LECTURE EXTENSION

In this investigation, Reynolds and Temple examined the school achievement up to the seventh grade of participants of the Child-Parent Center (CPC) program. These children began their participation in the CPC program in preschool and could continue to receive services through the second or third grade-up to 6 years of continuous intervention. The CPC program emphasizes three major features: the provision of comprehensive services, parental involvement in school, and a child-centered focus on reading/literacy skills. The comprehensive services include (1) attending to the children's health and nutritional needs; (2) coordinated adult supervision from a CPC head teacher, parent resource teacher, and school-community representative, as well as a teacher aide for each class; (3) funds for in-service teacher training; and (4) emphasis on reading, mathematics, and language.

The study sample included 426 children who participated in the program from preschool to grades 2 or 3 and 133 children whose participation in the program ended in kindergarten. The study participants were low-income inner-city African American children. The results indicated that CPC participation was associated with higher reading achievement through grade 7, a lower rate of cumulative grade retention, and a lower cumulative rate of special education placement. Although the children who participated in both the 2 and 3 year follow-up benefited from the extended intervention, the third year of participation significantly improved the children's reading achievement in grade 7 and reduced their rate of grade retention. Further, those children who participated in the program from preschool to third grade (5 or 6 years) had consistently higher school performance. Thus, these findings provide evidence of the long-term benefits of extended childhood intervention. Importantly, these data suggest that extended early childhood programs are more effective than shorter duration programs such as Head Start. These results also show that in addition to programs that begin in infancy (such as the Carolina Abecedarian Project, see Social Issues box in text on page 000), programs that extend to the early-school years can effectively enhance educational success for economically disadvantaged children.

Reynolds, A. J., & Temple, J. A. (1998). Extended early childhood intervention and school achievement: Age thirteen findings from the Chicago Longitudinal Study. Child Development, 69, 231-246.

LEARNING ACTIVITY

Imagine that you were born in Kenya, moved to the United States to live with a well-to-do uncle during your preschool years, and later discovered that you have a long-lost identical twin growing up in a small Kenyan village, who joined you in the United States at age 10. At that time, both of you were given an intelligence test. You are now 18 and are tested again. In contrast to the 10-year IQs, which are very divergent, you and your twin score very similarly in adolescence.

Write a short report addressing the following questions: How stable is your IQ likely to be from ages 10 to 18? How about your twin's IQ? How well will your IQ at age 10 predict your scholastic performance in late adolescence and your occupational attainment in adulthood? What about prediction of scholastic performance and occupational attainment from your twin's 10-year IQ? How might rearing environment have affected the IQs of you and your twin? Does the similarity of your and your twin's 18-year IQ have anything to do with heredity? How about environment? Cite relevant evidence from the text in answering these questions.