affec t
staff; low teacher morale; ineffective
investment in academic tasks.
55
instructional programs; problems of behavioral and emotional difficulties.
discipline; weak, distrustful relations Some parents may exhibit more
between school and families; and limited resignation in the face of hardship.
caretaker involvement in the child’s life at Others may engage in self-blame for the
school. In addition, crime victimization lack of opportunities available to them
is associated with emotional disturbance or for the lack of respect and courtesy
in children, but chronic exposures to they receive from others. Still others
violence such as witnessing violent acts in make externalized attribution or system-
the community is not (Fitzpatrick, 1993). blame when confronted with racism or
racial slights.
THE MODEL EMPHASIZES that children FAMILY ROLE

g row ing up in impover ished communities
live under conditions of extreme familial Family life provides the most important
and communit y stress that se verely test potential sources of protection for
their capacit y to cope. For children of color children occupying these risky social
and their families, racism is another niches. Although family life is shaped
continuing and v ir ulent source of distress. by socioeconomic and cultural forces,
family strengths such as close supportive
relationships, high expectations and fair,
These conditions place demands that consistent discipline can sometimes
divert attention, lower the personal compensate for the adverse effects of SES
capacity for monitoring/nurturing/ on children’s achievement. There is great
control functions of parents, and may hope for children growing up in homes
impair children’s development of self- characterized by warmth, cohesion,
regulation. In promoting this view of enlightened discipline, culture and ethnic
poverty as a multi-dimensional construct, identification, supportive extra-familial
it is neither accurate nor necessary to relationships, and community structures
resurrect from the past, long-discredited such as churches, neighborhood
notions such as a “culture of poverty.” organizations and schools that effectively
Rather, the model emphasizes that promote competence in social and
children growing up in impoverished cognitive domains .
communities live under conditions of
extreme familial and community stress
that severely test their capacity to cope FAMILY LIFE PROVIDES the most impor tant
(McLoyd, 1998). For children of color potential sources of protec tion for children
and their families, racism is another occupy ing these r isky social niches.
continuing and virulent source of distress.
Racial and ethnic discrimination may
further account for differences in world
views and orientations toward life that
affect parents’ reports of children’s
Parental optimism and perceptions
of themselves as capable of coping
successfully with life’s problems are
positively associated with children’s
social and academic functioning
(Slaughter & Epps, 1987). Social support
in the family, neighborhood, schools
and churches are reported to act as
buffering agents as they reduce emotional
strain on parents and also help to decrease
the presence of punitive, coercive and
inconsistent parenting behaviors
(McLoyd, 1998). Thus, these social
networks have an indirect effect on
the economically disadvantaged child’s
socioemotional development.
FAMILY PR ACTICES AND ROLE
IN CHILDREN’S SO CIAL AND
ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT
PARENTAL OPTIMISM and perceptions of
themselves as capable of coping Children’s adjustment to school is
successfully w ith life’s problems are unquestionably affected by the extent to
positively associated w ith children’s social which parents create an environment at
and academic func tioning home that is conducive to and actively
promotes an expanding knowledge of
The common elements identified their world, skilled use of language,
in these approaches as mediating emergent reading, academic motivation,
developmental outcomes include autonomy, persistence and adherence to
sociocultural resources such as ethnic social rules. By acts of omission and
identity, religiosity and extended kin commission, by the power of warm
networks, and individual coping styles. interpersonal ties and responsive control
The relations of these factors to one and by articulating values and transmitting
another and to developmental outcomes expectations, families most effectively
are not clear. It is likely that the interaction stimulate,elicit and nurture an achievement
among these personal and environmental orientation, instill a balance between
factors constitutes a process through conformity and independence, and
which children accommodate to nurture curiosity, self-regulation and
adverse circumstances and remain pro-social behavior.
on course toward normal social and
emotional development.
57
CHILDREN’S ADJUSTMENT to school is limited educational resources in low-SES
unquestionably affected by the extent to families are thought to be so strained that
which parents create an environment at home relationships are disrupted and the quality
that is conducive to and actively promotes an of parent-child relationships are impaired.
expanding knowledge of their world, skilled
use of language, emergent reading, academic
motivation, autonomy, and persistence and MANY CHILDREN WHO exper ience delay
adherence to social rules. in the acquisition of early academic skills
also present problems of socioemotional
func tioning .
However, these practices may be
influenced by cultural and socio-
economic status. For example, higher Unfortunately, the capacity of the public
levels of maternal education offer a clear sector to meet the mental health needs of
and well-documented advantage to young children has diminished over the
parents by enriching the range and nature past two decades. Children’s utilization of
of interactions with their children in a mental health services has been limited
way that engenders these competencies by decreasing mental health budgets.
(Luster and McAdoo, 1996). Differences
among parents on socialization goals DIFFERENTIAL ACCESS
and practices resulting from ethnicity TO SERVICE
and culture are asserted but are not
well documented. Gaps still exist in our The mental health status of African-
knowledge about the specific strategies American and Latino children has been
parents use, particularly African-American exacerbated by an historical under-
and Latino parents and the efficacy of representation of these children among
these strategies either in directly facilitating those served by the public mental
children’s early achievement in reading, health system. Children and families
math and social competence or in the of color have been underserved and
steps they take to communicate and inappropriately served by public and
work with school staff. private human service systems within
the United States (Hernandez, Isaacs,
WHAT NEEDS TO BE D ONE? Nesman, & Burns, 1998). Similarly,
Knitzer (1982) found that ethnic minority
Problems in the acquisition of social- children with mental health problems
emotional competence are important often were not identified and did not
to note in their own right but may gain receive appropriate treatment. The lack
in significance when we consider their of sufficient mental health services has
possible role in academic difficulties. also been demonstrated for economically
Many children who experience delay in strained, urban children of color (Sue &
the acquisition of early academic skills Zane, 1987).
also present problems of socioemotional
functioning. The material hardship and
When services are not received for THE EARLY IDENTIFICATION of mental health
preventable mental health difficulties problems for ethnic minor it y children early in
early in life, we are forced to rely on life, coupled w ith an effective organization
programs, such as the juvenile justice for referral and ser v ice deliver y, has long-
and child welfare systems, later in life term implications for preventing adolescent
when the problems become more problem behav iors and increasing the
difficult to manage. Even in the child productiv ity of future generations.
welfare system African-American
children were also less likely to receive
services than Caucasian children when The special circumstances and burden of
their degree of need was the same. This strains experienced by children of color
resulted in fewer positive outcomes, requires additional resources to make it
lengthier out-of-home placements and possible for more children of color to
higher rates of foster care placements achieve academic success and socio-
(Courtney, et al, 1996). The effects of emotional adjustment. There are many
under-identification and under-service promising ideas that emerged in the past
of children of color also are felt by the five years for ways to intervene that will
educational system. However, ethnic make a difference in improving their
minority children with mental health chances of success. Interventions focused
problems are often over-represented on improving and enriching the social
in special education classrooms, which and familial environments of children,
may eventually lead to school failure particularly for young children. All
and ultimately school drop out. Thus, children will prosper in 4-S environments:
the early identification of mental health safe, stable, supportive and stimulating.
problems for ethnic minority children The following are ways to increase
early in life, coupled with an effective the probability of such environments
organization for referral and service for children:
delivery, has long-term implications • Increase access to high-quality early
for preventing adolescent problem childhood programs by full funding
behaviors and increasing the productivity of Head Start and voluntary universal
of future generations. Pre-K.
• Add courses and group experiences to
teacher preparation programs whose
WHEN SERVICES ARE NOT received for
goal is to deepen multi-cultural
pre ventable mental health difficulties early
understanding.
in life, we are forced to rely on prog rams,
such as the juvenile justice and child • Strengthen the relationships among
welfare systems, later in life when the teachers, children and their families
problems become more difficult to manage. through programs that bring families
and community into schools.
59
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61
T H E V I E W F R O M T H E F I E L D

in Young Children: The Role of Mental Health
Consultants in Early Childhood Settings
PA U L J . D O N A H U E , P H . D.
Director, Child Development Associates
Scarsdale, NY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

in Young Children: Promising Approaches at
the National, State and Community Levels
R OX A N E K A U F M A N N , M . A .
D E B O R A H F. P E R R Y, P H . D.
Georgetown University Child Development Center
Washington, DC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
63
EARLY
EDUCATION
EXCHANGE
PROMOTING SO CIAL AND EMOTIONAL

D E V E L O P M E N T I N YO U N G C H I L D R E N :
T H E R O L E O F M E N TA L H E A LT H C O N S U LTA N T S
I N E A R LY C H I L D H O O D S E T T I N G S
P A U L J . D O N A H U E , P H . D .
INTRODUCTION:
THE CHANGING ROLE OF EARLY
CHILDHO OD EDUCATION
Early childhood programs fill important With their increasing prominence, early
educational and economic demands in childhood programs are typically the
this country, and are no longer viewed as first to feel the impact of family stresses.
playful and optional additions to family In many urban and some rural
life.With the advances in the study of communities, Head Start centers and
brain development in infants and toddlers child care programs serve large numbers
and research on the early acquisition of of disadvantaged families. Many of these
learning skills, preschool education has children are affected by their parents’
taken on a new significance. Early struggle to provide for their families’
childhood programs also meet the needs basic needs and to maintain adequate
of working families needing out-of-home housing and employment, and come to
child care. Most women (nearly 60%) their centers bringing their worries with
with children younger than age 6 are in the them. Fewer young children now live in
labor force and need child care for at least two parent households than at any point
part of the work week. Recent changes in in recent times.Across all socioeconomic
welfare and workfare legislation have also groups, a large percentage of marriages
increased the demands for child care, and that have produced children now end in
Paul J. Donahue, Ph.D.
more young children are now spending divorce, and 40-50% of children born in
extended days in center-based care. It is this country in the last decade will reside
Director now widely accepted that early childhood in single-parent homes at some point
Child Development educators play a major role in shaping in their childhood (Dubow, Roecker
Associates children’s emotional, social and cognitive & D’imperio 1997). With these
development, and help to lay the developments, early childhood education
6 Palmer Avenue
foundation for future academic success. programs are often implicitly or explicitly
Scarsdale, NY 10583
Many early childhood centers have also asked to take a more primary role in
phone: 914-723-2929 become cornerstones of their community, child rearing.
offering parenting workshops, recreational
pjdon@earthlink.net
programs and health and education classes.
64 Promoting Social and Emotional Development in Young Children: The Role of Mental Health Consultants in Early Childhood Settings
The increase in the reported incidence of safety and security. As a result, the
trauma in families has raised new concerns burden of care for these children often
about the psychological development shifts, at least in part, to caretakers outside
and educational needs of young children. their home. The child care center often
Violence, both within the home in the takes on added significance for children
form of domestic violence and child impacted by trauma who crave
abuse, and in the community, has been consistency and nurturance and are
shown to have a profound impact on looking for a safe haven where they can
children’s emotional adjustment and play and learn and focus on more age-
cognitive development (Aber & Allen, appropriate tasks of development.
1987; Pynoos & Eth, 1986, Zero to
Three, 1994). In families affected by CHALLENGES IN THE CLASSROOM
substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, mental
illness and other debilitating diseases, Many of the children who have had
children have been forced to deal with disruptions in their early development
the loss or potential loss of parenting and attachments present with challenging
figures, often forcing young children behaviors in the classroom. They may
to take on caretaking responsibilities. appear to be fearful, disorganized,
Research has shown that children with inattentive and unresponsive to learning
many risk factors like those outlined (Koplow, 1996). Head Start teachers have
above are far more likely to show signs of reported that their students are displaying
emotional maladjustment or behavioral more symptoms of emotional distress,
problems (Rutter & Quintin, 1977). including withdrawal and depression as
well as acting out and aggressive behaviors
(Yoshikawa and Knitzer, 1996). This
THE INCREASE IN the repor ted incidence of trend mirrors findings from epidemi-
trauma in families has raised new concer ns ological research suggesting an increased
about the psycholog ical de velopment and prevalence of psychiatric disorder in
educational needs of young children. children, with onset at younger ages
(Cohen, Provet & Jones, 1996). Many
of the disturbances that emerge in older
Young children are especially vulnerable children can be traced to risk factors
to the disruptions caused by traumatic present in infancy and early childhood
events, as they do not have well-developed (Werner, 1989).
physical or psychological resources to
defend against them. They depend on
adults to help them make sense of the
trauma, heighten their resilience and
shield them from its ill effects. When
their primary caretakers also are affected,
they are less available to provide
reassurance to their young children and
to help them re-establish their sense of
65
Many early childhood programs are more than teaching pre-academic
struggling to adapt to this added respon- skills (learning letters, colors and
sibility. Teachers and other preschool numbers, etc.) often feel at odds with
staff are often overwhelmed by the extent the parents they serve and, not
of their children’s disturbance or distress, infrequently, with local school districts
and do not feel they have received adequate whose expectations for kindergarten
training to respond to their needs children are often at the far end of a
(Knitzer, 1996). They fear that opening developmental continuum. As one
up discussion of traumatic or stressful teacher described the situation in
events might lead to unpredictable Westchester County,“kindergarten is
emotional reactions in the children that now equivalent to second grade just
they cannot control. Teachers also often 15 years ago.” As a result, some preschools
feel pressured to maintain a formal feel they must move forward with
academic curriculum with an emphasis learning tasks before many children
on the mastery of cognitive concepts, have the developmental skills to succeed,
and do not feel it is appropriate to including the ability to separate and
use classroom time to deal with their work independently, to tolerate frustration
children’s emotional turmoil and persevere, and to remain attentive
(Hyson, 1994). and delay gratification.
A COLLABORATIVE MODEL:
MANY EARLY CHILDHO OD prog rams are MENTAL HEALTH CONSULTATION
str ug gling to maintain de velopmentally
appropr iate cur r iculum in the face of Given the changes in early childhood
exter nal pressure to focus more direc tly on education and mental health, the
early academic tasks. preschool has become, in many ways,
the ideal setting for integrating the work
of professionals in both disciplines.
In addition to coping with an increase Forging a partnership between mental
in family stresses and childhood trauma, health professionals and teachers allows
many early childhood programs are schools to provide a comprehensive
struggling to maintain developmentally approach to the emotional and cognitive
appropriate curriculum in the face of development of the children they serve.
external pressure to focus more directly The preschool is also a logical place for
on early academic tasks. This trend is clinicians to reach out and involve parents
seen frequently but not exclusively in in their children’s development, and to
middle and upper middle class comm- support them in developing their own
unities where pressure to compete with coping strategies. Unlike the clinic
peers and stay ahead of age expectancies or office, the school provides ample
can add undue stress to children and opportunities for more informal and
their families. Preschools that emphasize brief interactions between a mental
social and emotional development health consultant and parents.
In this way, parents and other family
members can come to know the clinicians
at their own pace in a familiar setting
often before any concerns regarding
developmental delays or emotional
distress in the children have been noted.
THE PRESCHO OL IS also a logical place for

