Classroom composition, classroom quality and German skills of very young dual language learners and German-only learners

This study examined associations between the classroom percentage of dual language learners (DLLs), observed classroom quality, and children's German majority language skills. The cross-sectional sample of 2.5 years olds (n = 93 immigrant DLLs and n = 363 monolingual German-only learners) was clustered within n = 197 classrooms. Classrooms with higher percentages of DLLs demonstrated slightly lower levels of overall classroom process quality. DLLs scored about 1 SD below monolingual children on German language skills when adjusting for family and classroom covariates. Moderation analyses revealed that this difference did not depend on the percentage of DLLs in a classroom. In fact, the classroom percentage of DLLs was related to children's German skills only when omitting the child level language status (DLL vs. monolingual) from the analyses. However, classroom quality moderated the difference between DLLs’ and monolingual children's German skills. This difference was estimated as about only 0.5 SD for DLLs and monolingual children experiencing higher classroom quality, but as about 1.5 SD for those experiencing lower quality. We conclude that high quality classrooms may promote the majority language skills of DLLs

School-Related Social Support Is Associated With School Engagement, Self-Competence and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in Turkish Immigrant Students

This study examines how school-related social support from teachers and classmates is related to the health-related quality of life (HRQoL), school engagement, and self-competence of Turkish immigrant students in Germany. We used data from the SIMCUR study with a longitudinal and cohort-sequential design. The study included a total of 216 Turkish immigrant children and adolescents. Complete longitudinal data was available for 161 participants. Students rated their perceived teachers and classmate support, HRQoL, school engagement, and self-competence in math and reading in 4th (n = 136), 5th (n = 110), and 6th grades (n = 100) (middle/ M-cohort), or in 7th (n = 73) and 8th (n = 69) grades (older/ O-cohort). Multiple regression analysis revealed that school-related social support had positive effects on all outcomes in 4th grade. In 5, 6, and 7th grades, higher classmate support was associated with higher HRQoL but not with school engagement and self-competence, whereas higher teacher support was associated with higher school engagement and self-competence but not with HRQoL. In 8th grade, only a positive effect of teacher support on school engagement was found. Girls were more likely to report higher school-related social support, but this reached significance only for the M-cohort. Boys in 5, 7, and 8th grades reported higher self-competence in math than girls. We found hardly any effects of maternal education level on HRQoL and school outcomes of students. Only for 4th grade students was higher maternal education level associated with higher school engagement. Our findings indicate that for younger children especially in elementary school, teacher, and classmate support has positive effects on both HRQoL and school-related variables; for students at the beginning of middle school, classmate support only has an influence on HRQoL. Regarding school matters, students in these grades profit from teacher support as from classmates. During adolescence, school-related social support loses significance in terms of HRQoL and self-competence. However, teacher support still seems to have a significant impact on students' school-engagement. From an applied perspective, interventions aimed at HRQoL and academic achievement of children and adolescents should include a focus on social support by teachers and classmates

Socio-Economic Status and Psychological Well-Being in a Sample of Turkish Immigrant Mothers in Germany

This study analyzes the relation of socio-economic status and psychological well-being in a sample of 327 Turkish immigrant mothers in Germany. We assessed maternal psychological well-being with the CES-D-10, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and selected items of the Hassles Scale referring to daily hassles. Mothers' SES was assessed by means of household income and maternal education. The sample has a predominantly low to very low household income. A cluster analysis on maternal education and household income identified three SES-groups: A low-income cluster, a low-education cluster, and a third cluster of mothers who were slightly more advantaged in terms of household income and education. When applying the 10-point criterion of the CES-D-10, the three clusters differed regarding depression. About 40% of the mothers with lowest income and lowest education were depressed, compared to 28% of the more-advantaged cluster. The clusters further differed with respect to daily hassles and life-satisfaction. A higher SES was associated with less daily hassles, a higher life satisfaction, and less depression. This replicates findings of other studies regarding the relation of SES and psychological well-being. A follow-up assessment for about 60% of the mothers after 1 year revealed no changes in the well-being scales for each SES cluster, and a significant multivariate effect of the SES clusters. This suggests that SES is a long-term influential factor on psychological well-being. We discuss our findings in terms of the importance to integrate Turkish immigrant mother into the Germany society and in terms of the importance of maternal psychological well-being for children's positive development

