The goal of this study is to understand how state, local and school policies and programmatic decisions influence classroom ecologies, defined as the nature of children’s relationships and interactions with other children and adults in the classroom. Researchers will conduct interviews with state, district, school and classroom personnel and collect descriptive data to answer these questions.
Researchers seek to understand the ways in which dimensions of classroom ecology uniquely and interactively relate to PreK-3 children’s outcomes, via data collected on children, their classmates and their classrooms.
The longitudinal study examines how kindergarten experiences may equalize the academic and social development of children who start school with different types of preschool experiences and identify the dimensions of kindergarten ecology that may be most influential.
The research studies will take place in the state of Ohio.