clinicians to reach out and involve parents
in their children’s development, and to
support them in developing their own
coping strategies.
Early childhood programs are often

mainstays in their neighborhoods,
respected and trusted by the local
population. Joining together with these
THE PRESCHO OL/MENTAL health par tnership
programs gives clinicians the imprimatur
presents the oppor tunit y to prov ide
to practice without the same stigma or
inter ventions that respond to the needs of
skepticism that might be applied in the
all the children in the center, not just those
less familiar office environment. The
w ith identifiable sy mptoms of emotional
experienced mental health consultant
disturbance or those deemed most at-r isk.
will also seek to learn more about the
ethnic and cultural traditions of the
families, the program and the local This prevention model includes “check-
community. The preschool/mental health ups” of all the classrooms through
partnership presents the opportunity to observations and sitting in on team
provide interventions that respond to the meetings, and “wellness” visits with those
needs of all the children in the center, not children who are responding nicely to
just those with identifiable symptoms of the school environment. This approach
emotional disturbance or those deemed allows the clinician to not only respond
most at-risk. Clinicians can be available to crises and dire situations but, in some
to consult on issues of any magnitude, instances, to anticipate them, and provide
as their primary role is to foster the early intervention to children at risk.
behavioral, emotional and cognitive In addition, the consultant has the
development of all children. opportunity to acknowledge and enhance
the everyday workings of the teachers
and staff in the school that create a
welcoming environment and foster the
social and emotional competence of all
the children.
67
PRECURSORS TO AN EFFECTIVE training and systems work. Perhaps
COLLAB OR ATION: SKILLS AND most importantly, consultants should
COMPETENCIES acknowledge their own limitations as
sole agents of change, and must seek to
Developing an effective collaboration
share their knowledge and training with
between mental health providers and
teachers and parents who will have the
preschools requires a good deal of
greatest impact on the young children
enthusiasm, respect and support from
in their community.
both parties. The mental health consultant
must be careful to develop a set of shared
assumptions and goals with the school,
THE PARTNERSHIP IS ENHANCED when
and not assume a rigid “expert” stance
teachers are w illing to consider their
regarding the ways to enhance the
educational role in broad ter ms that
children’s development. The process
encompass the social and emotional
of defining goals should result from a
de velopment of children.
mutual examination that draws on the
expertise of both teachers and clinical
staff. Consultants must also recognize The partnership is enhanced when
and appreciate the opportunities teachers are willing to consider their
available in this setting to have an impact educational role in broad terms that
on a wide number of children, parents encompass the social and emotional
and educators. development of children. The mental
health collaboration will also be
strengthened if teachers are open to
THE MENTAL HEALTH CONSULTANT must be
new ideas and disciplines, and are
careful to develop a set of shared assumptions
willing to integrate these in the
and goals with the school, and not assume a
classroom. Ideally, they are willing
rigid “expert” stance regarding the ways to
to undertake new challenges with the
enhance the children’s development.
consultant, to focus on children’s
feelings and social skills, to confront
Although clinicians of diverse the sometimes difficult realities of their
backgrounds and experience can function children’s lives, and to reflect on and
in this role, the effective consultant must discuss their own feelings and reactions
be flexible and team-oriented, enjoy elicited in their work with the children.
community-based settings, and be
comfortable working autonomously
apart from other clinicians. The consultant
must also be adept at handling multiple
roles and responsibilities, including crisis
intervention, parent workshops, child
observations and assessments, teacher
COLLAB OR ATION WITH Interventions in the classroom often
TEACHERS emanate from teachers who look to
try out or get approval for their ideas
The mental health consultant working
from the mental health consultant.
with early childhood teachers will be
A suggestion to use more transitional
more effective if she works to develop
objects with foreign-born Andre, a
an open and respectful relationship
4-year-old boy with severe separation
with them, that encourages a free flow
anxiety, or to provide more “special
of information back and forth. The
time” to a 3-year-old Anna, whose
degree of warmth and trust in the
father had recently succumbed to a
relationship will further influence the
long illness, are but two examples of
teacher’s acceptance of this “outsider’s”
strategies proposed and carried out
presence, and will impact on the children’s
by teachers with the consulting
willingness to relate to the consultant
psychologist’s encouragement. This
and share their feelings and concerns.
team approach can demystify notions
At some point, the consultant must
of “promoting mental health” and assure
prove herself to the teacher, by actively
teachers the consultant is there to support
helping in the classroom, dealing with
their work and help the children feel
difficult children or being available to
more comfortable. In this process, the
discuss personal issues. She should also
teachers often come to realize that their
recognize that the teachers are the key
goals in the classroom — helping
agents of change within the program,
children feel secure, teaching them to
and that the work in the classroom will
share and work cooperatively, working
have the most far-reaching impact on
through frustration, helping children
the children. Gaining an appreciation
to focus and learn self-control — are,
that early childhood teachers are
in fact, the “cornerstones” of social
also often firmly embedded in the
and emotional competence in
communities they serve, and frequently
young children.
have long-standing relationships with
families that they refer to the
consultant, will also serve her well.
THE TEACHERS OFTEN come to realize that
their goals in the classroom — helping
children feel secure, teaching them to share
THE MENTAL HEALTH consultant working w ith
and work cooperatively, working through
early childhood teachers w ill be more effec tive
f r ustration, helping children to focus and
if she works to de velops an open and respec tful
lear n self-control — are, in fac t, the
relationship w ith them, that encourages a f ree
“cor nerstones” of social and emotional
flow of infor mation back and for th.
competence in young children.
69
Classroom management techniques In this case, the consultant helped to
often require more intensive and joint design a behavior rewards system, but
planning, but generally begin with the played a more critical role in supporting
teacher’s request for help with difficult the teacher’s ideas for how to contain and
to manage children: manage her student. Together they charted
his progress, looking for changes in the
Andrew, 3 1/2- years old, was a
frequency, intensity and duration of the
whirling dervish in the classroom.
targeted behaviors. This process is often
Impulsive and somewhat aggressive,
critical with more active or impulsive
he would frequently run about the
preschoolers, as it highlights that attention,
room crashing into other children or
impulse control and inhibition are
toys, and disturb free play time as
developmental processes, not fixed
well as story time. Early attempts to
entities. Seeing progress toward more
contain his aggression were fairly
self-control and focus is often the key
successful, as Dr. Jones, the consulting
to teachers’ being more receptive to these
psychologist, and his teacher, Ms.
children and less likely to want to label
Winn, designed a behavioral plan
them or, in more severe cases, to ask
for school and home that his parent
that they be medicated or removed
gladly adopted. His impulsivity and
from their classrooms.
hyperactivity continued to wreak
havoc, however, especially during In a well-functioning partnership, even
circle time. Finally Ms. Winn decided the most traumatic events can be jointly
to have Andrew sit in an adult-sized addressed by teacher and consultant:
cushioned chair by her side at circle,
Ms Marano, an experienced head
in which no other children were allowed
teacher, and Ms. Andrews, a consulting
to sit. Andrew readily took to this idea,
social worker, had been working closely
and though fidgety and often inattentive,
together at St. Joseph’s Head Start for
he began to sit through most circle times.
two years. Though initially quite
Few other children complained about
anxious when discussing her children’s
Andrew’s “special chair” as they seemed
emotional concerns, Ms. Marano had
to recognize that his sitting there
gained considerable confidence in this
allowed them to enjoy the teacher’s
area, and knew she could call on Ms.
stories. In fact many became protective
Andrews for support as needed. On
of Andrew’s new position, and would
one Monday morning, 4-year-old
mildly scold each other if they usurped
Charles announced to the class that
his place.
his mother had been stabbed over the
weekend. Ms. Andrews was immediately
called into the classroom, spoke with
Charles and his teacher, and led a
brief circle time in which she clarified
what had happened, elicited the
children’s concerns regarding their
own and Charles’ safety, and offered
them the opportunity to discuss break from the more formal structure
things further with her or Ms. Marano of traditional psychotherapy, and gives
whenever they desired. Ms. Marano them to the opportunity to support
did not shy away from this event, and social and emotional development in
continued to report on Charles’ and a more normative context.
the other children’s progress in team
meetings, and to call Ms. Andrews
back for check-ups with the class over IN SOME CASES, THE consultant may
the next several weeks. maintain a relationship w ith a parent and
the inter vention may focus on helping the
This young boy would have no doubt
child indirec tly, through parent contac t and
benefited in any event from having
“checking in” w ith the teacher.
an insightful, experienced and
psychologically minded teacher. Yet
her ability to call upon the consultant Often interventions with parents involve
to share the burden of processing this brief targeted interventions aimed at
trauma and to follow the mental health remediating specific fears or anxieties of
professional’s lead added a further children in the preschool. In some cases,
dimension to her classroom repertoire, the consultant may maintain a relationship
and allowed her to explore new emotional with a parent and the intervention may
territory without major trepidation. focus on helping the child indirectly,
through parent contact and “checking
ENGAGING PARENTS in” with the teacher:
Coming to know parents in early The Rosens, whose daughter Nancy

