Differences in educational readiness : a study of the differences in language development, perceptual skills and behaviour in a group of Tasmanian children when they entered kindergarten.

摘要

Fifty kindergarten children were examined in anudattempt to compare their educational readiness.udThere were 19 girls and 31 boys and their averageudage was 5 1/2 years. Although not strictly controlled,udtheir socio-economic background was considered to beudworking class. The Boehm Test of Basic Concepts (BTBC)udand the Draw-a-Man Test were used. As well, teachersudand parents rated the children on the followingudcharacteristics: hyperactivity and distractibility,udarticulated speech, auditory perception,. visual motorudco-ordination, laterality, behaviour considered normal,udbehaviour considered apathetic and withdrawn andudbehaviour considered angry and defiant.udThe results showed that certain physical,udintellectual, emotional and social characteristicsudconsidered relevant to early educational success existudin some kindergarten children and not in others.udGirls had more of the component skills consideredudnecessary than did boys. They scored significantlyudhigher on the BTBC and were seen by teachers andudparents as haying better articulated speech. Boysudwere rated by teachers as being more apathetic andudwithdrawn than girls. Although results for otherudcharacteristics did not reach statistical_significance,udthere was a consistent trend in favour ofudThere was a higher incidence of left-handednessudin boys And significantly more boys who were neither clearlyudright- nor left-handed. The articulated speech of right-handed boys was seen by the teachers asudbeing better than that of the left-handed and.ud'undecided' -boys.udChildren who scored high on the BTBC were moreudlikely to score higher on the Draw-a-Man Test and beudconsidered by the teachers to have more normal behaviourudthan did low scorers. Conversely, low scorers on theudBTBC were more likely to have poor auditory perceptionudand visual motor co-ordination, be more hyperactiveud(boys only) and apathetic and withdrawn (girls only)udthan did high scorers. There was no relationshipudbetween the BTBC and angry and defiant behaviour forudeither sex. It was proposed that general intelligenceudand/or developmental stages accounted for the correlations.udThe study was confined to group differences anduddid not analyse the results of individual children.udParent' and teachers' ratings agreed on childrenudwho had 'normal' behaviour but not on those who hadudmaladaptive behaviour. When children with eitherudtype of extreme behaviour were grouped together,udthere was agreement.udImplications for education regarding the importance of individual differences in readiness for formal school udwork were discussed.