Inequities in Children's Reading Skills: The Role of Home Reading and Preschool Attendance

Goldfeld, Sharon; Moreno‐Betancur, Margarita; Guo, Shuaijun; Mensah, Fiona; O’Connor, Elodie; Gray, Sarah A. O.; Chong, Shiau Yun; Woolfenden, Sue; Williams, Katrina; Kvalsvig, Amanda; Badland, Hannah; Azpitarte, Francisco; O’Connor, Meredith

doi:10.1016/j.acap.2021.04.019

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…These behaviors might be difficult to detect by optometrists, as children may not portray these abnormal signs during their vision screening visit. Preschool attendance rates can vary [22,23], as reflected in our study. The optometrists were able to screen only 73% of children on the first visit and had to visit the preschools three times, to screen all the children.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Validity of external observation examination by teachers during vision screening for preschool children

Omar¹,

Knight²,

Zahidi³

et al. 2022

Med Hypothesis Discov Innov Optom

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Background: A vision-screening program is effective in prevention of vision impairment. The validity of vision screening conducted by nurses, medical assistants, and teachers has been previously reported. However, the validity of preschool teachers in conducting external eye observations in preschool children has not been widely investigated. This study aimed to determine validity of preschool teachers in conducting external eye observation tests, including the observation of behavior and external eye health, in preschool children.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, preschool teachers from Kemajuan Masyarakat kindergarten in Klang Valley, Malaysia, were randomly allocated to the study (n = 30) or control (n = 30) groups. The study group underwent theory training with an optometrist and practical sessions with preschool children on vision screening, while the control group received only brief verbal instructions on steps to conduct the screening. After the briefing, teachers from both groups conducted vision screening tests at their kindergartens on preschool children aged 4–6 years. The same vision screening procedure was repeated in the same children by optometrists to verify results of the teachers. Results: A total of 700 preschool children were screened by 60 preschool teachers and optometrists. Teachers from the study and control groups displayed high validity in screening for external ocular health, including sensitivity (66.67% versus 66.67%), specificity (95.21% versus 95.54%), and negative predictive value (99.41% versus 99.69%). The positive predictive value was slightly higher in the study group (19.05%) than in the control group (11.76%). Conclusions: Preschool teachers competently observed external eye health in preschool children. A training module for vision screening is important, and a revision of the current training module is needed. Empowering preschool teachers could help in the early detection and intervention necessary in needy children. This could reduce the nationwide prevalence of visual impairments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Validity of external observation examination by teachers during vision screening for preschool children

Omar¹,

Knight²,

Zahidi³

et al. 2022

Med Hypothesis Discov Innov Optom

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“…Community SES was assessed by the Socioeconomic Indexes for Areas of Relative Socioeconomic Advantage and Disadvantage (SEIFA) developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006). We categorized communities in the lowest 25% as disadvantaged and the top 75% as not disadvantaged (Goldfeld et al, 2021). Demographic characteristics.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of participation in early childhood education before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia

Molloy

Guo

Goldfeld

2023

Australasian Journal of Early Childhood

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The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected children’s care and education worldwide. This article reports on patterns of participation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) across Australia as influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic and national policies. Using ECEC data from Xplor – a software platform used across Australian childcare centres (2019: n = 229,349; 2020: n = 229,468), patterns of attendance rates were examined nationally in 2019 and 2020 by service-level and family-level characteristics. The average attended hours per week of ECEC nationally in 2020 (18.32 hours) was less than that in 2019 (21.26 hours). Attendance rates at ECEC in 2020 declined rapidly from 66% to 26.2% at the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak. Fee-free subsidy from Australian governments did not substantially increase attendance or reduce disparities in attendance for vulnerable families. Low ECEC attendance rates for prolonged periods could have significant implications for child development, particularly for children from vulnerable backgrounds.

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“…Maternal education was based on the highest level of schooling and highest post-school qualification by the caregiver listed as ‘Parent 1’ for the child. Australian data shows that ‘Parent 1’ is almost always the child’s biological mother [ 56 , 57 ]. Three groups were derived to cover high, middle, and low maternal education groups in the Australian context: (1) bachelor’s degree or higher, (2) completed high school (Year 12) and/or other tertiary post-school qualification(s) (e.g., trade qualifications), (3) did not complete high school (Year 11 or less).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Access to and Quality of Neighbourhood Public Open Space and Children’s Mental Health Outcomes: Evidence from Population Linked Data across Eight Australian Capital Cities

Alderton

O’Connor

Badland

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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Neighbourhood-level interventions offer a promising opportunity to promote child mental health at a population level; however, neighbourhood effects are still regarded as a ‘black box’ and a better understanding of the specific design elements, such as public open space, is needed to inform actionable policy interventions. Methods: This study leveraged data from a population linked dataset (Australian Early Development Census—Built Environment) combining information from a national census of children’s developmental outcomes with individualised geospatial data. Associations between access to (within 400 m and 800 m from home), and quality of, public open space and child mental health outcomes across eight capital cities were estimated using multilevel logistic regression models, adjusting for demographic and contextual factors. Access was defined based on proximity of public open space to children’s home addresses, within distance thresholds (400 m, 800 m) measured along the road network. Effect modification was tested across maternal education groups. Results: Across the eight capital cities, inequities in access to child friendly public open spaces were observed across maternal education groups and neighbourhood disadvantage quintiles. Children with access to any type of public open space within 800 m of home had lower odds of demonstrating difficulties and higher odds of competence. Children with access to child friendly public open spaces within 800 m of home had the highest likelihood of demonstrating competence. Conclusion: Improving access to neighbourhood public open space appears to be a promising strategy for preventing mental health difficulties and promoting competence in early childhood. Action is needed to redress socio-spatial inequities in access to child friendly public open space.

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Inequities in Children's Reading Skills: The Role of Home Reading and Preschool Attendance

Cited by 13 publications

References 39 publications

Validity of external observation examination by teachers during vision screening for preschool children

Validity of external observation examination by teachers during vision screening for preschool children

Patterns of participation in early childhood education before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia

Access to and Quality of Neighbourhood Public Open Space and Children’s Mental Health Outcomes: Evidence from Population Linked Data across Eight Australian Capital Cities

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