childhood centers is far different than attended preschool in their suburban
in traditional mental health settings. town, had watched their home burn
As mentioned, there are many to the ground after some faulty wiring
opportunities for informal contact, at ignited a massive fire. The consultant
drop-off and pick-up times where parents at the preschool, Dr. Douglas, had
often gather to have coffee or chat with heard about the fire, but the teacher
neighbors, in the classroom with parent and school director reported that Nancy,
volunteers and at parent gatherings or who was a friendly and confident 4-
workshops. The consultants may be year-old, was doing well, and did not
expected to join in local debates and appear to need the consultant’s help at
share some details of their own family school. The family had found a suitable
and personal life with staff members and house to rent while their home was being
parents. Like in therapy, each consultant rebuilt, and they all seemed to be coping
needs to come to his or her own limits of well. About one month after the fire,
disclosure, and to assess how these limits Mrs. Rosen called the consultant, and
impact on the relationship with the center. relayed that while Nancy “seemed fine”
Yet for many mental health professionals, during the daytime, she was having a
this less confined role can be a welcome terrible time falling asleep, insisted on
71
sleeping in her parent’s bed, and woke In this example, the parents made use
up many times during the night. of the consultant in a spontaneous,
Everyone was exhausted, and Mrs. circumscribed manner, but such brief
Rosen felt a mixture of sympathy and interventions often carry meaning that
anger toward her young daughter. goes beyond the immediate situation.
Many parents have reported to us a
Mrs. Rosen did not want the consultant
sense of reassurance and relief in knowing
to see Nancy directly, but was extremely
that a mental health professional is on-
eager to talk about how to handle the
hand “just in case,” to answer questions,
sleep problem at home. They spoke
listen, and provide an informed opinion
extensively for the next two weeks, and
when necessary. Just as teachers test the
during these conversations the consultant
waters with the consultant during the
primarily provided a listening ear for
entry period, parents also may try out
Mrs. Rosen, as well as making some
the consultant to see if this is a person
concrete recommendations. These
who can be trusted, is approachable and
included having Mrs. Rosen and Nancy
helpful. Even when their encounters are
“play about the fire” using dollhouse
brief, parents’ positive experiences with
figures and puppets, using relaxation
a consultant are likely to encourage
techniques at bedtime, and having one
them to support the notion of on-site
of Nancy’s parents sit in her bedroom
mental health services, to feel more
as she fell asleep. Mrs. Rosen used some
comfortable with mental health
of the recommendations and chose not
professionals in general, and to spread
to try others, and she remained in
the word to other parents.
phone contact with the consultant over
the next several weeks. Nancy’s sleep Even when they have become a familiar
disturbance gradually improved, and presence, the consultants need to be
she also was able to talk about the aware of boundary issues in presenting
experience of the fire with more ease. educational or treatment recommen-
The consultant did not hear from Mrs. dations to parents, as they may not
Rosen again until later in the spring, always be eager to participate and may
when she called to let him know how be confused by the on-site presence
much better things were going at home. of a mental health specialist. Children
who display signs of behavioral or
emotional problems in early childhood
centers have usually not been previously
identified as needing services.
Parents who enroll their children in
nursery schools or child care are not
necessarily seeking support or advice
with these issues, as they would, for
instance, if they voluntarily came to a
mental health provider on their own.
Often the need for more parental input
will arise when a child’s functioning is
compromised in the classroom, or when
his or her behavior is disruptive and
impacts on other children. In these
instances, the centers typically ask
parents come in and discuss the
situation. Parents are more likely to When Ms. Boudreau was asked to
comply with this request and react less come in to the Little Tots Center to
defensively if they have a previous discuss her son’s separation difficulty,
relationship with the center, and if the she was not surprised. Ben, a 3-year-
staff and the consultant assume a non- old boy who had recently immigrated
threatening stance in presenting the areas with his family from Europe, was
of concern. If there is a healthy rapport, tearful and clingy throughout much of
calling parents in for a discussion can be the morning, and seemed to be reacting
a relatively simple process, and the in part to his mother’s inconsistency
consultant may well be welcomed as during drop off times. She would
another potential problem-solver: sometimes stay briefly and reassure
him, but at other times would stay for
extended periods as he began to cry or
OFTEN THE NEED FOR MORE parental input show other signs of distress. In her
w ill ar ise when a child’s func tioning is meeting with the consultant, he suggested
compromised in the classroom, or when his that Ben might bring classroom books
or her behav ior is disr uptive and impac ts home that she could translate into
on other children. French, her native language, to help
him feel more comfortable and more
connected with his peers. The consulting
psychologist advised her to stick to a
more consistent pattern in the morning,
staying for 10 to 15 minutes to help
him settle and then leaving him in the
care of his teachers. Within two weeks,
this combination of a fixed routine
and using books as transitional
objects greatly eased Ben’s partings
with his mother, and he began to more
actively join in classroom activities.
73
The mother in the example was already were not providing adequate
well disposed towards the school, supervision and did not particularly
acknowledged her son’s problems, and care for him. In classroom visits, the
was not threatened or alarmed by the consultant, Dr. Monroe, did not find
notion of psychological intervention. that supervision per se was a problem,
The consultant and teacher also had but he did observe that the teachers
time to discuss the issues in advance, were not comfortable with Manny
and were hopeful that they could work and the three or four other active
together with the child and his mother. boys in the class. They ranged from
At times, children’s classroom difficulties being tentative to sometimes being
are presented in a less coordinated and harsh and overbearing with them.
timely manner, to parents who are less To help the situation, Dr. Monroe
prepared to hear about them. The had been encouraging the teachers
consultant may be asked to intervene to have more active outdoor playtime,
when there are strains in the relationship and had himself been trying to
between the parents and the preschool. organize ball games for these boys.
The goal in these cases is often to improve During one of these, Manny was
communication and foster a mutual tackled by two other boys and received
understanding between parents and staff a fairly serious gash above his lip.
as well as respond to the current problem: He was brought to the nurse who
administered first aid, and then
contacted Manny’s mother, Ms.
THE CONSULTANT MAY be asked to Gonzalez, whose office was just down
inter vene when there are strains in the the hall. Ms. Gonzalez was furious
relationship between the parents and the that she had not been contacted
preschool. The goal in these cases is of ten directly by the teachers and by what
to improve communication and foster a she again perceived to be a lack of
mutual understanding between parents supervision, as nobody could tell her
and staff exactly what had happened.
When informed by the director of
Ms. Gonzalez worked as an admin- Ms. Gonzalez’s upset, Dr. Monroe
istrator at a public school pre- stopped in her office at lunch. He
kindergarten, and her 4-year-old son, explained that he had in fact been
Manny, was enrolled in the program. supervising Manny, and that the
Manny was an active and rambunctious teachers had not been remiss in their
boy who was prone to accidents at duty. He also talked at length with
home and in school. Previous incidents Ms. Gonzalez about Manny’s high
at the school in which he had sustained activity level, and shared ideas about
minor cuts and bruises had left his how to help him channel some of his
parents angry and suspicious, and energy and organize himself both
they believed that Manny’s teachers at home and in school. He also
encouraged Ms. Gonzalez to sit down INTERVENTIONS WITH CHILDREN
with Manny’s teachers and raise her
concerns directly with them. She The mental health consultant enters the
scheduled a meeting for the following classroom wearing many hats. At times,
week and seemed to feel that the she observes or intervenes with a
teachers heard her concerns. The particular child or small group of children.
remainder of the school year passed After becoming a more familiar presence
without any major incident, and the in the classroom, the consultant may
consultant observed that the teachers work with the children as a group to
seemed more attentive and comfortable support their emotional development
with Manny. or address specific psychological concerns.
The consultant and teacher can address
In the above example, a moment of these issues during free play and other
crisis turned into an opportunity for unplanned interactions, as well as in
the parents and staff to take stock of planned activities such as circle time
their relationship and openly air their discussion, story telling, puppet and
disagreements. Rather than contribute dramatic play. Mealtimes present
to a lingering resentment by both parties, an excellent opportunity for such
it forced open the issues between them, informal exchanges
helped along by some coaxing by the
consultant. The fact that he was Ms. Hardy, a head teacher at a nursery
involved in the incident placed him school, found that meals were most
squarely in the center of the dispute for efficient when the children were
a brief time. Though in an awkward encouraged to share the preparation,
position, he worked hard to not be serving and clean-up, keeping
defensive with this mother, nor to shy conversation to a minimum. The
away from her anger. Being in this center’s director, however, had recently
position also allowed him to share some suggested that informal conversing
of the “blame” with the teachers, and to during meals was an excellent
further empathize with their dilemmas opportunity to support language
in dealing with active preschool boys. development. The consultant,
Ms. Saunders, felt that such group
discussions could also support
emotional growth. She felt that the
group focus during meals was a
natural time to help children express
themselves verbally, articulating their
own feelings while responding
appropriately to the expression of
others. Ms. Saunders therefore offered
to join the class for meals. The eager
and animated young children lost no
75
time in volunteering to participate likely to become unruly and disruptive
in group discussions. Teachers and when their feelings remain unspoken but
the consultant typically followed the continue to lurk beneath the surface, and
lead of the children with discussions are often notably calmed when given the
emerging that ranged from the smells, opportunity to express themselves to
sight, taste and feel of the food they adults who listens to them. These group
were eating, to events that occurred discussions are not meant to be biased
at home, to reflections on classroom toward more difficult or painful emotional
activities. At times, the consultant content – the children are free to express
did initiate discussion about a topic both negative and positive thoughts and
of some particular relevance to the feelings. The open sharing of joy,
classroom, such as feelings about a excitement and other warm feelings is
teacher’s unplanned absence or an an equally important part of establishing
impending holiday or vacation. an emotionally supportive environment
Sometimes the children would begin in the classroom, especially for children
talks about bad dreams or monsters, who live in more difficult or deprived
or trouble with younger siblings at home environments.
home. Despite Ms. Hardy’s initial
reticence, she soon found that these
little chats were not only enjoyable to CHILDREN ARE, IN FACT, more likely to
all, but that they improved the become unruly and disruptive when their
atmosphere in the class without feelings remain unspoken but continue to lurk
causing breakdown in the carefully beneath the sur face, and are often notably
cultivated structure of the room. calmed when given the oppor tunity to express
themselves to adults who listens to them.
THE MENTAL HEALTH consultant enters the

classroom wear ing many hats. In some cases, mental health consultants
also are available to provide brief
assessment and treatment services for the
Some teachers express the understandable children. Some centers are set up to allow
concern that the unstructured nature of the consultants to provide on-site
more free-flowing conversation will treatment or to work 1:1 with a child in
contribute to disorder in the classroom the classroom. Early childhood teachers
and indeed, depending on the content, often identify children who could benefit
this can occur.While verbal expression from brief, preventive intervention. The
of more negative feelings can, at times, most frequent referrals are for children
lead to a more expressive, less controlled with behavior problems or those with
atmosphere, this short-term consequence symptoms of depression or anxiety.
is usually outweighed by the gains in Parents are always contacted and consulted
understanding and support that occur prior to any individual meeting with a
when such themes are opened for child, and always need to be part of
discussion. Children are, in fact, more planning any ongoing interventions.
Ideally, both parent and child get communicated to her by his therapist
support that strengthens their resilience and teachers. After leaving his nursery
and improves their relationship with school, Philip was granted a scholarship
each other: to a local parochial school. Proud of
his achievement, Philip’s mother was
Philip, a 4-year-old was referred for
an enthusiastic participant at his
brief treatment after his teachers
“graduation,” and became more actively
became more aware of his isolation,
involved with his schooling the
and self-deprecating remarks and
following year.
behaviors. Philip’s mother was depressed
and overburdened, and at that time, Some consultants may have opportunities
she was unable to offer much support to work with children in small groups.
to him. She frequently referred to him Preschool groups can serve a variety of
as “bad” and compared him negatively purposes: socialization, development of
to his younger brother, and openly empathy, and growth of interpersonal
expressed a wish to be rid of him. In skills through play and group discussions.
the early phase of treatment, Philip Groups provide another way to reach
would repeatedly depict a mother young children whose development may
rejecting and killing her son, and then be negatively affected by stressful life
running off with her younger child. events, reflected in maladaptive behaviors
such as withdrawal, aggression or hyper-
Philip’s therapist openly discussed
activity. By observing and working with
his mother’s difficulties, but also
children’s issues in the small group
emphasized and attempted to engage
setting, the therapist can observe and
his strengths and skills, particularly
further assess social and emotional
his keen intelligence. She supported
problems identified in the classroom,
and facilitated Philip’s creative use
interpret and address problems in peer
of materials and his dramatic and
relationships and intervene to improve
symbolic play. She also helped his
adjustments to transitions, listening and
teachers to likewise identify and
turn-taking. Often children are identified
support his strengths and need for
for a group based on similar experiences
nurturance. They readily accepted
or behavior:
these suggestions and began to apply
them to other children in the class
as well, focusing on how each was a
SOME CONSULTANTS MAY have opportunities
“special person.”
to work with children in small groups.
Work with Philip’s mother was initially Preschool groups can ser ve a variety of
difficult, as her depression had left her purposes: socialization, development of
detached from his feelings as well as empathy, and growth of interpersonal skills
her own. She did however, support his through play and group discussions.
treatment and the classroom interven-
tions, and gradually began to identify
with the positive view of Philip
77
In one group of boys attending an
urban child care center, the children
often played about “fathers.” The
consultant was aware that in reality
many of the boys’ fathers were absent
from their lives. They continually
pretended to be truck drivers,
construction workers, and dads going
shopping. They used the telephones to
make “calls” to their fathers and often
assumed self-consciously “macho”
roles, which at times included aggressive
or provocative behaviors. The therapist
attempted to bring the feelings and
thoughts represented by this play into
the verbal arena, making simple
comments such as, “You boys really
think a lot about your dads,” or “I
wonder if George misses his dad.” CONCLUSION
These play sequences and narrative
A strong preschool/mental health
comments eventually stimulated a
partnership can lead to decisive change
more direct discussion of the children’s
and can leave programs with more
feelings of disappointment and their
effective tools to meet their children’s
longing to connect to adult male figures.
needs (Donahue, 1996; Donahue, Falk
Sometimes children respond to the & Provet, 2000; Goldman et al, 1997).
consultant’s words, elaborating the play The shared vision of professionals can
or making a revelation about their lives. give staff new hope that they can confront
At other times, words seem to fall on deaf difficult behaviors and emotionally
ears, and the children do not necessarily charged material in the classroom.
respond to what is said. However, even Children and families also benefit from
when children are not yet able to make the combined focus on children’s social
use of interpretations or even simple and emotional development and early
invitations to talk about their lives, they intervention efforts aimed at preventing
benefit from the opportunity to play out more serious problems from developing
their feelings and issues in the supportive later on in childhood. In addition, an
group milieu. effective mental health collaboration can
enhance a program’s resilience, and reduce
the stress of staff as they join together to
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES also benefit from face the day to day challenges of meeting
the combined focus on children’s social and the educational and emotional needs of
emotional development and early intervention the young children they serve.
efforts aimed at preventing more serious
problems from developing later on in childhood.
REFERENCES
Aber, J. L. & Allen, J. P. (1987). Effects of maltreatment Tobias, L. T. (1990). Psychological consulting to
on children’s socioemotional development: An management: A clinician’s perspective. New York:
attachment theory perspective. Developmental Bruner Mazel Inc.
Psychology, 23, 406-414.
Werner, E. (1989). High-risk children in young
Cohen, P., Provet, A. & Jones, M. (1996). The prevalence adulthood: A longitudinal study from birth to 32
of emotional and behavioral disorders in childhood and years. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 59, 72-81.
adolescence. In B. Levin & J. Petrila (Eds.). Mental
Yoshikawa,Y. and Knitzer, J. (1997). Lessons from the
health services: A public health perspective.
field: Head Start mental health strategies to meet
Donahue, P., Falk, B., & Provet, A.(2000). Mental Health changing needs. New York: National Center for Children
Consultation in Early Childhood. Baltimore: Paul H. in Poverty.
Brookes Publishing Co.
Zero to Three. (1994). Caring for infants and toddlers
Donahue, P. J. (1996). The treatment of homeless in violent environments: Hurt, healing, and hope.
children and families: Integrating mental health Arlington,VA: Zero to Three/National Center for
services into a Head Start model. In Zelman, A. (Ed.) Clinical Infant Programs.
Early intervention with high-risk children. Northvale, NJ:
Jason Aronson.
Dubow, E. F., Roecker, C. E. & D’Imperio, R. (2001).
Mental health. In R. T. Ammerman & M. Hershon
(Ed.). Handbook of prevention and treatment with
children and adolescents: Intervention in the real world
context. New York: John Wiley.
Goldman, R.K., Botkin, M.J., Tokunaga, H. & Kuklinski,
M. (1997). Teacher consultation: Impact on teachers’
effectiveness and students’ cognitive competence and
achievement. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 67,
374-384.
Hyson, M. C. (1994). The emotional development
of young children: Building an emotion-centered
curriculum. New York: Teachers College Press.
Knitzer, J. (1996). Meeting the mental health needs
of young children and their families. In Stroul, B. A.
(Ed.), Children’s Mental Health: Creating systems of
care in a changing society. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes
Publishing Co.
Koplow, L. (1996). Unsmiling faces: How preschools
can heal. New York: Teachers College Press. In Poverty,
(1990). Five million children. New York.
Pynoos, R.S. & Eth, S. (1986). of Child Psychiatry, 25,
306-319. Witness to violence: The child interview.
Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 25,
306-319.
Rutter, M. & Quintin, D. (1977). Psychiatric Disorder:
Ecological factors and concepts in causation. In M.
McGurk, H. (Ed.), Ecological factors in human
development. New York: North Holland.
79
EARLY
EDUCATION
EXCHANGE
PROMOTING SO CIAL-EMOTIONAL
D E V E L O P M E N T I N YO U N G C H I L D R E N :
P R O M I S I N G A P P R OA C H E S AT T H E N AT I O N A L ,
S TAT E A N D C O M M U N I T Y L E V E L S
R O X A N E K A U F M A N N , M . A .
D E B O R A H F . P E R R Y, P H . D .
R ATIONALE FOR NATIONAL,