Supporting second language acquisition of bilingual preschool children through professionalization of caregivers in specialized preschool programs

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of a training program on language support strategies and dialogic reading for caregivers working in specialized preschool programs. These programs serve children without a regular childcare place who grow up with one or more languages other than German as the environmental language. Recent studies investigating the development of children attending these programs found only moderate improvements in German receptive language skills, while language support quality of the programs was rated as average. We assessed receptive second language competencies in vocabulary and grammar of n = 48 children and language support competencies of n = 15 caregivers using an interventional pre-posttest design. Receptive vocabulary skills of children supported by trained caregivers (intervention group) were compared to children supported by untrained caregivers (control group, n = 43). We found that both children’s and caregivers’ competencies increased from pre- to posttest, whereas the control group’s receptive vocabulary skills did not increase noticeably. The caregivers’ language support competencies influenced the increase of children’s receptive grammar but not vocabulary skills. The comparison between the intervention group and control group consistently showed no effect of group membership on children’s receptive vocabulary acquisition over time. Since the control group data came from a secondary analysis, only receptive vocabulary skills could be compared. The preliminary results of our study suggest that a caregivers’ training on language support strategies and dialogic reading in everyday educational situations support bilingual children’s grammar acquisition

Nationale Untersuchung zur Bildung, Betreuung und Erziehung in der frühen Kindheit (NUBBEK): Design, Methodenüberblick, Datenzugang und das Potenzial zu Mehrebenenanalysen

"Dieser Beitrag stellt die Nationale Untersuchung zur Bildung, Betreuung und Erziehung in der frühen Kindheit (NUBBEK) vor. NUBBEK bietet eine empirische Basis zur Erforschung der familiären und außerfamiliären Betreuung von zweijährigen (n=1242) und vierjährigen (n=714) Kindern. Die Daten stammen aus den Jahren 2010 bis 2011; 27% der Kinder hatten einen türkischen oder einen russischen Migrationshintergrund. Die NUBBEK-Studie orientierte sich an einer sozialökologischen Konzeption von Bildung und Entwicklung. Orientierungsqualität, Strukturqualität sowie Prozessqualität wurden weitgehend parallel sowohl für das Betreuungssetting Familie erhoben als auch für 567 Krippen-, Kindergarten- und Tagespflegegruppen. Das Design der Studie, die Stichprobe, die eingesetzten Verfahren (Beobachtungen, Interviews, Fragebögen, Testungen der Kinder) sowie ausgewählte Intraklassen-Korrelationskoeffizienten (ICC) für potenzielle Mehrebenanalysen werden vorgestellt. Die Daten sind ab Herbst 2014 im Datenarchiv von GESIS für Forschungseinrichtungen zugänglich." (Autorenreferat)"This article introduces the German National Study on Early Childhood Education and Care (NUBBEK). NUBBEK offers an empirical basis for the study of care and education within and outside of the family for two- (n=1242) and four-year old children (n=714). Data were collected in 2010 and 2011; 27% of all children grew up in either Turkish or Russian immigrant families. NUBBEK adopted a socio-ecological perspective on education and care. Data on orientation, structure, and processes were gathered in a parallel fashion in both home environment and 567 external day care settings. The article provides information on the design of NUBBEK, the sample, the instruments (interviews, questionnaires, observations, tests), as well as on selected intra-class-coefficients (ICC) for potential multilevel-analyses. In fall 2014, the data will be available for the scientific community at the GESIS data archive." (author's abstract

Schlüsselfaktor Elterliche Beteiligung: warum Lehrkräfte türkischstämmige und deutsche Kinder aus belasteten Familien häufig als verhaltensauffällig einstufen