STATE AND LO CAL INITIATIVES
Over the last decade, there has been THE RESEARCH IS CLEAR: child care affec ts
growing awareness of the scientific children’s de velopment; but it is the qualit y
evidence that effective interventions of care, not the amount of hours spent in
delivered to young children and their child care.
families can have long-term positive
outcomes (National Research Council
At the same time, more and more young
and the Institute of Medicine, 2000).
children in this country are spending
Research on early brain development
longer days in child care settings. Sixty
bolsters intervention studies that suggest
percent of women whose children are
that small shifts in the developmental
under the age of three are participating
trajectories of young children can have
in the work force (Phillips & Adams,
lasting effects. Increasingly, these studies
2001). Data from the National Institute
have used rigorous scientific designs,
of Child Health and Human Development
such as randomized trials (e.g., the Infant
(NICHD) Study of Early Child Care —
Health and Development Program) and
a nationally representative sample of
Roxane Kaufmann, M.A. longitudinal studies of populations at
1,200 families — provide a snapshot of
Deborah F. Perry, Ph.D.
risk (e.g., Chicago Parent-Child Center).
what the child care implications of these
These results have motivated
Georgetown University Child employment trends. In their sample,
policymakers and program managers
Development Center nearly three quarters of all infants under
to identify vulnerable groups of young
the age of 1 experienced regular, non-
3307 M Street N.W., Suite 401 children and seek out effective strategies
parental care; often their entry into child
Washington, DC 20007 that can be delivered to these children
care occurred prior to 4 months of age.
and their families.
phone: 202-687-5072 Women who had experienced periods
rkaufman@georgetown.edu
of poverty and/or welfare dependence
placed their infants in care prior to 3
months of age, as compared to women
80 Promoting Social-Emotional Development in Young Children: Promising Approaches at the National, State and Community Levels
with more financial resources who States have also faced challenges as they
typically waited longer to begin non- have continued to implement early
parental care. Infants were in non-parental intervention programs for young children
care and average of 28 hours per week; with disabilities and those at risk for
and these figures tend to increase as developing disabilities under the
children get older (Phillips & Adams, Individuals with Disabilities Education
2001). The research is clear: child care Act. As early intervention systems have
affects children’s development; but it is developed and matured across the
the quality of care, not the amount of nation, state program managers have
hours spent in child care. Unfortunately, begun to confront the need to go beyond
high-quality infant care is out of the traditional center-based, therapeutic
economic reach of many of the families approaches (i.e., occupational, speech
who need it most — those families who and/or physical therapy). Especially in
are poor, lacking in maternal education states where they are serving children
and exposed to other risk factors for at risk for developing delays, the need
poor developmental outcomes. to expand services to include social-
emotional outcomes and relationship-
In recognition of many of these trends,
based services has come to the fore
the nation’s governors embarked on a
(Indiana Family and Social Services
series of initiatives that focused on young
Administration, 2001).
children and their families (McCart &
Steif, 1995; Steubbins, 1998).As governors
grappled with how best to prepare children
who arrive at kindergarten “ready to Child care prov iders are repor ting
learn,” there was a growing realization increasing numbers of youngsters who are
that achieving this goal would require at-r isk for removal f rom their care because
more than increased cognitive stimulation of behav ioral and/or social-emotional
for our youngest citizens. In fact, school challenges. Kindergar ten teachers are
readiness appears to be intimately tied to repor ting high numbers of children enter ing
social-emotional development. When school not ready to succeed.
teachers report that between one-quarter
and one-third of their preschoolers are
These national trends converge in
not ready to succeed in school, often
communities across the country. Parents
it is because of a lack of behavioral and
who are working harder and longer
emotional maturity rather than not
hours are searching for high-quality
knowing their numbers and letters
child care environments for their young
(Knitzer, 2000).
children. Child care providers are
reporting increasing numbers of
youngsters who are at-risk for removal
AS GOVERNORS GR APPLED w ith how best to
from their care because of behavioral
prepare children who ar r ive at kindergar ten
and/or social-emotional challenges.
“ready to lear n,” there was a g row ing
Kindergarten teachers are reporting
realization that achie v ing this goal would
high numbers of children entering
require more than increased cog nitive
stimulation for our youngest citizens.
81
school not ready to succeed. National, health. National initiatives described
state and local stakeholders are coming include Early Head Start and Starting
together to develop promising approaches Early Starting Smart. State examples
to meet these needs and promote positive include Vermont’s system of care develop-
mental health for young children and ment for young children and their families,
their families. Florida’s strategic planning and billing
processes and Maryland’s initiative to
SUMMARIES OF PROMISING infuse mental health prevention,
APPROACHES promotion and treatment into their
early childhood systems. Ohio’s state-
Given the overwhelming interest in early level activities to support early childhood
childhood mental health that has mental health as well as Cleveland’s
burgeoned over the past five years, it is successful community-wide,
difficult to select only a few national, comprehensive program will be described.
state and community efforts to include And finally, San Francisco’s creative use
in this paper. That such difficulty exists of TANF and state tobacco funds to fund
at all is a promising indicator of change mental health consultation to child care
and growth in the field. Only a handful will be shared.
of early childhood mental health initiatives
have a history that extends beyond the NATIONAL INITIATIVES
mid-1990s and these examples provide
some important lessons for a field that is Building upon
E A R LY H E A D STA RT.
still in its own toddlerhood. At the the success of Head Start in providing
national level, Head Start has a long- comprehensive child development
standing commitment to a comprehensive services to more than 18 million low-
view of early childhood development income children since 1965, the Federal
that includes mental health outcomes as government added a new program to
an explicit part of their health component. meet the needs of America’s youngest
At the state level, Michigan has had a citizens. The 1994 reauthorization of
long-standing commitment to infant the Head Start program was motivated
mental health and relationship-based by the growing evidence of the
interventions. And in Cleveland, Ohio, importance of the first three years of life
the PEP program has been serving and expanded the program to pregnant
preschool children with significant women and families with infants and
emotional and behavioral problems toddlers. Today, Early Head Start serves
for nearly 20 years. more than 55,000 children across the
For this paper, we have selected some country through flexible, community-
examples of programs with long histories based services including home visits,
and some that are more recent in their child development, health (including
inception to highlight the range of different mental health), disability and nutrition
approaches that states and localities have services (Fenichel & Mann, 2001).
taken to promote early childhood mental Head Start Performance Standards
provide guidance on addressing a
continuum of mental health needs — home visitors, supervisors and
from promotion to intervention — administrators. Ongoing reflective
through ongoing communication supervision of staff, using a case
between families and staff, community conferencing approach, is an integral
collaboration for appropriate service component of the program. The EHS
delivery and the provision of on-site director reports that the staff feels very
mental health consultation. supported in their work with infants and
families and that staff turnover, a severe
problem in Head Start and child care
TODAY, EARLY HEAD START serves more programs, has been lessened.
than 55,000 children across the country
through flexible, community-based services
including home visits, child development, SEVER AL PRO GR AMS across the countr y
health (including mental health), disability have taken a proac tive approach
and nutrition services. integ rating mental health prac tices into
the daily routines of staff, children and
families, and can be ser ve as models for
Early Head Start’s infrastructure, training other prog rams to emulate.
and technical assistance, evaluation and
research acknowledges the primacy of
healthy, reciprocal, nurturing relationships Recently, the Administration on
between infant and caregiver as Children,Youth and Families (ACYF)
fundamental to later success in school convened a forum on infant mental
and life.At the program level, however, health that brought together more than
it is often difficult to create the kind of 140 stakeholders involved with EHS.
environment and community linkages Through presentations by and
that assure success in meeting the discussions with nationally recognized
behavioral health needs of infants, clinicians, practitioners, parents,
toddlers, their families, and the staff researchers, and federal and foundation
who serve them (Chazen-Cohen, Jerald, officials, consensus was reached on an
and Stark, 2001). action agenda that will guide the next
Several programs across the country phases of the work on infant mental
have taken a proactive approach health in EHS. There was widespread
integrating mental health practices into acknowledgement that EHS and child
the daily routines of staff, children and care alone cannot provide the range of
families, and can serve as models for supports and services needed to meet
other programs to emulate. One such the varied needs of infants/toddlers and
Early Head Start grantee, a community their families. Programs must partner
mental health center in Ohio, has with other community agencies as well
contracted with a local university to as state and local officials to build systems
provide intensive training on infant of care for these families. ACYF recently
mental health for all staff members — funded new technical assistance and
83
training initiatives at ZERO TO
THREE and the Center on the Social
and Emotional Foundations for Early
Learning, at the University of Illinois, to
focus on promoting early mental health
in EHS, Head Start and child care.
PRO GR AMS MUST PARTNER w ith other

communit y agencies as well as state and
local officials to build systems of care for
these families.
Children and families are served in the

STARTING EARLY STARTING SMART. rural, urban and suburban neighbor-
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health hoods in which they live through
Services Administration (SAMHSA), services that are integrated, accessible,
in partnership with the Casey Family and culturally competent. The design
Foundation, has funded a rigorous of the model encourages creative
multi-site research and demonstration approaches that meet the unique needs
effort — referred to as Starting Early of the population being served. For
Starting Smart (SESS). The emphasis in example, in one community a native
SESS is on the integration of behavioral elder, a storyteller in the tribe, works
health services into accessible, non- weekly with children in the preschool to
threatening settings where families help them deal with their fears, build a
naturally take their children. The current sense of identity and connect to their
SESS sites serve children and families in heritage through traditional stories.
early childhood educational settings and
in primary pediatric health care facilities.
Primary care sites are located in Boston, THE EMPHASIS IN Star ting Early Star ting
MA, Albuquerque, NM, Spokane WA, Smar t is on the integ ration of behav ioral
Miami, FL and Boone County, MO. health ser v ices into accessible, non-
Early childhood education sites are threatening settings where families
located in San Francisco, CA, Little Rock naturally take their children.
AR, Las Vegas. Baltimore MD,
Montgomery County, MD, Chicago, IL,
and the Tulalip Tribes, WA.
SESS has a strong steering committee THE T YPES OF SERVICES that were created,
made up of the Principal Investigators adapted, or accessed were tied together
and Coordinators from each site, family through care coordination of ser v ices and
members, the Data Coordinating Center suppor ts that were “w rapped around”
which is responsible for the cross-site families through the de velopment of a
research, federal partners and Casey strengths-based, family participatory process.
Family Foundation representatives. The
quality of family participation became
enhanced later in the project when
SAMHSA and Casey contracted with The types of services that were created,
the Federation for Children’s Mental adapted, or accessed were tied together
Health. The role of this committee was through care coordination of services
to design the cross-site evaluation, and supports that were “wrapped around”
review and select instruments, share families through the development of a
strategies, solve problems, explain strengths-based, family participatory
findings, author articles, make process (Hanson, Deere, Lee, Lewin, and
presentations and guide the organic Seval, 2001). Intervention services include:
nature of a field-based, early intervention, child development services, family/
research and demonstration program. parenting services, mental health services
and substance abuse treatment services.
Recognizing that fragmentation of services
and agencies and the lack of culturally, Unique approaches led to successes in
linguistically and developmentally each of the sites. For example, connecting
appropriate services often keep families families to mental health services had
from accessing needed services, SESS been very difficult in San Francisco’s
broadly focused on the following goals: China Town. So the SESS site hired
and trained cultural brokers who spoke
• increasing access and utilization
the languages of the families served,
of services;
understood their beliefs and values, and
• promoting collaboration at the developed trusting relationships with
community level to promote them. These trusted brokers acted as
services integration; care coordinators, helping families feel
• improving parenting skills and comfortable using needed services. In
family well-being; and another location, a small group of mothers
• strengthening child development. with newborn infants came together
with their babies to create baby-books
while dealing with their guilt and struggles
around substance abuse. The typical
activity helped the mothers identify and
appreciate their infant’s unique character-
istics while they dealt with the past and
looked hopefully to the future.
85
STATE AND LO CAL INITIATIVES At the local level, services are developed
to be responsive to the unique needs
VERMONT. At present,Vermont is the that emerge in each community. When
only state that has built a statewide system families’ mental health needs exceed the
of mental health services and supports, professional expertise of a nurse, mental
integrated into the early childhood-serving health providers conduct home visits.
system. The impetus for their efforts Mental health consultation is provided
came from a survey that showed 30% as needed to child care, Head Start and
of the state’s young children lacked the preschool programs. And a growing
emotional and other skills to succeed number of play group and parent-to-
in school. At the same time anecdotal parent support groups have mental health
reports of children exhibiting increasingly facilitators. Several communities have
disturbing behaviors prompted the state mental health personnel stationed in
to take action. They used these data pediatrician’s offices to screen children
to obtain funding for the Children’s and to provide guidance to families who
Upstream Project (CUPS), from the have concerns about social and emotional
federal Children’s Mental Health Services issues. For young children identified as
Program, and from SAMHSA. CUPS having significant mental health needs,
built on the existing network of state “wrap around” individualized services
and regional teams focused on other are provided to the family.
early childhood issues (i.e., quality
improvement, shared standards across For example, a child care provider was
early childhood settings, and Vermont’s concerned about the withdrawn behavior
home visiting program for all newborn of a 3-year-old in her class and referred
infants). Included in these partnerships the young mother to CUPS. The child’s
are mental health, substance abuse, mental health practicioner met with the
domestic violence, and public health family and quickly suspected that the
agencies. This initiative stretches both mother was struggling with severe
the early childhood and the mental depression and referred her to a colleague
health “vision” of who needs to come for treatment. At first, the mother only
together to share responsibility for wanted services for her daughter, but over
promoting the well-being of young time, as a result of the trusting relationship
children (Knitzer, 2000). with the child’s mental health worker
(who became the family’s service
coordinator), she agreed to get help for
VERMONT IS THE ONLY STATE that has herself. The mother attributes the tenacity
built a statew ide system of mental health and support of the service coordinator
ser v ices and suppor ts, integ rated into the with saving her family.
early child-ser v ing system.
At the state level CUPS has convened a • prevention services that promote
task force on sustainability and blended responsive caregiving and strengthen
funding, developed early childhood the child/caregiver relationship
mental health competencies for providers, (level one);
and funded a consortium of colleges and
• services that provide developmental,
universities to provide training on early
relationship-focused early intervention
childhood mental health to local providers
services for children at risk of or with
and family members. The state is working
delays, disabilities, chronic health
with existing parent support and
problems, exposure to violence and
education groups to infuse mental health
abuse or neglect (level two); and
issues into their services. Emergency
mental health crisis teams have been • services that provide specialized mental
trained to address the needs of families health treatment for severe emotional
and providers of young children. problems or parent/baby dyads with
A separate evaluation is tracking the specific needs (level three).
outcomes of the CUPS initiative. Following the successful planning process,
the Florida legislature funded three pilot
projects to provide infant mental health
FLORIDA ENGAGED IN a statew ide strateg ic services through different points of entry.
planning process to build a system of In addition to the comprehensive plan
mental health ser v ices for young children that provides a model for other states to
and their families. emulate, Florida has updated its mental
health services coverage.Medicaid guidance
now allows for individual or family therapy,
FLORIDA. With more than one million
allowing for relationship-based treatment;
children under age 5, Florida struggles
licensed practitioners can enroll as treating
with meeting these children’s needs for
providers and authorize services on a
health, safety and emotional well-being.
recipient’s treatment plan; and a section
As in many states, there are a dearth of
on serving children birth to 5 years was
early services, inadequate funding and a
added to the State plan. In a precedent-
lack of qualified staff. To address these
setting move, the new guidance
issues, Florida engaged in a statewide
specifically cites the use of the Diagnostic
strategic planning process to build a
Classification of Mental Health and
system of mental health services for young
Development Disorders of Infancy and
children and their families (Florida State
Early Childhood (DC: 0-3) diagnostic
University Center for Prevention and
codes (Johnson, 2001).
Early Intervention Policy, 2000). The
stakeholders came to consensus on a
continuum of services that includes:
FOLLOWING THE SUCCESSFUL planning
process, the Flor ida leg islature funded three
pilot projec ts to prov ide infant mental health
ser v ices through different points of entr y.
87
ANNE ARUNDEL COUNT Y FUNDS two kindergarten in rural Allegheny County,
behav ioral inter ventionists who consult and mental health consultation is available
to all child care prov iders on a first-come- through the Infants and Toddlers Program
first-ser ve basis in an effort to keep children in Montgomery County.
f rom being expelled f rom child care.
In an effort to develop a more systematic
approach to ensuring that appropriate
MARYLAND. Historically, counties in mental health services and supports were
the state of Maryland have a great deal available to young children and their
of autonomy. During the last decade the families across the state, the Department
state made a commitment to reforming of Mental Health and Mental Hygiene
their child-serving systems, and county initiated a statewide planning and
governance structures called Local implementation process. Following
Management Boards were established the recommendations developed at a
as forums to promote collaboration and strategic planning retreat in 1999, a state
coordination of services for children steering committee was established. The
and families. Local Management Boards group is co-chaired by the Departments
(LMBs) are the vehicles through which of Mental Health and Education with
local responses to service needs of active participation from a variety of
children residing in each jurisdiction are stakeholders including the Governor’s
developed. Currently, there are a number Office for Children,Youth and Families,
of LMBs that have identified early child care and Head Start programs,
childhood mental health as a priority resource and referral agencies, family
area and there are initiatives funded organizations, Departments of Human
through a combination of county dollars, Resources and Juvenile Justice, Local
private funds and state/federal grant Management Boards and practitioners.
awards. For example, Baltimore City The mission of the Early Childhood
was one of the SESS sites, successfully Mental Health Steering Committee is to
integrating an on-site mental health develop strategies to infuse mental health
collaboration project that is being prevention, promotion and treatment
sustained by the city’s children’s mental services and supports into existing
health agency. Anne Arundel County early childhood programs, settings
funds two behavioral interventionists and initiatives.
who consult to all childcare providers on The Steering Committee initially
a first-come-first-serve basis in an effort identified five goals:
to keep children from being expelled
• To understand the current system
from child care. Part C and Section 619
of care by assessing current needs,
special education discretionary dollars
resources, and gaps in mental
have been used to fund a mental health
health services to young children
consultant in a public preschool and
and families;
• To develop and advocate for an
integrated early childhood mental
health system of care, including
specific elements which will be
identified, defined and developed;
• To develop and implement a
curriculum/training/certification
process for early childhood/family
mental health professionals that is
early childhood specific with its
foundation in child development
and mental health;
• To develop a consumer input and
family feedback system to inform the and pre-service training opportunities
steering committee and the service across the state to enhance the quality
delivery system; and of provider’s skills at all levels. There is
• To design and offer mental health a great deal of interest in this issue in the
consultation to recognize mental Maryland legislature and several hearings
health issues to all early childhood have occurred. Legislation is being drafted
service settings in Maryland, that would provide counties with some
including consultation to families state funding to support expansion to
and service providers. their early childhood mental health
services and supports.
During the first year, subcommittees
were established to work on the first two
goals (i.e., a Needs Assessment A MODEL DEMONSTR ATION projec t funded by
Subcommittee and a System of Care the Ohio State Depar tment of Mental Health
Subcommittee, respectively). As a result, encourages local collaboratives or prog rams
there is an agreed-to vision of what a to apply for competitive awards to prov ide
system of care to promote early childhood mental health consultation to child care,
mental health would look like in Head Star t and other preschool prog rams
Maryland. This vision informed the across the state.
work of the Needs Assessment
Subcommittee. A consultant has been
identified and funding from three
partner agencies has been committed to
complete a statewide assessment of the
need for and capacity to deliver early
childhood mental health services and
supports in each county. Recently,
subcommittees were also established to
examine the current array of in-service
89
OHIO AND CUYAHO GA COUNT Y. Ohio One of the community agencies that
has a long history of investing in early provide both mental health consultation
childhood education and support, and and home visiting is the Parent Inter-
is one of a few states that is providing vention Centers of the Positive Education
public preschool for all at-risk 4-year- Program (PEP) located in Cuyahoga
old children. Several state agencies have County (where Cleveland is located).
collaborated to address the area of early PEP is a highly respected, parent-driven
childhood mental health, including the early intervention program for the most
Governor’s Office. TANF funds are used challenged and challenging children
to provide mental wellness programs for and their families. The goal is to empower
infants and their parents — including parents to work effectively with their
printed information on social-emotional children. Families are paired with a
development that is sent to all families of “graduate parent” who is the facilitator
newborn children. A public awareness of sessions between parents and their
campaign in partnership with public children. Problem behaviors are targeted,
television provides families with access an individualized treatment plan is
to developmental information on cable collaboratively developed, and services
and public broadcasting. An investment are provided in ways that help the family
in training for child care providers assures — at home and in the community.
higher-quality environments for young Sessions are observed and supervised by
children and staff who understand the mental health professionals.
social and emotional development of
PEP expanded its array of services to
young children.
include Day Care Plus, a collaborative
A model demonstration project funded effort between the PEP, the Cuyahoga
by the Ohio State Department of Mental Mental Health Board and a local child
Health encourages local collaboratives or care resource and referral agency.
programs to apply for competitive awards Day Care Plus provides mental health
to provide mental health consultation to consultation teams (made up of mental
child care, Head Start and other preschool health consultants and family advocates)
programs across the state. To assure that to more than 30 family and center-based
mental health clinicians have the skills to child care programs in Cleveland. The
deliver consultative services, the state has explicit goals are to maintain young
invested in ongoing staff training. Data children with challenging behaviors in
are being collected on the effectiveness of their existing child care settings, and to
services, with the goal of expanding the increase the competencies of child care
model statewide. The state also invested staff (in order to improve the quality
in funding local early childhood home of the program, reduce staff stress and,
visitation programs that promote mental ultimately, staff turnover). In addition
health and reduce child abuse. to center-based consultation, a
Community Response Team has been
added to provide crisis intervention
and consultation.
SAN FR ANCISCO. In 1999, the San IMPACT OF PROMISING PRACTICES
Francisco Departments of Public Health,
Human Services, and Children,Youth While there has been tremendous growth
and Families pooled more than $2 million in efforts to promote early childhood
to provide mental health consultation mental health over the last decade, efforts
services to more than 50 child care centers to rigorously assess the impact of these
and more than 100 family child care activities are less well developed. It should
homes within San Francisco. Funds come be noted that, as a field, we face some
from a combination of Medical, TANF inherent difficulties in evaluating the
and local funds to Community Mental impact of these initiatives. Some of these
Health Services, Department of Health, barriers include limited funding available
which manages the initiative. Services for evaluations, difficulties in establishing
are provided by a variety of grantee appropriate comparison groups, wariness
agencies with experience serving children on the part of community-based providers
and families from a wide range of ethnic about random assignment of high-risk
and racial groups. clients, and a lack of well-established
measures for assessing early childhood
mental health (versus behavior problems).
IN 1999, THE SAN FR ANCISCO Depar tments Some of the efforts described above have
of Public Health, Human Ser v ices, and attempted to overcome these challenges
Children, Youth and Families pooled more and document the effectiveness of
than $2 million to prov ide mental health their interventions.
consultation ser v ices to more than 50 child
care centers and more than 100 family child
AS A FIELD, WE FACE SOME inherent
care homes w ithin San Francisco.
difficulties in e valuating the impac t of these
initiatives. Bar r iers include limited funding
The consultation services are both for e valuations, difficulties in establishing
individual/direct (i.e., services appropr iate compar ison g roups, war iness of
provided directly to child or family) communit y-based prov iders about random
or programmatic/indirect (i.e., services assig nment of high-r isk clients, and a lack
that enable staff at the child care center of well-established measures for assessing
or home to understand and handle a early childhood mental health (versus
situation on their own). Direct services behav ior problems).
range from individual therapy, play
groups, behavioral plans, assessment,
parent groups or crisis intervention.
Indirect services address communication
issues between staff members or staff
and families, leadership issues, racial
and cultural conflicts, and staff and
family education about mental health.
91
• EARLY HEAD START (EHS) has built • STARTING EARLY STARTING SMART
into the initiative a rigorous national (SESS) also included a rigorous cross-
evaluation that is collecting qualitative site external evaluation as part of its
and quantitative data. The first wave implementation. This 12-site study is
of data reported on the efforts of 17 guided by two research questions:
grantees during their first two years
(1) Will integrating behavioral health
of operation. When compared to a
services into primary/early childhood
randomly assigned control groups,
care settings lead to higher rates of
toddlers who had participated in EHS
entry into prevention, early intervention
for at least one year scored higher
or treatment services?
on cognitive, language and social-
emotional measures. Parents who (2) Will integrating these services lead
participated also showed improvements to sustained improvements in the
in their knowledge of infant/toddler outcomes of participating children
development, positive parenting and families?
behavior and decreases in their Service use and outcomes will be
parenting stress and family conflict. compared for those families at interven-
These positive findings were also tion sites and control sites. Child
tied to the quality of the program’s domains such as attachment, behavioral
implementation — families did better competence, social competence and
in those sites that scored high on the language and cognitive development
core components of the Head Start are being measured as are parent
Program Performance Standards and caregiver behaviors, skills and
(Fenichel & Mann, 2001). functioning. Preliminary data from the
cross-site study are due to be released in
November 2001 (Hanson, Deere, Lee,
THE STARTING EARLY Star ting Smar t study
Lewin & Seval, 2001).
is g uided by two research questions:
• VERMONT has a three-tiered approach
(1) Will integ rating behav ioral health to evaluating CUPS.At the federal level,
ser v ices into pr imar y/early childhood the Center for Mental Health Services
care settings lead to higher rates of entr y (through its contract with MACRO
into pre vention, early inter vention or International) is collecting child and
treatment ser v ices? family data from all its grantees. To
(2) Will integ rating these ser v ices lead supplement the federal evaluation, the
to sustained improvements in the outcomes State Evaluation Team is collecting data
of par ticipating children and families? on two vulnerable populations:
(1) children under 6 who are
experiencing severe emotional
disturbance (SED) and require
services from more than one
agency; and
(2) adolescent parents (under the age of • POSITIVE EDUCATION PRO GRAM
22) who are experiencing SED and (PEP) and Day Care Plus have designed
are served by more than one agency. a research study to examine the effects
of their mental health consultation
Finally, local grantees are able to collect
program. Twenty child care centers
site-specific evaluation data with support
were matched on demographic
from the State Evaluation Team. Specific
parameters and one member of each
evaluation results (as of 12/2000) support
pair was randomly selected to receive
the program’s positive impact on young
the intervention. Baseline data on
children and families. As a result of the
children, parents and staff were collected
CUPS project, more than 1,000 children
in 1997 and follow-up data were
and their families received case manage-
collected 12 and 20 months later.
ment, home-based services, respite
One of the dimensions that the study
crisis outreach or other direct services.
is tracking is the rate of expulsions
Of the families who were referred for a
from child care settings at the control
CUPS evaluation, 80% had very high
and intervention sites. Parents and
levels of parenting stress (as measured
staff will be assessed on their ability
by the Parenting Stress Index (PSI)).
to manage difficult behaviors and link
Nearly one-third of parents described
with appropriate community resources.
aggressive behavior as their primary
Another potential impact of the
concern about their child, and one-
consultation — reduction in staff
quarter identified temper tantrums as
burnout, stress, and turnover — will
their biggest concern.After six-months,
also be compared across sites (Cohen
significant decreases in parenting stress
& Kaufmann, 2000).
were observed in 10 of the 13 sub-scales
of the PSI. Significant decreases in Impressive evaluation results have
children’s problem behaviors were also been reported for the second year of
evidenced by lower scores on both the the project’s implementation. Day
externalizing and internalizing subscales Care Plus services were accessed on
of the Child Behavior Checklist. behalf of 270 children served in 83
child care centers. Only 11 children
who were at risk for expulsion were
EIGHT Y PERCENT OF the families who were actually removed from their child
refer red for a CUPS e valuation had ver y care placement; five of those 11 were
high le vels of parenting stress (as measured withdrawn by their parents. Day Care
by the Parenting Stress Index [PSI]). Plus provided a range of services to
support the child care providers
Af ter six-months, sig nificant decreases in
including on-site consultation, a
parenting stress were obser ved in 10 of the
coordinated arts program, and one-
13 sub-scales of the PSI. Sig nificant
on-one aides. Parents were also the
decreases in children’s problem behav iors
direct beneficiaries through individual
were also e v idenced by lower scores on
meetings and group training sessions
both the exter nalizing and inter nalizing
(Positive Education Program, 2001).
subscales of the Child Behav ior Checklist.
93
• SAN FR ANCISCO reported on their THE INTERVENTION APPEARED to have
results of a year-and-a-half external positive effec ts on the children ser ved;
evaluation of their High Quality at baseline, the children exhibited on average
Child Care Initiative (Tymminski, a 20-month lag in social skills as measured
2001). The primary focus of the by the Vineland Adaptive Behav ior Skills;
evaluation was to determine whether but af ter the inter vention, this g roup had
mental health consultation had only a nine-month delay.
significantly affected the quality of the
child care delivered in the eight sites,
staff job satisfaction, and/or social-
IMPLICATIONS FOR NATIONAL,
emotional behaviors in young children. STATE AND LO CAL POLICY
Half of the items from the Early AND PR ACTICE
Childhood Environments Rating Scale
(ECERS) were administered at all of The increase in activities at the national,
the sites as a measure of program quality; state and local levels designed to promote
items selected focused on characteristics social and emotional development in
of relationships between staff and young children appears to be having
children, parents and staff, etc. These some of the desired effects. In order to
quality indicators did not change as a broaden and sustain early childhood
result of the consultation. Job satisfaction mental health services and supports
among staff at these centers was high across this country, there are a number
at baseline and remained high. The of implications for policymakers and
intervention appeared to have positive practitioners who are committed to
effects on the children served; at baseline, helping the next generation prepare
the children exhibited on average a 20- to succeed in school.
month lag in social skills as measured • There is a need to focus on the
by the Vineland Adaptive Behavior primacy of relationships in fostering
Skills, but after the intervention, this early childhood mental health and
group had only a nine-month delay. acknowledge the inherent complexity
Unfortunately, the evaluation design of working with young children (and
did not include data collected from a their families), especially those at
group of similar children who had not highest risk. Families’ cultural norms,
received the intervention against which beliefs and values intimately affect
these developmental changes could be these relationships.
compared. Other findings pointed to
a greater effect from child-specific
(versus program-focused) interventions
and good effectiveness from group
therapy approaches.
• Growing diversity in the U.S. population
requires people involved at all levels
(e.g., program designers, managers
and front line staff) to improve their
cultural competency. This requires
a commitment to training existing
personnel as well as recruiting members
of cultural groups to be a part of
these initiatives.
• Strategies to reach populations that
are at highest risk for poor social-
emotional development must be
tailored to meet their unique needs • The early childhood service system is
(i.e., young children of mothers a complex mix of programs, agencies,
involved with welfare reform, young providers, and initiatives, often poorly
children with disabilities and those funded, and without a consistent
involved in the child welfare system). coordinating mechanism at the state
• There is an urgent need to identify and local levels.A first step in developing
and train a cadre of mental health an integrated early childhood mental
professionals who understand the health system is the need for infra-
unique developmental challenges of structure development. Key stakeholders
children, ages birth to 5, and can serve across agencies and programs must
as consultants to early childhood come together to develop a common
professionals. There is a concomitant vision, set priorities, understand diverse
need to better equip early childhood mandates and perspectives, and develop
professionals to meet behavioral and a strategic implementation plan.
emotional needs of young children in • As systems of care develop, there is
their care, one component of this is a need to address the inherent gaps
raising the overall quality of child care in funding and billing for mental
provided across the country. health consultative services for young
children and families and child
care providers.
IF WE CONTINUE AS A NATION to commit
If we continue as a nation to commit
ourselves to meeting the social and
ourselves to meeting the social and
emotional needs of our youngest citizens,
emotional needs of our youngest citizens,
those children w ill be more successful in
those children will be more successful in
school and in life.
school and in life. Some of these children
will avoid costly and more intensive
remedial services at a later age, and they
will be better able to develop friendships
and ultimately nurture their own children.
95
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I M P L I C AT I O N S F O R P O L I C Y A N D P R AC T I C E
Promoting Social and Emotional