"Kindliches Problemverhalten beeinflusst unabhängig von individuellen kognitiven Fähigkeiten stark den langfristigen Schulerfolg. Türkischstämmige Mütter berichten im Vergleich zu deutschen Müttern über erhöhte familiäre Belastung und beteiligen sich nach Auskunft der Lehrkräfte weniger am schulischen Alltag ihrer Kinder. Erhöhte Belastung führt zu einer stärkeren Delegation von Erziehungsverantwortung und erhöhtem kindlichen Problemverhalten. In der vorliegenden Studie untersuchten wir die Zusammenhänge zwischen familiärer Belastung, elterlicher Beteiligung in der Schule und der Beurteilung von Verhaltensproblemen türkischstämmiger (n=148) und deutscher (n=54) Kinder durch deutsche Lehrkräfte (N=202). Wir fanden einen Zusammenhang zwischen Verhaltensproblemen im Lehrerurteil und geringer elterlicher Beteiligung, während ein türkischstämmiger Migrationshintergrund keinen signifikanten Effekt hatte. Mediationsanalysen zeigten, dass der Zusammenhang zwischen hoher familiärer Belastung und wahrgenommenen Verhaltensproblemen durch elterliche Beteiligung in der Schule vermittelt wurde. Dies legt nahe, dass Lehrer diejenigen Kinder und Jugendlichen als problematischer wahrnahmen, deren Eltern sich bedingt durch ihre hohe familiäre Belastung weniger schulisch engagierten. Weitere Analysen zeigten, dass gute deutsche Sprachfähigkeiten bei den türkischstämmigen Müttern mit höherer elterlicher Beteiligung in der Schule und so indirekt einer positiveren Beurteilung kindlichen Verhaltens durch deutsche Lehrkräfte einhergingen. Unsere Studie bestätigt die herausragende Bedeutung elterlicher Beteiligung für die kindliche Schullaufbahn und zeigt Ansatzpunkte für potenzielle Präventionsmöglichkeiten." (Autorenreferat)"Childhood behavior problems affect long-term school success. Turkish immigrant mothers report higher levels of family adversity and are less involved in their children's school matters than German mothers. High family adversity is associated with delegation of parenting responsibilities and with elevated levels of behavior problems in childhood and adolescence. This study examined associations between family adversity, parental involvement in school matters, and Turkish immigrant (n=148) and German (n=54) students' teacher-rated behavior problems. Results showed that children whose parents were less involved in school were rated as more difficult by their teachers, whereas a Turkish immigrant background had no significant effect. Effects of high family adversity on teacher-rated behavior problems were fully mediated by parental involvement in school matters: teachers rated those children and adolescents as more difficult whose parents were less involved in school matters because they were living under adverse circumstances. In addition, analyses on the subsample of Turkish immigrant mothers showed that good German language abilities predicted higher involvement in school matters and were thus indirectly associated with more positive teacher judgments of children's behavior. Our study confirms the unique importance of parental involvement for children's school success and also points to potential avenues to prevent academic underachievement." (author's abstract

Resilienz im Vorschulalter: wie stark kann die familiäre Leseumwelt biologische und soziokulturelle Entwicklungsrisiken kompensieren?

"Erfolgreiche kindliche Entwicklung kann durch biologische und soziokulturelle Risiken behindert werden. Zugleich zeigen zahlreiche Studien, dass die familiäre Leseumwelt einen protektiven Faktor für die Entwicklung im Vorschulalter darstellen kann. Die Autoren verglichen Daten aus zwei Längsschnittstudien um zu untersuchen, wie stark die familiäre Leseumwelt biologische (Frühgeburtlichkeit) und soziokulturelle Risiken (niedriger sozioökonomischer Status und Migrationshintergrund) in der kognitiven und sprachlichen Entwicklung von Vorschulkindern kompensieren kann. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass die häusliche Leseumwelt positive Effekte auf die Entwicklung sowohl türkischstämmiger als auch sehr früh und/ oder sehr leicht geborener Kinder ausübt. Dies bedeutet, dass Eltern von Vorschulkindern mit soziokulturellem oder biologischem Risiko Resilienz fördern können, indem sie ihnen eine reichhaltige Leseumwelt zur Verfügung stellen. Die Autoren benötigen mehr Informationen über die spezifischen Bedürfnisse von Kindern, die mit unterschiedlichen Entwicklungsrisiken aufwachsen, um diesen eine bessere Förderung zu ermöglichen." (Autorenreferat)"Positive child development may be impeded by biological and socio-cultural adversity. However, a cognitively stimulating environment may compensate these risks. Studies have confirmed positive effects of preschool children's home literacy environments for their school readiness. The authors compared data of two longitudinal studies to investigate to what degree a stimulating home literacy environment can compensate biological (premature birth) and socio-cultural adversity (low SES and migration background). Results showed that a more stimulating home literacy environment predicted better cognitive and language development of both Turkish immigrant and very preterm/ very low birth weight preschool children. Thus, parents of biological or socio-cultural at-risk children can promote resilience by providing a stimulating home literacy environment. The authors need more data on the specific developmental needs of different groups of at-risk children to facilitate their academic achievement." (author's abstract