Readiness for School:
Toward a Policy Agenda
J A N E K N I T Z E R , E D. D.
National Center for Children in Poverty
Columbia University, New York, NY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
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EARLY
EDUCATION
EXCHANGE
I M P L I C A T I O N S F O R P O L I C Y A N D P R A C T I C E
PROMOTING SO CIAL AND EMOTIONAL

READINESS FOR SCHOOL:
T O WA R D A P O L I C Y A G E N D A
J A N E K N I T Z E R E D . D .
Babies who cannot explore their worlds The second reason is that the field is
in safety or trust the adults who care for searching for help. Home visitors, child
them, toddlers who cannot learn to put care providers, Head Start and Early
words to emotions, preschoolers who Head Start teachers and family support
fall apart when an adult says no, or who workers all report concern about the
repeatedly fight with and bully other children they serve and great frustration
children are all children who are not at not knowing how to help many of
developing age-appropriate social, these children and sometimes their
emotional and behavioral skills. Some families (Yoshikawa & Knitzer, 1997).
children outgrow problems like these.
But for many others, such behaviors are
red flags. If the problems are persistent UNTIL RECENTLY, HOW TO help these young
and the infants, toddlers and young children has not been a focus of much
children do not get help, they may not polic y attention.
Jane Knitzer, Ed.D.
develop the skills needed to succeed
Deputy Director in the early school years.
National Center for
In response, a group of pioneering states
Until recently, how to help these young and communities are crafting strategies
Children in Poverty
children has not been a focus of much to respond to both the science and the
Joseph L. Mailman policy attention. But this is changing for need (Kaufmann and Perry, this volume).
School of Public Health two reasons. The first is the explosion This paper explores the lessons from
of knowledge about how a child’s early these initiatives for developing a broader
Columbia University
relationships set the stage, not just for policy agenda to promote healthy social
154 Haven Avenue
later emotional development, but also and emotional development and school
New York, NY 10032
cognitive development and academic readiness in young children. It highlights
phone: 212--304-7124 achievement (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000; the emerging consensus about core policy
jk340@columbia.edu
Thompson, this volume). This knowledge components as well as policy challenges
provides a powerful rationale for preven- and opportunities.
tive and early intervention.
100 P r o m o t i n g S o c i a l a n d E m o t i o n a l R e a d i n e s s f o r S c h o o l : To w a r d a P o l i c y A g e n d a
FRAMING THE POLICY CHALLENGE PROMOTING EMOTIONAL
READINESS FOR SCHOOL:
From a broad policy perspective, the first CORE POLICY COMPONENTS
line of defense in promoting emotional
health and school readiness in young GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: The overall
children is ensuring that their families aim of early childhood mental health
are economically secure and able to access services is to improve the social and
basic supports (including food, health emotional well-being of young children
care, housing, and transportation) for and promote age-appropriate social and
themselves and their children. Equally emotional skills, particularly those that
important is access to high-quality early will enhance the likelihood of success
care and learning experiences. But for in the early school years (Knitzer, 2000).
some children, this will not be enough. Because the needs of the young children
There also is a need for policy and practice and families are so varied, approaches of
strategies that are designed explicitly to different intensities are required. Preventive
address the emotional, behavioral and approaches, for example, might offer
social developmental challenges facing parents information, mentoring or
so many young children. Increasingly, informal support. But more typically,
such efforts are referred to as “infant” or some kind of early intervention, either
“early childhood”mental health, although focused on parent-child relationships,
some prefer simply to speak of strategies or helping other caregivers respond more
to promote healthy social and emotional appropriately to the child’s behaviors
development or to prevent early school is necessary.A small number of young
failure. (In this paper, the term early children and their families also require
childhood mental health is used.) Far more specialized treatment to prevent
more important than the term, however further damage and reverse early harms.
are guiding goals and principles. Here From this, flow four objectives for early
a consensus seems to be emerging goals childhood mental health.
and objectives, services and service
delivery mechanisms (Knitzer, 2001,
Hanson et al, 2001). THE FIRST OBJECTIVE IS to enhance the
emotional and behav ioral well-being of
infants, toddlers and preschoolers,
FROM A BROAD POLICY perspec tive, the par ticularly those whose de velopment
first line of defense in promoting emotional is compromised by r isk fac tors.
health and school readiness in young
children is ensur ing that their families are
The first objective is to enhance the
economically secure and able to access
emotional and behavioral well-being
basic suppor ts (including food, health care,
of infants, toddlers and preschoolers,
housing, and transpor tation) for
particularly those whose development is
themselves and their children. Equally
compromised by risk factors. Embedded
impor tant is access to high-qualit y early
in this objective is a two-fold challenge.
care and lear ning exper iences. But for
The first is to promote the well-being of
some children, this w ill not be enough.
101
all infants, toddlers and preschoolers The second objective is to help parents be
through promotions of emotional health more effective nurturers. The early parent-
and preventive strategies. But it also child relationship is critical to giving young
encompasses more challenging set of children a healthy emotional start. In
tasks, to promote healthy emotional some instances helping parents be more
development in the rather large group effective nurturers may simply mean
of young children, particularly low- providing them with access to better
income children, who are at risk of information about what to expect from
developing more serious emotional babies, or how to deal with predictable
and behavioral problems by virtue of developmental problems. Or it may mean
exposure to significant risk factors. Such ensuring that they get help with the
risk factors include poverty, low levels specific (and sometimes multiple) barriers
of maternal education, high levels of that they face. (Parents in this context
maternal depression, early experiences means anyone who serves as the primary
of inconsistent and harsh parenting, and caregiver(s) for a child, including
exposure to substance abuse, domestic grandparents, other relatives, foster-care
violence, child abuse or other trauma parents, kinship caregivers, etc, as well as
(Danziger, 2000; Knitzer, 2000 ). non-custodial parents, typically fathers.)
Especially important is ensuring that they
Research repeatedly finds that the more
have opportunities to learn new ways of
risk factors to which young children are
relating to, communicating with and
exposed, the more likely they are to
providing appropriate stimulation to their
experience poor emotional and cognitive
children as they grow from infants to
outcomes (Aber, Jones & Cohen, 1999;
toddlers to preschoolers.
DelGudio, Weiss & Fantuzzo; Huffman
et al, 2000). Unless there are concerted
efforts to help these young children
THE THIRD OBJECTIVE IS to expand the
manage their impulses and feelings and
competencies of other careg ivers, especially
learn how to problem-solve in conflict
child care prov iders and teachers, to pre vent
situations, it is unlikely that they will
and address social, emotional and
succeed when they get to kindergarten.
behav ioral problems.
Early school failure, in turn, sets the
stage for later school failure and perhaps
involvement with high-cost special The third objective is to expand the
education, juvenile justice and child competencies of other caregivers,
welfare systems. especially child care providers and
teachers, to prevent and address social,
emotional and behavioral problems.
THE SECOND OBJECTIVE IS to help parents As young children spend more time in
be more effec tive nur turers. child care and early learning settings,
the opportunities to enhance or impede
their early development multiplies.
Therefore, it is crucial that child care behaviors. This exposes the children to
providers, home visitors, family-support profound rejection and puts great strain
workers, Early Head Start and Head Start on parents. Equally troubling are data
staff, and child welfare workers have the suggesting that children with the most
skills they need to promote the emotional persistent behavior problems do not
well-being of infants, toddlers, and pre- improve in that domain over the course
schoolers. Poor infant toddler care, for of the year in Head Start programs
example, increases the likelihood of many (USDHHS, 2001; Zil, 1999). Taken
negative encounters between babies, together, the implications are clear.
toddlers and their caregivers around There is an urgent need to develop
language, emotional and cognitive support systems (along with better pay)
development. Inappropriate responses for teachers and child care providers
from teachers in the preschool years may so that they can better help young
result in the escalation of problems rather children learn new ways of regulating
than their reduction (Arnold,McWilliams, their feelings and impulses, of relating
& Arnold,1999).Perhaps most compelling, to other children and of interacting
the converse is also true: Research points with adults more appropriately.
to the protective impact of warm,
supportive teachers on young children’s
success in transitioning to school THE FOURTH OBJECTIVE IS to ensure that
(Feinberg-Peisner et al., 1999). the more ser iously troubled young children
get appropr iate help.
RESEARCH POINTS TO the protec tive impac t

of war m, suppor tive teachers on young The fourth objective is to ensure that the
children’s success in transitioning to more seriously troubled young children
school. The e v idence sug gests now that get appropriate help. Infants, toddlers
many child care prov iders and teachers and preschoolers experiencing atypical
now feel they do not know how to help emotional development need, along
young children whom they belie ve are with their families, ready access to more
“in trouble.” intensive, specialized treatment, building
on emerging clinical knowledge.
Prevalence data suggest that about 4% to
The evidence suggests now that many 7% of young children have conduct-type
child care providers and teachers now disorders (Cambell, 1997, Kupersmidt,
feel they do not know how to help young Bryant and Willoughby, 2000). Using
children whom they believe are “in a broader set of psychiatric criteria, one
trouble.” Preschool teachers report that study, involving 3,800 preschoolers,
children’s disruptive behavior is the reported 21% of the children showed
single greatest challenge that they face signs of psychiatric disorder, 9% of them
(Arnold, McWilliams and Arnold, 1998; severe (Lavigne et al.1996). At the same
Yoshikawa & Knitzer, 1997). In many time, the actual identification of children
communities, young children are being as seriously emotionally disturbed (SED)
kicked out of programs because of their
103
young children is much lower, under 1%
of Head Start children a year are identified
(Lopez et al, 2000), although evidence
also shows that a substantial number of
young children with serious emotional
and behavioral problems are identified
as having speech and language disorders
( Sinclair et al, 1993).
CORE SERVICES. Beyond establishing
goals, policymakers face the challenge
of developing services appropriate to the
task — promoting healthy emotional
development in all young children,
including high-risk young children
and in young children in need of more
intensive treatment. Lessons from early
efforts and from research provide some
insights about what services can increase
healthy social and emotional responses practices so that parents and young
in young children and reduce harmful children relate in new, more positive
and destructive ones. and pleasurable ways with each other.
Examples include intensive parent skills
training (Webster-Stratton, 1998);
BEYOND ESTABLISHING goals, polic y makers sometimes offered to groups of parents,
face the challenge of de veloping ser v ices for example, through Head Start,
appropr iate to the task — promoting sometimes to individual parents, (with
healthy emotional de velopment in all mentor parents as trainers), family-to-
young children, including high-r isk young family support, targeted interventions to
children and in young children in need promote language and communication
of more intensive treatment. skills in families with young children
(Hancock, Kaiser & Delaney, submitted)
and infant mental health therapies
Some of the services focus primarily (Zeneah, 2000). Some of these
on the children. Examples of these approaches may be embedded into
include individualized classroom-based family support strategies, for example,
interventions, as well as universal programs in Head Start programs.
to promote social skills and emotional
problem-solving in all young children.
Another cluster of services focus on A THIRD, AND VERY IMPORTANT set of
parents. They aim to transform parenting ser v ices are those targeted to non-pr imar y
careg ivers, such as child care prov iders,
teachers and home v isitors.
A third, and very important set of services EARLY CHILDHO OD mental health
are those targeted to non-primary consultants enter into the culture of the
caregivers, such as child care providers, prog ram and are able to meet a var iet y
teachers and home visitors. The general of needs, sometimes working w ith the staff,
term used for these types of services sometimes w ith specific children, and
is early childhood mental health sometimes w ith families.
consultation, which involves the
development of a sustained relationship
between an early childhood mental Researchers also are beginning to design
health consultant and early childhood and test out more systematic interventions,
programs (Cohen & Kaufmann, 2000, some combining strategies targeted to
Donahue, Falk & Provet, 2000,Yoshikawa parents and caregivers (Webster-Stratton,
& Knitzer, 1997, Casey Family Programs 2001), others combining efforts to
& DHHS, 20001, & Knitzer, 2000a). enhance behavioral skills and school
Typically, these involve center-based readiness cognitive skills, particularly
child care, Head Start, and sometimes linked to reading (Arnold et al, 1999,
pre-kindergarten. Increasingly, there are Kupersmidt, personnel communication).
also efforts to make consultation available Finally, early childhood mental health
to family child care providers, particularly services also encompass more specialized
when young children are at risk of being treatment services. Examples include:
expelled for behavioral reasons. (Less intensive community-based strategies
frequent are consultants for home-visitors, such as therapeutic child care, play
although here, too, the need is great.) groups, family-to-family support groups,
crisis and respite services, and wrap-
Early childhood mental health consultants around services for the children and
enter into the culture of the program and families. They also include referral
are able to meet a variety of needs, some- strategies to adult treatment services for
times working with the staff, sometimes problems such as depression, substance
with specific children, and sometimes abuse or domestic violence.
with families. They are in a key position
to help focus deliberate attention on
strategies to help children get ready for RESEARCHERS ALSO ARE beg inning to desig n
school, preparing them for transitions and test out more systematic inter ventions,
and helping them learn needed skills and some combining strateg ies targeted to
behaviors. (For an overview of research parents and careg ivers others combining
on early childhood mental health effor ts to enhance behav ioral skills and
strategies, see Donahue; Kaufmann school readiness cog nitive skills, par ticularly
and Perry, this volume.) linked to reading.
105
CHAR ACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE • consistent with the culture of early
SERVICES. Regardless of their focus of childhood programs. Effective early
level of intensity services to promote childhood mental health services
emotional health and school readiness bring a strengths-based mental health
all share several characteristics (Knitzer, perspective that can be integrated into
2001). They are: the daily experiences of the children, the
• grounded in developmental families and the staff.The aim is to enrich
knowledge. Early childhood mental the experiences so that the children
health systems of support need to be can benefit. It should not be seen as
deeply grounded in developmental something separate and apart. This is,
knowledge of what is typical and in effect, consistent with the best school-
atypical for infants, toddlers and based mental health strategies that build
preschoolers. Additionally, the on and are respectful of the school
theoretical-knowledge base should culture while trying to meet not just the
include understandings of family needs of the children but of the teachers
developmental processes and adult and the administrators.
learning strategies, since many of • delivered in settings trusted by the
the interventions focus on helping families. Effective services are delivered
the adults in closest contact with the in settings that are most comfortable
children be more effective nurturers. to, and most trusted by, children and
• relationship-based. At the core of families, including their own homes,
healthy emotional development are center- or family-based child care,
responsive, sensitive child caregiver Head Start, Early Head Start or
interactions that occur over time and preschool programs, pediatric offices
across contexts. That means systems or well-baby clinics. Early childhood
of support must be designed to foster mental health services must also
healthy relationships among parents reach into other settings where young
and children, children and caregivers children are found, such as shelters
and caregivers and parents. for homeless families and battered
women and their children (Dicker,
• family supportive. Except when there Gordon & Knitzer, 2001).
are issues of safety, in general, the best
way to help young children is to help
their primary caregivers ability to meet CAREGIVERS AND MENTAL health professionals
the children’s emotional and other must be sensitive to different cultural
needs. This requires a respectful traditions, able to address and resolve cross-
partnership with families, even the ethnic and racial conflic ts about core
most troubled families, as well as a child-rear ing tasks, sleeping, eating and
willingness to address the concrete discipline, comfor table in working w ith
realities that families face (e.g. a children, families and staff who are racially
difficult transition to work, parental and ethnically diverse.
ill health or housing problems).
• responsive to the community and The preschool programs can and
cultural context. This is an should become the focal points for
enormously complex challenge. strategies to “help non-primary
It means that caregivers and mental caregivers”better meet the social,
health professionals must be sensitive emotional and behavioral needs of
to different cultural traditions, able to young children.
address and resolve cross-ethnic and
• involve new kinds of partnerships
racial conflicts about core child-rearing
and outreach to a broad group of
tasks, sleeping, eating and discipline,
stakeholders. Virtually all the emerging
comfortable in working with children,
early childhood mental health initiatives
families and staff who are racially and
involve new kinds of partnerships. In
ethnically diverse.
one community initiative for example,
CHAR ACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE the partners included an early inter-
SERVICE DELIVERY SYSTEMS. vention agency, a community mental
Consistent with the idea that early health board and a local child care
childhood mental health reflects a resource and referral agency; in others,
combined public health/mental health an interagency, citywide early childhood
model, emerging services delivery council, a mayor’s office and a mental
systems also share several organizational health agency.At the state level,
similarities. They: partnerships have been even broader;
in Vermont, for example, they include
• “build on” existing early childhood
families, state mental health and early
programs. Over the last several years,
childhood programs (including the
there has been a significant, if uneven,
child care subsidy program and the
growth in investments in child develop-
Head Start collaboration office) as well
ment and family support programs
as health, child welfare, substance abuse
across the states. Thirty-one states now
and domestic violence agencies. Schools
fund programs, including six that
could and should also be key players
supplement Early Head Start. Some
in emerging partnerships to promote
of these infant-toddler programs are
social and emotional skills in young
universal (e.g. home visiting programs
children before they enter school to
for first time parents), but many others
enhance their school readiness.
are targeted to high-risk families. Forty-
three states are investing in programs • include attention to outcome
for preschool-aged children (Cauthen, measures, especially those related
Knitzer & Ripple, 2000). Together, this to school readiness. Building an early
network of programs provides the childhood mental health system of
foundation for investments in early support requires an investment of
childhood mental health. The emerging resources, typically public, but private
infant-toddler programs, for example, as well. It is important to develop
can and should “help parents be more mechanisms to assess the impact of
effective nurturers”by becoming the that investment, particularly in terms
focal point for parent-centered early of school readiness and early learning.
childhood mental health services.
107
School personnel and communities need many. In response, many emerging
to know, for example, if investments in initiatives simply do not use the term,
early childhood mental health strategies except as necessary for funding. But
pay off in reduced rates of retention in virtually all face the challenge of describing
kindergarten, first and second grade, or the need and helping the broader public
in reduced use of special education, or to recognize that young children, even
in improved reading scores by the fourth infants and toddlers, do face emotional,
grade. To this end, many communities social and behavioral challenges, that
are developing frameworks and indicators these can interfere with academic learning,
to be able to provide an aggregate picture and that there are strategies that can help
of how well their young children do across even before the children get to school.
multiple dimensions of school readiness,
including social and emotional skills.
FINDING THE RESOURCES to build early
POLICY CHALLENGES childhood mental health systems is
challeng ing. One problem is that there is
As policymakers recognize the deep no dedicated funding stream for early
connections between social and emotional childhood mental health ser v ices.
development, reading and other academic
outcomes, it is important to be aware of
five predictable policy challenges. FINDING THE FUNDS. Finding the
resources to build early childhood mental
health systems is challenging.One problem
THERE IS A NEED TO HELP the broader is that there is no dedicated funding stream
public to recog nize that young children, for early childhood mental health services,
e ven infants and toddlers, do face particularly for the vast majority of young
emotional, social and behav ioral children who do not have, and should not
challenges, that these can inter fere w ith have a diagnosis but who, by virtue of
academic lear ning, and that there are multiple risk factors, are likely to develop
strateg ies that can help e ven before the problems. (Mental health dollars are
children get to school. typically targeted only to children
with serious emotional and behavioral
disabilities and in practice, most often
FINDING THE RIGHT LANGUAGE. only to older children.) This means that
Talking about early childhood mental communities and states must be creative
health to families, to policymakers and in identifying and combining sources
to the general public can be problematic. of support to serve the broad population
The term mental health is associated of young children in need who do not
with adults, with stigma and with being and should not have a diagnosis, but who
crazy, certainly not with infants, toddlers are experiencing challenging behaviors
and preschoolers. Hence its use is off- and problems.
putting, or simply incomprehensible to
Second, in some communities, it is also
difficult to pay for consultation services
to child care providers, teachers and
others who care for young children,
despite the fact that they are critical to
systematic efforts to helping these young
children. States and communities that
are tackling these fiscal challenges are
doing so in three ways: they are using
state dollars selectively, including
state mental health dollars; they are
seeking funds through foundations
and other local resources; and, most
importantly, they are using federal
dollars from a variety of different (TANF) program to fund early childhood
programs creatively and in combination mental health consultation. Such
(Johnson, forthcoming). consultation is intended to prevent the
disruption of stable child care (because
of a child’s behavior) that would make it
THIS MEANS THAT communities and states harder for a parent to continue to work.
must be creative in identif y ing and Title I of the Elementary and Secondary
combining sources of suppor t to ser ve the School Act, and Medicaid are also
broad population of young children in potential sources of support, the later
need who do not and should not have particularly for child and parent and
a diag nosis, but who are exper iencing child-focused services.
challeng ing behav iors and problems.
THE ARR AY OF FEDER AL prog rams that might