Balanced Cultural Identities Promote Cognitive Flexibility among Immigrant Children

The acculturation complexity model suggests that immersion into dissonant cultures promotes cognitive skills in biculturals (Tadmor and Tetlock, 2006). In the present study, we examined links between identity acculturation and executive functioning (EF). Turkish-German immigrant origin children (N = 225; M = 11 years, SD = 1.6 years, 99 males) were given questions about their identification with Turks and Germans to capture bicultural involvement and a Dot Task (using Hearts and Flowers) to measure EF. Results showed that Turkish-German bicultural children who endorse both cultures with equal strength did not have a cognitive advantage in working memory and inhibition compared to their peers who more clearly preferred one culture over the other. However, bicultural children who endorse both cultures with equal strength performed significantly better on a switching task that required cognitive flexibility. The study highlights the potential cognitive benefits associated with biculturalism

Supporting second language acquisition of bilingual preschool children through professionalization of caregivers in specialized preschool programs

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of a training program on language support strategies and dialogic reading for caregivers working in specialized preschool programs. These programs serve children without a regular childcare place who grow up with one or more languages other than German as the environmental language. Recent studies investigating the development of children attending these programs found only moderate improvements in German receptive language skills, while language support quality of the programs was rated as average. We assessed receptive second language competencies in vocabulary and grammar of n = 48 children and language support competencies of n = 15 caregivers using an interventional pre-posttest design. Receptive vocabulary skills of children supported by trained caregivers (intervention group) were compared to children supported by untrained caregivers (control group, n = 43). We found that both children’s and caregivers’ competencies increased from pre- to posttest, whereas the control group’s receptive vocabulary skills did not increase noticeably. The caregivers’ language support competencies influenced the increase of children’s receptive grammar but not vocabulary skills. The comparison between the intervention group and control group consistently showed no effect of group membership on children’s receptive vocabulary acquisition over time. Since the control group data came from a secondary analysis, only receptive vocabulary skills could be compared. The preliminary results of our study suggest that a caregivers’ training on language support strategies and dialogic reading in everyday educational situations support bilingual children’s grammar acquisition

Diversität elterlicher Einstellungen und vorschulischer Lernerfahrungen: ein Vergleich deutscher und zugewanderter Familien aus der Türkei, Russland und Polen

"Das Ziel der vorliegenden Studie war die Untersuchung der bildungsrelevanten Vorerfahrungen von Schulanfängern (N=3.960) im Hinblick auf den kulturellen Hintergrund und die Bildung ihrer Eltern. 39 Prozent der befragten Eltern hatten einen Migrationshintergrund. Der Zusammenhang zwischen Schulbildung der Eltern und ihren Einstellungen sowie den Lerngelegenheiten für ihre Kinder war in allen Gruppen erkennbar, wenn auch in unterschiedlicher Ausprägung. Kinder aus zugewanderten Familien sahen insgesamt mehr fern, ihre Eltern maßen dem Vorlesen weniger Bedeutung bei und die Wahrscheinlichkeit, dass sie an extracurricularen Aktivitäten teilnahmen, war geringer. Ihre Eltern erwarteten eine höhere Übernahme von Verantwortung für Bildung von den Kindergärten sowie für Disziplin von den Schulen. Fast alle Kinder besuchten eine Kindertagesstätte, jedoch war die Wahrscheinlichkeit eines verkürzten Besuchs von maximal zwei Jahren am höchsten bei Kindern aus zugewanderten Familien mit geringer elterlicher Schulbildung. Die Ergebnisse werden im Hinblick auf Empfehlungen diskutiert." (Autorenreferat)"The aim of the present study was to identify differences in children's preschool experiences in relation to their parents' educational and cultural backgrounds (N=3.960). 39 percent of the participating children grew up in immigrant families. Results indicate that the relationship between parents' education and attitudes, and children's learning opportunities was visible among members of all groups, albeit to different degrees. Children from immigrant families were more likely to watch more TV and less likely to participate in extracurricular activities and reading. Their parents were more likely to expect the kindergarten to be responsible for children's education and schools to be responsible for teaching discipline to children. Kindergarten participation was high in all groups, yet immigrant children who had mothers with little education were most likely to attend kindergarten for two years or less. Policy implications of these findings are discussed." (author's abstract