The array of federal programs that might
potentially be used is broad. Each car r ies
potentially be used is broad (Wishman,
w ith it special challenges, but also
Kates & Kaufmann, 2001). Each carries
oppor tunities, as communities across
with it special challenges, but also
the countr y are demonstrating.
opportunities, as communities across the
country are demonstrating. For example,
to fund early childhood mental health Federal programs that fund services
consultation, states and communities for children with special needs also are
have used the quality improvement funds a potential source of funding. For example,
of the Child Care and Development Fund. Part C of the federal Individuals with
That program requires states to use 4% Disabilities Education Act (IDEA),
of the funds for quality improvement which is intended to help infants and
strategies, one of which is enhancing toddlers with developmental delays (and
the ability of caregivers to respond to the in some states, those at risk of delays),
social and emotional needs of young provides a point of entry to address
children. Similarly, they have used the emotional and relationship issues in
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
109
these infants and toddlers. Child welfare ENSURING A STRONG FAMILY VOICE.
dollars could be used to support cross- Ensuring a strong family voice has been
training of early childhood and mental key to improving mental health services
health professionals who serve abused for older children; it is also key to building
and neglected children either in child services for younger children that really
care or in more specialized settings. meet family needs. But ensuring a strong
Federal mental health through family voice at the planning and policy
Comprehensive Mental Health Services level as well as at the individual service
Program for Children and Families also level requires a commitment from
provides a potential source of funding policymakers to reach out to families
primarily for the most seriously troubled and family organizations and to fund
young children, as program funds the parent liaison roles and leadership
are now used for only children with development that can make family
identified serious emotional and involvement real.
behavioral disorders.
INCREASING THE ABILIT Y TO TR ACK
BUILDING THE EXPERTISE. Those who OUTCOMES, EFFICACY AND COST.
provide services and supports to prevent As social and emotional development
problems and restore emotional health becomes more integrated into the larger
to young children and their families need early childhood and school readiness
a broad range of skills — knowledge about agenda, it also is vital that efforts to
child development, clinical sensitivity develop outcome indicators and bench-
and expertise, understanding of family mark estimates of success be refined.
dynamics, and skill in working with Some work on this is beginning, with
children and families from economically, states taking a number of varied
racially and ethnically varied cultures. approaches.Vermont, for example, is
There are simply not enough people with relying on reports from kindergarten
these skills to address the need.Virtually teachers and health professionals. Other
all the emerging initiatives uniformly states, such as North Carolina, are linked
report that recruiting and hiring is a to indicators developed for broader state
major challenge (Knitzer, 2001). mandated assessments. To deepen both
the local and state picture, it is important
that indicators of social and emotional
THOSE WHO PROVIDE ser v ices and development be included in school
suppor ts to pre vent problems and restore readiness assessments.
emotional health to young children and
their families need a broad range of skills.
AS SO CIAL AND EMOTIONAL de velopment
becomes more integ rated into the larger early
childhood and school readiness agenda, it
also is v ital that effor ts to de velop outcome
indicators and benchmark estimates of
success be refined.
POLICY OPPORTUNITIES process and an outcome.” This under-
scores the importance of using the school
In addition to the opportunities to use readiness framework to invest not just
existing federal dollars creatively in the in strategies for preschoolers, but also
service of promoting social and emotional for infants and toddlers, particularly the
skills in young children and addressing more vulnerable children . The school
problems highlighted above, there are readiness framework is also powerful for
other ways in which the federal policy another reason. It provides a way to
framework is providing, or might provide, center attention on strategies to prevent
support for the needed infrastructure early school failure. In so doing, it shifts
and service development. Two are the focus from “mental health,” which
highlighted here. carries with it overtones of a medical
BU I L DI NG ON T H E F E DE R A L S C HO OL model and stigma, to a much more
In 1994,
R E A DI N E S S AG E N DA . “user-friendly” framework that is
Congress enacted the Educate America transparent to all — the need for
Act (P.L. 103-277) that included as the success in school. Thus it opens up
first goal “all children shall enter school the possibility of new dialogue about
ready to learn.” This goal provides a integrating social and emotional
potentially powerful organizing frame- strategies with cognitive strategies.
work through which to mobilize
partnerships and activities to address
social, emotional and behavioral AS THOMPSON NOTES, school readiness
challenges in young children that will is both a “de velopmental process and an
prevent them from succeeding in school. outcome.” This underscores the impor tance
In fact, the realization that young children of using the school readiness f ramework to
were not emotionally ready for school invest not just in strateg ies for preschoolers,
was a critical motivating factor in the but also for infants and toddlers,
development of the Vermont’s par ticularly the more v ulnerable children.
comprehensive statewide early childhood
mental health system and is increasingly
FOUNDATION FOR LEARNING ACT.
a factor in other emerging initiatives
(Kaufmann & Perry, this volume). During the 107th Congress, legislation
was introduced in Congress that explicitly
At the same time, there is a very important calls for services for young children, their
nuance. Many policymakers and families and their other caregivers to
community leaders focus school readiness reduce the risk of early school failure.
strategies on 3- and 4-year-olds. But Known as the Foundations for Learning
research shows powerfully that what Act, the intent is to support three types
happens in the infant/toddler years sets of services explicitly intended to prevent
the foundation for the kinds of skills early school failure by virtue of social
preschoolers need to make a successful and emotional issues:
transition to school (Institute of Medicine,
2000).As Thompson notes (this volume),
school readiness is both a “developmental
111
a) screening and service plan development; TOWARD THE FUTURE
b) child and family support services; and Building a school readiness agenda that
c) consultation and specialized training addresses the needs of children whose
services around social and emotional emotional development is compromised
issues to providers of early childhood is clearly a compelling need that has
services. ramifications for academic success in
the early school years. Prevalence data,
The legislation builds directly on the
research on the long-term consequences
large and compelling body of knowledge
of exposure to multiple risk factors
about the relationship between risk
in early childhood, the concerns of
factors and poor outcomes. It conditions
practitioners and the imperatives imposed
eligibility not on diagnoses, but on
by national school readiness goals all
exposure to two or more risk factors
point in the same direction. Drawing
known to be linked to poor school
on the lessons from emerging state
outcomes. These include low-birth
and community practice and policy
weight, and low income, but also risk
initiatives, below are eight recommenda-
factors linked explicitly known to
tions that provide a framework for future
negatively affect emotional development,
local, state and federal policy action.
such as parental substance abuse and
depression; abuse, maltreatment or
neglect; early behavioral and peer
BUILDING A SCHO OL readiness agenda that
relationship problems; and removal
addresses the needs of children whose
from, or at risk of removal from, child
emotional de velopment is compromised
care for behavioral reasons.
is clearly a compelling need that has
The legislation is conceptually important ramifications for academic success in
because it focuses squarely on early the early school years.
intervention in normative settings in
which young children are found, it
builds on the large body of science • Address emotional readiness in the
about the negative impact of multiple context of normative development for
risk factors, and, in calling for services infants, toddlers and preschoolers.
“to prevent early school failure,” it also The network of child care, Head Start,
bypasses the major current policy early Head Start and home visiting
dilemma, how to pay early childhood early childhood services for infants,
mental health services without giving toddlers and preschoolers that exists
young children a diagnosis. As such, it in every state and community provides
provides a model that states can use in a powerful point of entry to infuse
developing their own legislative frame- intentional strategies to promote
works to ensure that young children social, emotional and behavioral
enter school ready to succeed. competence in young children,
particularly those whose early
experiences do not provide them • Maximize the impact of existing
with the needed ingredients for age- federal programs and dollars and
appropriate development. supplement these with state, local
and private resources. Many federal
• Build broad state and community
programs can be used as important
partnerships to develop early
entry points for developing a range
childhood mental health services
of child-focused, family-focused and
and systems. Key stakeholders include
provider-focused services and inter-
families, the early childhood and the
ventions to young children at risk of
mental health communities. But
early school failure by virtue of social
partnerships should also reach out
and emotional problems. Communities
to others who have a vested interest
and states may find the Child Care
in seeing that young children succeed,
and Development Fund quality
for example school officials, law enforce-
improvement set aside, TANF, Part C,
ment officials (who are increasingly
Medicaid and SCHIP funds especially
interested in early intervention), and
helpful in stimulating new initiatives.
the business community, which needs
an emotionally competent, literate
work force.
SPECIAL AT TENTION SHOULD be paid to
• Develop strategies to fund an array getting infants and toddlers off to an
of services and supports to help emotionally healthy star t. To the extent
young children, especially the more possible, inter ventions should build on
vulnerable, achieve success in the the existing knowledge base.
transition to school. These services
and supports should encompass
assessment strategies, services targeted • Develop strategies to increase the
to help parents (including all primary supply of appropriately trained
caregivers) to help parents and children specialists. Clinical training typically
together and to help children, and does not include any specialized focus
services targeted to other, non-family on young children and families, either
caregivers. They should be available in through psychology, social work or
the context of normative settings (such psychiatry. Nor can child development
as family homes, health clinics, center professionals find ways to enhance
and family-based child care, Head Start, their own skills in dealing with the level
Early Head Start and preschools) and of behavioral disruption reflected in
in settings serving children and families programs serving young children.
already identified as in trouble (such as Policy incentives to promote both
homeless shelters, child welfare agencies in-service and pre-service training
and the courts). Special attention should are critical at both the local and
be paid to getting infants and toddlers community levels.
off to an emotionally healthy start.
To the extent possible, interventions
should build on the existing
knowledge base.
113
• Develop social and emotional
outcome indicators and benchmarks.
The scientific base for emphasizing
both social and emotional, as well as
cognitive competencies to achieve
the goal of school readiness is clear
(although surprisingly controversial in
some political contexts). The challenge
is to develop explicit indicators that
can be used to assess community and
state progress toward meeting the
overarching goals: ensuring that all
young children, including those facing
social, emotional and behavioral
challenges in the early years, enter • Make the existing federal framework
school ready to learn. more responsive to social and
• Develop a research agenda to fill in emotional issues in young children
the gaps in the knowledge base about and provide new resources to support
“what works” and to translate the and evaluate services to prevent
research into useable information for early school failure by virtue of
the practitioner and policy community. social and emotional issues. One
From a scientific perspective, we goal should be to strengthen existing
know far more about the causes and legislation to ensure explicit attention
consequences of poor emotional promoting the emotional well-being
development in young children than of vulnerable young children across
we do about how to interrupt those the many federal programs that already
causes and consequences. Some data exist. For example, as Early Head Start
on the efficacy of interventions is expands, it might be possible to provide
beginning to emerge, but it needs to enriched funding to ensure the program
be expanded. is robust enough to meet the needs of
the most vulnerable families. Similarly,
providing incentives to existing federally
funded children’s mental health
programs to better address the needs
of young children would be helpful.
At the same time, there is a need
to continue to promote and enact
legislation like the Foundations for
Learning Act.
CONCLUSION REFERENCES
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EARLY
EDUCATION
EXCHANGE
A conference series
sponsored by the Ewing
Marion Kauffman Foundation
4 8 0 1 R O C K H I L L R OA D
K A N S A S C I T Y, M I S S O U R I 6 4 1 1 0
8 1 6 - 9 3 2 - 1 0 0 0 | W W W. E M K F. O R G
7/0218M

Building A Strong Foundation For School Readiness Based

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Building A Strong Foundation For School Readiness Based

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SET FOR SUCCESS:

Ross Thompson, Ph.D., University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE

PANELISTS: A conference panel discussion about effective early education

DISCUSSANTS: Four experts in the field served as discussants at the conference:

Marilou Hyson, Ph.D., Associate Executive Director of Professional Development, National

PLANNING TEAM: The Kauffman Early Education Exchange is planned

Sylvia Robinson, Vice President, Early Education

Design by: Ampersand, Inc., advertising & design, Kansas City, MO

Set for Success: Building a Strong Foundation

THE VIEW FROM RESEARCH

The Roots of School Readiness in Social

The Connection Between Social-Emotional

Culture and Ethnicity in Social, Emotional

THE VIEW FROM THE FIELD

Promoting Social and Emotional Development

Promoting Social and Emotional Development

Promoting Social and Emotional Readiness for School:

SET FOR SUCCESS:

State reports of the percentage of intervention services later through either

The Roots of School Readiness in Social

The Connection Between Social-Emotional

Culture and Ethnicity in Social, Emotional

THE RO OTS OFSCHOOL READINESS IN SOCIAL

WHAT ARE THE QUALITIES

BECAUSE YOUNG CHILDREN’S social and

YOUNG CHILDREN have a ver y non-

THE QUALIT Y OF children’s peer

THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN

CURRENTLY MUCH NATIONAL ATTENTION million in 2001 to nearly $1 billion in

CHILDREN’S ABILITIES TO INITIATE joint

There are a number of reasons why

Children’s exposure to and interest in

ACTIVITIES SUCH AS FAMILY stor ybook

• Strong emphasis on oral language

Shankweiler, D., Crain, S., Brady, S., & Macaruso, P.

C U LT U R E AND ETHNICITY IN SOCIAL,

Academic competence and socio- ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Not

school reform, the high prevalence of of children of color such as standardized

It is no surprise then that in 1995 for

The poverty rate among African-

Children of color occupy social niches

It is possible to learn a great deal from

These hypothesized relationships imply (Basic Behavioral Science Task Force

THE MODEL EMPHASIZES that children FAMILY ROLE

childhood programs. Barbarin, O. and Soler, R. (1993). Behavioral, emotional

Promoting Social and Emotional Development

Promoting Social and Emotional Development

PROMOTING SO CIAL AND EMOTIONAL

THE PRESCHO OL IS also a logical place for

Early childhood programs are often

Coming to know parents in early The Rosens, whose daughter Nancy

THE MENTAL HEALTH consultant enters the

R ATIONALE FOR NATIONAL,

PRO GR AMS MUST PARTNER w ith other

Children and families are served in the

Promoting Social and Emotional

PROMOTING SO CIAL AND EMOTIONAL

RESEARCH POINTS TO the protec tive impac t

THE ARR AY OF FEDER AL prog rams that might

Aber, L.; Jones, S.; & Cohen, J. (1999). The impact of

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